Manipur

A 3-week loop through Northeast India's living root bridges, Loktak Lake's floating islands, and Mizoram's hill villages — genuinely off the beaten path, with real permit requirements most agencies don't cover well.

Duration

3 weeks for the full loop, given the number of day trips and the transit time between states.

Best time

October to April, avoiding the monsoon (roughly June-September) — Meghalaya in particular gets extreme rainfall in that window, and it affects road conditions throughout the route.

Budget

Hotels ran around ₹2,500/night (roughly $25/€25), with meals roughly ₹250-350 (roughly $3-4/€2-3) per person. Local transport is the one place this route gets expensive — cabs are pricier here than in most of India, largely due to limited local supply.

Getting around

Rent a scooty locally rather than relying on cabs for everything — this worked well in Shillong (covering all of Meghalaya's day trips) and in Imphal (for the Loktak day trip). In Aizawl, local taxis covered both day trips instead.