... Mizoram was not that interesting ..nothing special like the root bridges ..and the terrain makes it diffcult to travel around .. I find I prefer the hill tribe culture to the dirt, chaos and stupidity found in towns of the plains in towns like Silchar.

... But I persisted and won. The Plan was get an easy insight into Mizoram culture by taking local transport to the border town and maybe across to the first market town. The first problem was finding where buses leave from ... I got bad info and wasted a lot of time... The problem is almost all Sumos go to Aizul and charge you full fare if you go half way. Rain .. Got a sumo to Baga Bazaar, but again no transport to the border except Sumos to Aizul which were all full anyway.

- Just as I was about to give up got a sumo came.

- (I hadn't been able to check cos of the holiday in Silchar there was no internet, and cos I hadn't gone back to Shillong I couldn't check the Lonely Planet).

- Later I found, that being tribal highlands the culture is different from the plains - there's more freedom for women (strangely the entire government is men), almost everyone is Christian. The first 30Km of the road in is dominated by Indian army camps. 20 years ago there had been a big independence fight, so that explains the lack of Bangladeshis here. I'd gone out looking for villages ,but when the Indian army came to stop the "terrorism" they'd actually closed all the villages and moved everyone to towns. Since 20 years ago Mizoram had been granted statehood, the geography and dominance of Christianity then it's now the safest state.

- New Train No one told me in Kolasib, but I could have left there by going to the new station they have built just inside the border at Bairabi a 90 minute bus ride away. This track doesn't go to Silchar, but goes west into Assam linking with the Tripura route... Still I met a family going from Mizoram to Tripura by sumo via Silchar so maybe there must be something wrong with the train route.

- There is no border town, so I decided to go to the first significant town Kolasib 44Km. Smaller towns are better than capitals for understanding culture and if I continued to Aizal I have to spend 3hrs getting there ony to have to return the same way.

- I arrived and a friendly Kerala policeman directed me to a hotel right in the centre only 150Rp.
- Kolasib- is nothing special .. No ruins, temples etc ... Just 30,000 people spread across a hillside. Few shops .. Food like Indians, but with pork. Sumo and restaurant, both ripped me off, but hotel is OK. One day will be enough, but the problem is cos it's so Christian no transport runs on Sunday so I'll have to wait until Monday.

- It's a surprise to see a new 5 storey shopping centre, but I guess it's just opened as only 4 small shops open. Nearby I found a small market complex. Seems almost all women smoke. (part of the greater equality for women in this society)

- I bumped into Rita an ex-model who now works in local film production and presents on government Deosan TV. Seems 90% of people only speak Mizo, but she was able to explain a lot.

- Back at the hotel one brother has a computer business. It would have been great to get on the internet and get some work done, but it was not so convenient Friday/Saturday he was working on a virus, and Sunday I didn't see him.

- nothing really amazing .. Lots of churches, another market (closed) .. Walked as far as jail .. Saw posters for rock concert for youth. Most of the houses are perched on stilts on the hill side..helps with cooling I guess.

-I suddenly saw a hornbill, but it appeared just to be a pet.

- Went down to the concert with Rita and her 2 8 year old nephews who were surprisingly totally bored by it all.
- the concert was not so well organized - 45 minutes late - sofas at front, PA broke for 90 minutes after 1st band.
- Despite fact alcohol is banned it must be widely available cos most youths were drunk.
- Boomerang : One of the biggest bands in India, professional, but I didn't like the music. The 2nd band : Broken Atma should have come on first : they sang classic Mizo songs so the crowd liked it, but 4 songs was enough for me.

- all the locals were at one of the dozen types of church : Salvation Army, Pentecostal, Presbestarian, Catholic etc - Plan was to walk down to villages

- I went up the hill, but there is no park or viewpoint. The path came back to the main road. After 4Km I turned back and cut down into the valley. Jungle farms of pineapple, banana etc ... Lot freshly cleared Slash and burn plots with "shepherds huts". Found a good path headed towards the opposite side of the valley to make a circle back to town, but heavy rain was coming and there was no signs of any villages so I turned back, but the rain moved south at that moment. Followed the good path .. Steadily up back to centre of town ... Tired almost everything closed.

- Came out in the evening, nothing happening except people passing on the way to some kind of church.

- I seen to have become some kind of unmissionary.. Everywhere I go in these Christian states ..people say "of course you are Christian" and I am able to say "no I have no religion. Good actions make a good person and you don't need a religion to have good morals", I hope this sows some seed in their minds that : you can think for yourself, instead of just blindly following some dogma
- One guy at the shop said "how can you go to the concert tonight ? Surely you'll watch the Premier League match, we'll all be watching the Premier League. " He then went on to invite me to his Pentecostal church (evangelical). - this guy is tribal, but on Saturday he is soaked in British money making culture and on Sunday American money making culture !

- Uncertainty, but got on an 8am sumo to Silchar.

- 3 hours of bumpyish road into the chaotic Bengali town. 4 internet cafes before I found one that worked. Abandoned my plans to visit Northern Tripura it seems it will be very Bengali with not much special to see. The only thing is the amazing Jamui hill tribe region. I had toyed with the idea of exiting Mizoram via Mamit, but I didn't want to complicate things with the police by trying to exit at a different place from which I entered. If I had gone that way I would have passed Jamui, now I was back on the plains once I got into Tripura it would be a 3 hour jeep ride up to the hills. So better just take a night bus back up to Shillong.

- All the buses were full so booked a standing place. A bargain 170Rp for 10 hours.
- Cos I was carrying 3 bags I forgot one I'd left my photos at the ticket office, ran back 30 minutes later.
- Instead of being convenient and leaving at 10pm to arrive at 8am the bus leaves at 6pm to arrive at 4am !
- the bus leaves from another terminal 3Km away ... I tell tne rickshaw man, but he still tries to take me to the original terminal. etc
- well when I arrived they gave me a seat anyway
- the bus was labelled deluxe, it was crap.
- I checked I was in the right seat , but just before we left I was told I was in the wrong seat and had to move next to the fat guy.

- Once in Shillong everything was easy - a short walk and I found Jado and Beef much better than Bengali food ... and another short walk to the cheap hotel