I arrived in Dibrugargh, Assam before noon and was picked up by my Naga guide. On the way to Mon which is one of the most remote places in Nagaland the car broke down. Something to do with the axle. So we waited by the road for about an hour before we managed to get on a bus that was not full. Most of the public transport here is always full with people hanging off the buses to get on. It was about a 90 minutes trip to the next town of Sonari where we would meet the new jeep. We stopped in a local café and waited for my new pick up which should have been no more than 2 hours but in the end from the break down to the new pick up it was 5 hours. As I left the local café to get in the new jeep I noticed that the café was called Sharma Fast Food.
As we were 5 hours behind schedule we ended up driving fast in the dark through small villages. It also happened to be a black out so it was even darker than normal. The number of animals that just happened to run in front of the jeep was just mad, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats, goats, pigs and about a million cows. We finally reached the border of Assam and Nagaland and I had to be registered. It was difficult to see where I was because of the blackout but the police and military we met on the way were friendly enough. As we entered Nagaland the terrain changed dramatically from flat roads to mountains. Not only was it dark but suddenly the fog and mist appeared making it even more scary to drive. We literally couldn’t see anything. I felt at some moments we would just drive off the edge by mistake because we couldn’t see the edge. It was the only time I have ever felt a little anxious on drives like this. We arrived in Mon in one piece at approximately 9am and had a quick dinner. I wasn’t impressed with the guesthouse but apparently it’s the best available at the time. I had to stay here 2 nights so had to make the best of it even with the constant power black outs.
The next morning we headed to Longwa which is one of the most remote villages which is bordered with Burma. In fact the villagers don’t recognise the borders as they were there first and this border doesn’t exist to them. The main tribe of this area is the Konyak which I would describe as the most oldest and most traditional of the tribes in Nagaland. According to my guide it’s the most backward and wildest tribe. I spent the morning with the King on the Longwa village. He’s in his 50s and had 5 wives but now he is alone as they all died. Of what I wonder. About 20-30 years ago these guys were chopping enemy’s heads of hence their title of head hunters. The king seemed happy enough or should I say high enough as he was smoking opium. Then his brothers and other men in the village dropped by to show me how to make the opium ready to smoke. They even offered me some but I declined as the fumes alone were making me a little woozy. The whole process of getting the opium juice to smoke in a bong was about 5 minutes. Each line of cloth soaked in the juice about 2 inches long only cost 10 rupees which is about 10p. The opium comes from over the border in Burma. After about 40 minutes we left the king and I was glad of the fresh air to clear my head.
While walking in the village I was stopped by special branch intelligence officers who are based here because of the border. Then the Indian army turned up with their big guns and swept through the village. I guess looking for illegal opium, illegal Burmese immigrants, I have no idea but this is a regular occurrence in Nagaland not just this village. There is a strong military presence all over Nagaland.
Back in Mon I discovered that the oldest men had their faces tattooed at a very young age to make them ugly so they were never caught and sold into slavery. Sometimes they can be spotted around town.
To get to the next destination we had to enter Assam again. We had to get to Mokokchung via Mopungchuket and since the economic blockade was just over this was now possible which is a good thing as I don’t think I could have taken another night of the guesthouse. As we crossed the border into Assam the jeep windows electrics stopped working so we had to find a mechanic to get this fixed. After an hour we finally got it working. I have had not much luck with the jeeps on this trip. In Mopungchuket we met the AO tribe which is the first tribe visited by the missionaries. Then I saw a great sunset over Mokokchung.
The next day we visited the Ungma village and as it was raining we just drove through it. This village is one of the oldest villages of the AO tribe. We reached Kohima which is the main town in Nagaland in good time and I checked into a heritage hotel. As the war cemetery and museum were closed we drove up to the heritage village. This is a man made village to show all the tribes in Nagaland, where every year for 1 week in the beginning of December the hornbill festival is held. Then back to the hotel again. Not sure what the hotel roof is made from but when it rained at 4am in the morning it felt like a herd of wildebeests running through the lobby. Another night with no sleep.
My final night in Nagaland and the last trip was to Khonoma. This was my favourite drive so far. The roads were not roads but just muddy paths strewn with rocks and big boulders. Along the way there were people trying to build new roads or clear landslides but the most part it was just mud we were driving or should I say sliding on. In Khonoma I met with an 80 year old lady getting the garlic ready to plant and then an 80 year old man making the wicker baskets.
Then we headed back to Kohima and saw the war cemetery and then saw the weirdest things in the local farmers market. I saw buckets of live eels to bags of live frogs. Then I saw the wasp/bee larvae that is a delicacy in Nagaland and quite expensive. And then I saw meat and the guide told me it was dog meat, I wouldn’t have even known if he hadn’t told me.
All in all Nagaland was not as I thought in it to be. Firstly North East India is completely different in every way to the main India. For one thing it is a damn site cleaner and greener and I had no problems with the men here trying to touch me up or stare at me. I didn’t know that Nagaland is 99.9% Christian. Also the people of Nagaland came from China in the Yunan province and in the beginning their religion were based on the spirits of the land until the missionaries came and converted them to Christianity. I also learned that it was the British who gave India Nagaland when they left and the Naga people have been trying to get their independence back ever since. This has lead to many insurgent movements within their territory with fighting going on with the Assamese people and also the Indians.
I think North East India should be an independent state and out of the Indian union. At the moment they don’t pay any taxes to the Indian government and have their own government. Why not be independent. They are different in every way from their way of culture to how they live, even the food they eat. It was the British who gave what was once an independent land to India so I think India should just let it go and give them their independence.
