Nagaland is sixteen recognised tribes and a good many more sub-groups, each with its own language, dress and body of custom, sharing hills that run down to the Myanmar border. English is the official language largely because no single Naga language could serve as one, and Nagamese — a creole grown out of Assamese — is what people actually use between tribes.
For ten days each December the whole of it gathers at Kisama outside Kohima for the Hornbill Festival: log drums, wrestling, chilli-eating, and morungs staffed by each tribe in turn. It is the easiest possible introduction and also the least private one. The rest of the year, Khonoma and Mokokchung and the Dzukou valley are quiet enough that you will sometimes have them to yourself.
The history here is heavier than the brochures allow. Kohima was the eastern limit of the Japanese advance in 1944, and the battle fought on the Deputy Commissioner's tennis court was among the most brutal of the war. The cemetery on Garrison Hill is worth an hour on its own. An Inner Line Permit is required for the whole state.
The main stops
These are the places that carry a first visit. Well known for good reason, and every one of them worth the time.
Kohima district · 1,444 m
The state capital, built along a ridge, and the site of the 1944 battle that turned the Japanese advance into India. The War Cemetery on Garrison Hill carries the epitaph that begins 'When you go home, tell them of us' — it is the quietest place in the city.
12 km from Kohima · 1,500 m
A permanent ground of morungs — the traditional bachelors' dormitories — one for each recognised Naga tribe, each staffed by that tribe during the Hornbill Festival from 1 to 10 December. Outside those ten days it is quiet and can be walked in an hour.
Dimapur district · 145 m
The commercial centre and the state's only airport and railhead, on the plain below the hills. The Kachari ruins on its edge — carved monoliths from a kingdom that predates the Naga settlements here — are usually passed without a stop, which is a mistake.
20 km west of Kohima · 1,500 m
An Angami village that resisted the British through three sieges and then, more recently, banned hunting and logging across its forest — the reason it is called Asia's first green village. Its terraced rice fields step down the valley in more than twenty varieties.
Mokokchung district · 1,325 m
The cultural centre of the Ao, and one of the liveliest towns in the state. Longkhum and Ungma nearby are among the oldest Ao villages, with the log drums and carved house fronts that mark seniority.
Further out
Longer drives, rougher road, fewer beds — and the reason people come back a second time.
On the Manipur boundary, south of Kohima · 2,452 m
A valley of rolling dwarf bamboo that looks mown from a distance and is knee-deep once you are in it. The trek from Viswema takes three to four hours; the Dzukou lily, which grows wild nowhere else, flowers from June to September.
Mon district, on the Myanmar border · 900 m
Konyak country, where the last generation of tattooed former headhunters is now very old. The chief's house at Longwa straddles the international boundary — he eats in India and sleeps in Myanmar, as the saying goes — and the village looks down into both.
41 km north of Kohima · 1,400 m
A community-owned tourist village where the lodging is built and run by the village itself and the revenue stays there. Traditional Angami houses, a working morung, and rice beer served the way it is meant to be.
South of Kohima · 3,048 m
The second-highest peak in Nagaland, and home to what is recorded as the world's tallest rhododendron tree. The climb is steep rather than technical, and the view at dawn runs across the Dzukou valley to the Barail range.
Phek district · 1,500 m
A foot-shaped lake in the hills near the Myanmar border, held sacred by the Pochury who keep fishing to a customary limit. Getting there is a long drive on rough road, which is exactly why almost nobody does it.
Routes through Nagaland
Start here