North East trip

Our travels are jinxed, somehow we end up deciding and packing at the nth moment. This trip was no better, we had booked flight tickets 4 months prior, but never got around deciding our itinerary. 1 week before, I went into panic mode, did a little bit of research and came up with a "Iv got 7 days, I will cover 7 states" itinerary. When I shared the itinerary, my friend (thanks Mayurika!!) gasped in horror, with her arched eyebrows and twisted lips, she asked me one simple question, "So how are you planning to travel?". The very simple question led to more frantic calls and finally we decided on a light weight touristy trip. The trip was for 7 days, and the budget was somewhere close to 50,000 for 2 people. I wanted to share some pointers with you guys, in case any of you decide to travel to NE.

• Transport: This will eat up your budget, its costly unlike other cities. You can cut down the cost by hiring a shared cab. Renting out a cab can be very very costly.
• City vehicle movement: Most of the city borders close by around 6-8 pm and no vehicles are allowed to pass after. So, plan your trips accordingly.
• Start early: In NE, start early if your are planning to visit any place as sun rises pretty early, and sets pretty quick. Also, I overheard one driver say that after 4 pm, BRD doesn't clear the road blockages caused due to landslides.
• ILP: When we decided to travel to Arunachal, little did we know that we would have to get ILP, even if we are Indian citizens. Seems, ILP is a must if you are visiting borders.You can get ILP from any travel agent and that reminds me of the next pointer.
• ID Proofs: Carry you original ID proof, xerox copies and few passport size photos. This would be useful while registering for ILPs and also there will be ID proof verification in most of the border areas.
• Madrasi: A small pet peeve of mine, being called Madrasi. Well, I am not one as I come from Malluland (Kerala) and no, I won't respond to your vanakam (In Malayam, it is namaskaram). I was called Madrasi atleast 4-5 times during the trip. We finally had to convince the person-a-la chakde style "If we call a Sikkimese guy, Manipuri, how will he feel?". Silence on the other side and there after, no further Chennai express talks.
• Smoking and spitting: What's with the mountains and smoking habits?. Every where I could see people smoking packets and packets of cigars. Our driver finished 2 packets of cigars during our 4 hour journey!!!. I saw school kids catching smoke on the school roof. Another sad habit is thamabakoo usage and spitting.

• Men in uniform: If you need to feel patriotic, this is a good place to start with. Be ready to see, men in uniform every 2 secs,are everywhere. You can see a military camp within every Km.
• Queue: People patiently wait in queues for the army trucks to pass through the other side, no overtaking, no honking, no swear words, nothing. They just wait there in queue patiently, something that rest of the India should learn from (I am looking at you, Bangalore!!).
• Warm smiles: I love the warm smile on the face of certain state people. Sorry to say this, but I felt Assam (Guwahati) was very rude to us, very rude!!!!!
• Food: Nom nom, my favorite part. If you are a non-veggie, you would love this place and if you are a veg, you too would love this place. The NE food mainly consists of a soup base, with lot of boiled veggies and chicken shreds. The food is non-spicy, but extremely healthy and tasty. I survived on soup for whole 7 days. I have had so much NE food in the 7 days that I would not dare to touch Indochinese (NE) food for the next 3-4 months.
• Cleanliness: Places are clean, neat and well maintained. Spitting is banned in Sikkim and the city is extremely well kept and self sufficient. Public loos are very well maintained.
• Shopping: All the shops and other places close by around 7-8 pm. Make sure you have your dinner early. Sikkim and Guwahati offers multitude of options for the travelers to purchase curios and handicrafts indigenous to the area. I am happy to report that like rest of India, bargaining works here too.