Text and Photographs
By
Abhishek Neogi
Abhishek is a young corporate in his late thirties,
travelling is his stress reliever, he is a naturalist with immense passion for
nature and wildlife photography. This time he shares his experience from his
Mizoram trip , which according to him is a pristine place to unwind oneself.
Mizoram , one of the famous "Seven sisters " state of North East
India, but very little explored by Indian travelers, of compared to popular
travel destination states like Sikkim or Uttarakhand. Here Abhishek describes his experience of Mizoram
exploration which he accomplished along with his fellow members , across the
State. Hope his inputs would surely help
the readers to plan for future trips for sure. In the 1st part he covers Aizwal
, Reiek and Hmuifang Circuit.
Prologue:
Planning to go for a
vacation is an easy sail but to choose that one destination within this wide
stretched amusing world is no cakewalk for any nature lover.
Our Mizoram trip was no exception to the above
travel law. The brainstorming sessions started with the “Truly Asian Country”,
Malaysia then dived to the pristine beaches of Andaman Islands & swam
across the sultry shores of Goa. Our flight of imagination took off & reached
the North East India. The two among the seven sisters Nagaland& Mizoram were
the places we talked about… &finally we zeroed down to Mizoram.
Planning the trip was
an arduous job as we had limited information over the travel forums or any
printed journals about our chosen destination. But where there is a will, there is a way, my
close acquaintance Mr. Ashokendu Sengupta & Mrs. Arpita Sengupta had been to Mizoram couple of years back .They were
the richest source of information and infact,the reason we glued to the
decision of Mizoram. The practical input, their shared experiences along with
information gathered from “Mizoram House” of Kolkata formed the backbone of our
entire plan.
Setting
out for Aizwal
On 4th
October 2014, we started our journey- a small team comprising of four adventure
loving people … Madhumita Basu, Priyam Sinha ,Suraj Shankar Bose and myself.
The flight from Kolkata was at 11.20am, but was delayed for an hour; it was 2
hours flight with a stopover at Imphal.The aerial view of Lokhtak Lake from the
flight was just a prelude of what was waiting for us.. The Lengpui airport
(15km from Aizwal) happens to be a small airport looks like a picture postcard
surrounded by hill all around with security men guarding the base.
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Lengpui Airport |
We walked
across the runway for exit where our driver Mr. Tama was waiting with his
Bolero and a welcoming smile .He drove us through the meandering roads with lush
green rolling hills all around. We crossed couple of waterfalls, some
interesting hanging rock edge. However, just before Aizwal there was a big
traffic jam. We were bit anxious, as we had to travel further from Aizwal to a
place called Reiek (35km from Aizwal). The
deadlock was for diesel given in rationed quantity from a filling station, a
truck full of diesel had just arrived from Assam after a week due to roadblock
for Puja and Duserra. The clock said that we were running 2 hours behind
schedule and so the hungry stomachs were on a call .After a while Mr. Tama
finally managed his way out of the mess and we felt relieved.
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The Traffic Jam |
We found that the Aizwal was nice and clean with lot of two wheelers moving around, people here are fond of motorbikes.Mr Tama took us to a restaurant called “Curry Pot” which was a decent North Indian restaurant serving Vegetarian food & they served us hot & tasty veggie delicacy, the quantity was good enough and so was the price. We sealed the hunger with brewed coffee and had it with the sunset in the backdrop that surely was an experience of lifetime.
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Motor bike of the owner of Curry Pot restaurant |
Journey
to Reiek Mountain ; a mix-bag of confusion and thrill
Before leaving for
Reiek Mountains, we bought some cookies from a local bakery and did not forget
to stock sufficient bottled water for our days ahead. Reiek was an hour’s drive, by the time we left
for Reiek it was already dark and roads were isolated. The Mizo people are in sync
with daylight and hardly move around after 6.30pm .However our team of four
along with Mr. Tama decided to travel in a deserted road through the forest in
an unknown place when it was already dark.
We went over a discussion whether it was a proper decision to leave for
Reiek then. The condition of the road was not that good, which made our journey
bit bumpy & clumsier. We were constantly tracking our position in GPS so
that we get exact information and direction about the place we were heading
for. Mr. Tama kept us entertained with his “MIZO” numbers playing on his music
system. Music is an integral part of
their culture and you will get many Western influences in their local
compositions. So the music finally dropped us to Reiek at around 7.30 pm. Wow!!!Was the
constant expression following from four of us but hardly affecting any nerve of
Mr Tama. What a place!!! Thrilling
…nobody was there just four of us .The caretaker allotted us two adjacent cottages; the rooms were
spacious with attached bath fitted with hot water supply. Each room leads to a sitting place where one
can sit and have a lecherous view of the virgin beauty.
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Reiek Tourist Lodge |
The call for dinner
broke the intoxication prevailed in the air. We quickly assembled in the adjacent dining
hall. It was going to be our first
proper meal in Mizoram , we all were anxious about the taste … the second local
character we met after Mr. Tama was Pradip (the cook)who served us rice (this is
the main food for Mizo people) dal, mixed vegetable ,green salad and chicken
curry which was really good we all
relished every bit & grain of it. After dinner, went for a walk around the campus and I am
falling short of words to describe the tranquility…a moonlighted night between
the woods nobody around & with only the chirping of the crickets making us
feel their presence.
Exploring
Reiek
Next morning we woke up early and fresh as we had a sound
sleep previous night and we must have used mosquito nets after ages. I, being
an extreme reader of nature’s poetic creation geared up myself with my camera
and set out to venture the place. The tourist resort was located half way up
the mountain, had around 6-8 cottages and couple of dormitory to accommodate
guests. The cafeteria was located centrally .The entire area was surrounded by natural
forest with some trekking trails going here and there. There was a typical mizo
village set aside highlighting their rich customs and tradition. Reiek is
famous for Anthurium(a typical flower) which people cultivate in huge numbers. Every year the last week of September, the people of Mizoram celebrates Anthurium
festival and Reiek happens to be the centre for it, there was a big open amphitheater just few yards from the Resort, which was interesting.
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open amphitheater at Reiek |
After a grand breakfast
of Aloo Paratha we set out for our trek to Reiek Talang (top) at a height of
about 5400ft above sea level. The trekking trail through the forest had hidden
surprises at each bend; Mr Tama was our guide as he was here before. At some places
the forest was so dense we could hardly see proper day light & there were
some stretches where the rock surface were too slippery to have a proper grip. Going
uphill is always a daunting task; we came across a prayer hall & rested for
a while. In our way, we came across an interesting cave formation named after
the great Mizo warrior “Khuangchera” of 19th century who was famous
for his unsurpassed heroic deeds and his stubborn resistance towards British
army. The legendary Mizo hero used this caves and ravens as his hideout.
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the cave in name of Mizo warrior..on our trekking trail |
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|
The
final stretches of the trail was almost an acute angle climb with strong winds
blowing all around. The view from the top was awesome, sprawling mountains
running all around with the spectacular ridges. The Aizwal city looks great
from the top and on a clear sky; one can see the Bangladesh plains as well. The
cliffs were the home for Peregrine Falcons but we were not that lucky to find
them.
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view from Reiek top |
After spending an hour on the top, we started descending down. By the
time we reached our tourist, lodge lunch was ready; in the afternoon, we sat on
the garden and relaxed. The rest of the evening we watched movie, had an early
dinner and went to sleep.
Onward
Journey to Hmuifang
Next morning we had our
breakfast and checked out from Reiek – our destination was Hmuifang, had to
come down to Aizwal and then continue upward journey. We stopped by the bridge
over river Tlawng that happens to be one of the longest rivers in Mizoram, the
rapid flow of the river downhill through the boulders with lush green mountains
around was a panorama worth viewing.
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Tawang River |
There was hardly any trace of locality in
our way back in daylight; we just kept imagining that we had traveled this
entire stretch a couple of night ago, which sounds thrilling but not at all advisable.
Hmuifang was an
hour drive from Aizwal (50km) situated at height of around 5300ft; the road was
excellent with lot of sharp hairpin bends. On the way, we came across some
typical Mizo habitats, street side vendors (mostly female) sitting beside the
road selling fruits and vegetables.
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Market Place |
The Mizo society looked to me highly matriarchal
where women were running from the stores in malls to selling basics on street side,
we saw the actual face of equality, no gender biassness and literacy in action.
We moved ahead. The Bamboo shoot was the most common thing that was up for sell
and according to Mr Tama, it’s the most common vegetable cooked in a Mizo household.
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Bamboo shoot |
Getting
Settled in Hmuifang resort
Hmuifang was an ideal tourist resort for a
scheduled weekend in the midst of scenic beauty. The resort is situated on the
top of the peak with thick virgin forest hemming on all sides. The cottages
were beautiful; independent with green roof lay dispersed around neatly
maintained lawn. We got the best accommodation, a suite with two bedrooms and a
big common drawing space with comfortable sofa and rocking chairs to sit back
and relax. The rooms were spacious with all modern amenities; the best part was
the attached balcony, which opens to the thick woods in the backyard.We ordered for noodles in the street side cafeteria
but we did not like the preparation much, probably they prepared it too hastily
or this may be the diversity of taste.
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tourist lodge of Hmuifang |
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tourist lodge of Hmuifang |
Just beyond the
resort, there was a park, which was an amazing place to spend some quality
time, we were told that it was a holiday there and even the Mizos were the day tourists who came to visit the place
with friends and family. Just beyond the park was the forest, and it was kept
just as it was during the time of Mizo chiefs. Forest was dense - we walked
along the forest trails, spent our time sitting on the watchtower, crossed the
ridges with the help of hanging bridge, we thoroughly enjoyed the pristine
nature.
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Hmuifang |
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watchtower inside Hmuifang forest |
Apart from the beautiful forest, there were steep cliffs on the west,
which gave stunning views of the surrounding mountain. We spent rest of the
evening watching spectacular sunset and a stream of rain from a busted cloud
atop a hill far away- a frame, which we would remember for the rest of our life
.
Sunset at Hmuifang
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|
It, was already dark & quiet cold by the sun set and we crept back to the
to the resort. We got acquainted with the manager on duty a very young lad Mr. Thengla
(if I remember his name correctly) who was energetic and adventurous. He was
thrilled to know we came here to explore Mizoram; he shared his knowledge
regarding people, their rituals and traditions, which helped us to know Mizoram
in a different perspective. He showed us astronomical stars through his
amazon.com brought telescope.Mr thengla suggested some inputs on our plan,
which really helped us in the later part of our trip. We thanked him, moved to
our cozy rooms, and found the dinner served, they served us rice and chicken
curry along with some side dishes, the food was good and we enjoyed it. The
night was quiet cold with couple of quick shower, which bought the temperature
further down, after dinner we had coffee, discussed about next day’s plan and
went to sleep.
The
Sialsuk Village
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Typical Mizo village |
 |
bachelors dormitory in Mizo village |
We passed the village and Tama drove us to a hill
top which was unbelievably beautiful , a green meadow surrounded by sprawling
hills with perfect clear blue sky above our head. We crawled, we jumped, we
screamed we did what not to express our excitement underestimating the age
group we belonged to, the women of the team were swinging over a swing laid at
the top of that hill wow!!! What a scenery!! .We spent almost an hour on the
top and came back as we need to return to Hmuifang and continue our exploration
of amazing Mizoram.
 |
Sialsukh |
Points
to be noted
“Mizoram” means “Land
of Hill People” a state which was formed in 1986 (was part of Assam, known as
“Mizo Hill district” before that) with Aizwal as the State Capital Mizoram
happens to be the 2nd most literate state (as per 2011 Census) in
India , English is well accepted and used language ,interestingly over 91% of
the State is forested. As it shares international boundaries with Myanmar&
Bangladesh, traveling to Mizoram needs an Inner line permit which is easily
available from Resident Commissions office.
Inner line permit (Kolkata)
available from Liaison officer, Government of Mizoram
Mizoram house,24 old Ballygaunge
Road, kolkata 700019
ph..03324756430/24757887.
Documents required is passport size
photograph, photocopy(carry the original)of ID/address proof and a nominal fee
of around Rs 60.
Going
We decided to avail
flight, as it would save time. The nearest railhead was at Silchar , from where
one can travel by road to Aizwal (184km, via NH54, takes around 6-7hrs).
Stay
We booked Government Tourist Lodges (other than
Aizwal) the price range was 800-1200/day over phone. People were so humble that
they did not asked for any advance payment instead, just requested to inform
them in case we were not coming.
Phone number for booking rest houses
REIEK..0389-2567334/9436144947
Hmuifang 9436360574/8731966056
The cost of travelling trip to Reiek
and Hmuifang by Bolereo (ac) is 3000 each..Airport pick up is 2500..the rates
are almost fixed..
Vehicle should be booked in
advance... we booked it From Sure Taxi...contact person Elizabeth
Fanai...8415901306.
