In the day and age when there is no place where tourism has not spread its roots, Northeast India is still an unexplored paradise with a plethora of offbeat places. The Northeast Frontier of India is known as the ‘Seven Sisters’ offering a wide range of history, heritage, and culture along with an abundance of natural places that are sure to take your breath away. All through my growing up years, I heard my dad go on and on about how the northeast is a paradise in India and how he decided this after having visited all the states and beautiful places in India. While I managed to travel most of the country, the north-eastern states remained out of my reach for various reasons. Last year, I decided to break the jinx and take the long-awaited trip to the northeast.
The ‘Seven Sisters’ – Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh form the Northeast Frontier of India. Since winters are a good time to visit these states, I planned my trip for October of 2019. Also, since I had planned to visit all seven states, I decided to make Sikkim my starting point – the gateway to the northeast.
I took a flight to Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim, booked a reliable and convenient Gangtok car rental with an experienced driver, explored the city, and then made my way to my first destination – Assam. Since I was on a backpacking trip, the cost was an essential factor and I opted for the car rentals since they offered the most cost-efficient services.
Assam was my first choice because it was the closest to Sikkim and the easiest state to navigate in the region. I thought that it would be the best way to prepare myself for the difficult terrain that lay ahead. After exploring Assam for a few days, I made my way to the next state – Meghalaya.
Once I reached Shillong, I realized that hiring a cab was the best option since the places that I wanted to visit were not at a distance that I could trek. So, I hired a comfortable car rental in Shillong to explore the highlights of the city. Now that I had covered two states with comparatively better infrastructure, I headed deep into the region and covered Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh over the next two weeks before heading back to Gangtok.
While I tried to make the most of every moment of my trip, the northeast is so pure and beautiful that I thought I needed at least two weeks in each state to be able to explore it thoroughly. Also, I was glad that I had carried an extra pair of trekking boots because the terrain was so rugged that halfway through my trip, my shoes gave way. The northeast is a backpacker’s paradise in the truest sense – you need to carry all your essentials in a backpack, trek through some difficult terrain, and find paradise on earth!
Some places that I would recommend are the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, the Phawngpui Peak in Mizoram, Mawsynram in Meghalaya, Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, Khonoma in Nagaland, and Agartala in Tripura. While these are a must-visit, as a backpacker, you must ensure that you allow the explorer inside you to blossom and find your piece of paradise in this mesmerizing region.
