chalet spa Eco-Camp (%9435250052/09854019932; dm/d 200/1620, plus membership per person 50) organises all Namer

Eco-Camp (%9435250052/09854019932; dm/d 200/1620, plus membership per person 50) organises all Nameri visits, including two-hour birdwatching rafting trips (two people 550). Accommodation is in tents , but colourful fabrics, private bathrooms, sturdy beds and thatched-roof shelters make the experience relatively luxurious. The camp is set within lush gardens full of tweeting birds and butterflies drunk on tropical nectar. There s an atmospheric, and excellent, open-sided restaurant and the staff are simply superb. All up it gets our vote as the best place to stay in the entire northeast. chalet spa It s very popular, so book way ahead. If it s full the government-run Jiabhoroli chalet spa Wild Resort (%9954357376; tw 1200) just a short walk beyond the Eco-Camp, has plain cottages that aren t quite as quaint as a cottage should be. It s very much the second chalet spa choice.

Dramatic if largely unadorned, this 1752 brick palace (Indian/foreigner 5/100; hdawn-dusk) is the last remnant of the Ahom s pre-Sivasagar capital. The unique four-storey structure rises like a sharpened, stepped pyramid above an attractive forest-and-paddy setting spoilt by nearby electricity substations. It s 900m north of the Sivasagar Sonari chalet spa road: turn just before Gargaon (14km) from Sonari.

Of the various Adi villages around Along, Kabu (2km north of Along) is the best known and most easily accessible. Before entering the village you must seek permission from the headman (who often demands a 500 fee). As well as admiring the spectacular longhouse architecture that is a hallmark of all Adi villages don t miss the terrifying cable-trussed but bamboo-decked wobbly suspension bridge over the river. Fortunately for vertigo sufferers a modern metal bridge has just been completed, which makes crossing the river slightly less sickening. chalet spa It remains to be seen if the old bridge will be maintained or not. There are further interesting, and less visited, Adi villages chalet spa on the road to Pasighat, but whichever village you visit be discreet with cameras as the locals aren t at all keen on them.