In Maraland
Saiha
Saiha bazaar is pretty much like a person. Moody, unpredictable , vibrant when its upto it and if you give it just enough time it warms upto you. But as you believe that you have known it , it throws you a googly and you laugh at your presumptuousness. Some images.
The district library has been our steady support for the days that it poured like it would never stop. Armed with a bagfull of books , the monsoons didn't appear so crippling. Some images and notes on the library and a review of some books from there
Phura was one of the first places we visited together and have lamented the fact that the monsoons came too soon and stayed too long for us to be able to go there again. Its probably one of the southern most villages to this last district in south Mizoram. Known as the rice bowl of Maraland , it is the only region that has sufficient plain land to do some wet rice cultivation. The heart of Phura is its market for me! A tiny square in the middle of the village a couple of tea and grocery shops and a bornfire suited for the very chilly mornings and nights, Infact, We'd wake up and just about rub our eyes clean and head for the tea stall each morning we were there. Why Phura Is also special is the fact that it is from where we head for Palak Dil. A beautiful 5-6 km walk through the hills and forest gets you there. Huge squirrels kept us company on the way, we watched some birds at the lake and had Hornbills' bid us a breathtaking adieu!
Is the village closest to Saiha, from where we can access the mighty Kaladan and play in the Kao. One a river and the other something more than a stream. The view from the bridge over the Kaladan is quite something and it is the place we spent most of our time in , second only to being in the water. We've had a couple of interesting visits to Kawlchaw , some quite comic too. Some notes
I got to meet a group of women who weave as part of an SHG here. Considering how difficult it has been to find women weaving , chakhang was a treasure house. Some images and notes
We also had a great time with the MTP there and visited Mt Mawma , Nimesh write more on this aspect in his post on the visit.
Vahai
All I managed to put up after this visit were some images , but Nimesh writes more in detail about our visit to this village named after the hornbill! You can read it here.
Lawngtlai
Our first visit to Ngengpui was on a wildlife census. The forest was enchanting and we spotted a couple of hornbills which seems to make all sorts of trips worthwhile. But what truly made this maiden visit more than eventful was the raging storm we got caught up in. Huddled in a hut in the middle of the a dry river bed , we experienced the the thunder and lightening like never before. Morning saw us trekking through some pretty ardous short cuts back to the rest house at bungtlang. Rain, storm, some steep and slippery ascents and descents , close to 10km we'd walked till we reached our destination. Here's the full story
Our second visit to Ngengpui offered a polar opposite experience. On the river again and this time in some very hospitable weather conditions. We stayed at the lovely forest rest house in Khawmai and and made a trip into the Sanctuary in a Dugout.Images here and the notes here
Phawngpui Tlang- Blue mountain National Park
Has been on top of our wish list for over a year and we made it there just before we left Saiha. A story about Blue Mountain , plenty of birds and some images. You'll find them here
Wildlife Week in Lungpher Cheural and Bualpui
Celebrating Wildlife Week in three villages of Lawngtlai. Cheural, Lunpher and Bungtlang. Homestays , Interactions with the village council, Youth and Children . Read more
