A sandbank on the Brahmaputra 11km from Dibrugarh in Assam, has been turned into the Rukmini Island Beach Resort. It's perfect for a recharge: walk undisturbed, look for driftwood, laze with a book, play beach volleyball, ride a pony bareback, kayak, or fish. A trip can combine other things: a tea tour, Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, a tour of Sibsagar, trips to Majuli and Kaziranga. The best time to go is October to May.



Mokokchung

Nagaland's oldest town, the hill station of Mokokchung has a distinct colonial feel to it. The drive up from Upper Assam, on a gently winding road through wooded forests, is thrilling. Catch the Ao tribe's Maotsu festival, which features rice beer competitions and much singing and dancing. The festival is held every year on May 1-3 in the nearby village of Chuchuyimlang. Stay at the hill-top circuit house.

Saramati

Saramati peak (3,841m), 254 km from Kohima, is the highest in the Naga hills. It's sacred to the Nagas, possibly because the ginseng root grows wild on its slopes. The peak is snowy through the winter, but the range is thickly forested. Two days of trekking from Pungro village, 36km from Kiphire, will get you to the base, and thereafter it's a long, strenuous climb. This region is home to, among others, the Yimchungru (whose name, delightfully, means ?the people who have searched and reached the spot they have settled?).the Tourist office, Kohima (0370-22214) can help organise a trek.

Khampti country

In the lower reaches of Arunachal's Lohit district, you might find a lost corner of Thailand. Golden pagodas, Theravada viharas, Thai road sings. This is the land of the Tai-Khampti, who migrated to these fertile floodplains in the 18th century. Go mid-April to catch the New Year festival of Songken, celebrated by flinging water at people. Dry off at a circuit house in Namsai, Wakro or Chowkham.

Loktak Lake

Virtually an inland sea-an enormous 312sq km in the monsoon-Loktak Lake (48km from Imphal) is large even in the driest period. Its colour changes from bronze at dawn through peach, blue, grey, to the hammered silver of high moon. From the tourist bungalow (0385-220802; $2 a bed) atop Sendra Island in the middle of the lake, watch the shining water, and fisher-families who live on the shore. Other lakeside inhabitants in adjoining Keibul Lamjao Sanctuary: the endangered brow-antlered deer or tkamin

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