Kohima

We had two nights in the Hotel Cimorb in Kohima. On our first morning we walked up the hill and across in a loop with views across the town.

We drove out to the Hornbill festival in time for the start, and spent the day there. We had a nice lunch in the [CWA] place and headed back to the hotel later in the afternoon.
In the evening we took the cars to the night market which was very crowded. Alister guided us to a range of food stalls, sometimes to just look but also to taste a range of things. I got to try jelabies, plaited dough rings cooked in sugar syrup - a favourite with DGH kids served with buns.

Guwahati to Kohima

We did not have a pre-breakfast walk as it was an early start for the train, complete with packed breakfasts.
We caught the train to Dimapur and enjoyed the trip. I was impressed with the neatness and dignity of the chai walla and bought a cup from him. the landscape from the train was interesting, initially flat country from the Brahmaputra, then climbing a bit to Dimapur, where we were met by our cars and drove on to Kohima.
the road was once again rough and narrow with landslips. On the way we stopped for fresh pineapples and also to look at produce stalls along the road.
Kohima is the capital of Nagaland and runs along the top of ridges, while the airport and railway are at Dimapur.
We got to our hotel and Denise and I were shown a room with a double bed and an unmade bench but Alister quickly got us another carpeted twin room which was quite good compared with the tiled one Dick and Neil got adjacent to the front lobby.
In the evening Liz and Mike hosted a birthday party in their room for Dick. I wrapped his new Modhi jacket as a gift. Alister had bought him a bottle of red wine.

Darjeeling to Guwahati

We were on a mission for a Modhi jacket before we were due to leave our hotel at 9.30.
Before breakfast our walk led us to a smart green house just below the hotel.
We headed out for a walk after breakfast, heading towards town, then working our way up streets until we worried that we were lost or at least running late to get back. At one point we saw Liz and mike wanderig the other way. I think we did our previous morning walk with Alister in reverse as we got back past the horses to Chowastra at 9.10 and had a quick look down to the shops where we hoped to get our jacket. One was open and it was the right one. And our salesman assured us that we had the right colour and size so off we went with our precious 190 rupee parcel, back to the hotel in time.
the drive to Siliguri was interesting and we got to the airport in good time. Here we said goodbye to Rajesh our driver who lived close by.
Inside the airport we found the plane was delayed. After a while they provided lunch snacks and water which was nice. Eventually we flew off the Guwahati, were met by our new drivers and got to Prabakhar Homestay after dark. It was a smart home in a smart area.
An excellent Dinner was provided by a cook and served smorgasbord in a smart living room adjacent to our rooms, which were airconditioned. We met another nice Australian couple staying here.