Where the Hills Keep Their Stories: A Slow Journey Through Northeast India
A map made of journeys I would not sell Northeast India as a five-day checklist. The map is too folded, the roads too weather-sensitive, and the places too alive to be reduced to viewpoints between flights. Instead, I imagine returning in linked journeys: Assam as the riverine beginning; Meghalaya as a rain-shaped walking chapter; Arunachal […]
A Slow Christmas Break in Shillong: Coffee, Forest Walks, Music and Local Craft
On a December morning in Shillong, the hills seem to wake beneath a veil of silver light. Pine-scented air drifts through the streets, church bells mingle with distant music, and the city begins its day with steaming cups of coffee, market chatter and the promise of Christmas in the air. This is a place that […]
Travelling with Small Children Through Assam and East Arunachal Pradesh
Stories of gibbons, tea gardens, Tangsa culture, rivers and Namdapha The Morning the Forest Came to Visit My children were so excited – ages 7 and 8 that they were awake before dawn for the day to begin. In the soft, pale light of an Upper Assam morning, we leave the tea-garden bungalow quietly, carrying […]
Travel with Confidence: What Curtain Call Adventures Offers Senior Travellers
“Curtain Call Adventures helped make a long-held dream come true. I was able to celebrate my birthday in Sikkim with close friends, and the support we received made the journey comfortable and enjoyable from the beginning. The home pick-up, airport assistance and personal chauffeur service gave us great peace of mind. We could focus on […]
Beyond Tiger’s Nest: An Immersive Week in Bhutan
A Journey Through Happiness, Heritage and Himalayan Valleys Bhutan is best experienced slowly. In a country where Buddhist values, cultural preservation, environmental responsibility and wellbeing are gathered under the philosophy of Gross National Happiness, a hurried itinerary misses the point. The ideal week-long journey is a gentle circuit through Thimphu, Punakha and Paro, combining dzongs, […]
Dhakuakhana: Where Assam’s Golden Yarn Lives On
In my grandmothers’ days, Muga was worn as a house cloth. I remember my grandmother at work in her kitchen wearing her plain Muga Mekhla chador. Thick, durable, and sometimes rough to the touch, it was woven as a plain cloth or everyday life. Yet its distinctive gold sheen endured. What belonged to household rhythms […]
Where the Landscape Remembers: My first Impressions of The Bodo Community
In April 2016, I arrived in Bongaigaon, Western Assam expecting to curate an experience for our potential clients. Instead, the Bodo landscape curated me. After Bongaigaon, paddy fields opened in long green sheets, bamboo leaned over village paths, and the distant hills of Bhutan gathered blue along the horizon. Rivers were moving beyond the fields—Manas, […]
Unakoti and the Darlong Tribe: An Impression of Tripura’s Living Heritage
The approach to Unakoti reveal itself after 5 hours of driving from Agartala, moving through Tripura’s green northern landscape when suddenly in the middle of a forest, a clearing has been made to park vehicles and a ticket booth. A flight of steps and forest paths opens onto colossal faces carved into a hillside. Here, […]
Tribal Trails and Sacred Peaks: Northeast India’s Living Wilderness
For those seeking a journey that blends moderate physical activity with deep cultural immersion, Assam and West Arunachal Pradesh offer an unparalleled experience where ancient tribal traditions, pristine wilderness, and spiritual heritage converge. This region is a sanctuary where semi-evergreen forests meet the mighty Brahmaputra River, sacred monasteries cling to misty mountainsides, and indigenous communities […]
Where Nagaland Finds Its Voice: A Personal Journey to the Hornbill Festival
Some festivals entertain us; others rearrange how we see a place. Nagaland’s Hornbill Festival belongs to the second category. I arrived expecting colour, textiles, drums, and dance, but left with a deeper understanding: culture is not a performance assembled for visitors. It is a living relationship between people, land, memory, food, music, and pride. Held […]