hackernewbie
Guru
The Bolero was already tanked - up, let it move now 
Mizoram: A road trip
Gunin
Well-Known Member
I found the people in Mizoram very warm and welcoming. I doubt you will see any snow peaks here. The govt. tourist lodges are quite cheap- Rs.500- Rs.800.
Its a big tank hahaThe Bolero was already tanked - up, let it move now
Gunin
Well-Known Member
Day 4:
North Vanlaiphai to Hnahlan
Distance: 200 kms
We planned to stay at Champhai for the day but ended up driving further 70 kms to Hnahlan. But more on that later.
Gearing up for a long days drive
The route from N. Vanlaiphai to Champhai is one which is not generally taken if one is travelling from Aizawl. Our route for the day looked like this: N. Vanlaiphai- East Lungdar- Biate- Chawngtlai- Champhai- Hnahlan.
The road till Biate is in very bad condition and the going was slow. Things improve slightly after Biate.
Leaving N. Vanlaiphai
Earlier, Mr. Ngakhtea very prepared a full course meal for breakfast for us. This was a very good decision as the number of eating options is next to non-existent on this route. The room rent was again Rs.500 for the night. Truly value for money.
We crossed many neat and clean villages on our way. A lot of public toilets shows the commitment towards cleanliness of the villages. In every village, the most prominent structure is the church. Also, one would find kids playing football and volleyball everywhere.
Enjoy the drive
We were stopped by OIL people for one hour who were doing some research work before reaching Chawngtlai. There are lots of ginger cultivated hills on this route.
Some pics near Champhai:
Let the light shine upon you always
And you too
We reached Champhai at around 4:30 pm and went to Hotel Chawngthu which was suggested by Mimi. It is the best private hotel in Champhai, which is quite a busy and bustling little town. However, Pahar and I decided not to stay at the hotel as it was located in the heart of the market (which is not at all a bad thing but just reflecting on our preference) and more importantly because we were spoilt by the awesome locations of the Hmuifang and N. Vanlaiphai tourist lodges. So, off we went searching for the Champhai tourist lodge through numerous twists, turns, ups and downs of the town. Finally, we reached the tourist lodge and were disappointed at rooms not being available that day.
As we were breaking our heads about our next plan of action, a place called Hnahlan came to my mind. It is known for its grape plantations and winery. I had read about Hnahlan and at the planning stage was in two minds whether to visit the place.
I asked the manager of the Champhai lodge if Hnahlan has a tourist lodge to which she replied in the affirmative. Ms.Nguri went the extra step and booked us in Hnahlan tourist lodge and also gave her contact number for stay at Champhai in the future. I was also put on line with the manager of the Hnahlan tourist lodge and after asking about the number of persons, the second question was about our dinner menu
Ms. Nguri informed us that it would take further 2 hours to reach Hnahlan and wished us safe journey. A gem of a person who would help us in the coming days as well.
It was getting dark by the time we started from Champhai and we were pretty tired even before reaching Champhai. However, the road to Hnahlan (approx. 70 kms from Champhai) is an excellent one with narrow but smooth tarmac.
Some pics while exiting Champhai:
Rice bowl of Mizoram
Pahar and I were really hungry as the only food we had was the breakfast at N. Vanlaiphai. We were both irritable and kept bickering with each other. Looking back I find the situation quite funny. After driving for 2 hours, we reached a bridge with a signboard saying welcome to Hnahlan tourist lodge. We looked around but saw no entrance way or gate (Hnahlan is another 15 odd kms from this point and this signboard confused us).
With our hungry tummies making louder noises than the DI engine, we marched on in the dark for any signs of civilisation. Pahar started prophesying a night in the bolero
Finally, after what seemed like infinity we saw the welcoming lights of Hnahlan glittering in the distance. After asking about a dozen people on the way (we didn’t want to get lost. Not at this late hour), we finally reached the lodge at around 9 pm. The first order of the day was food and the caretaker had a lovely dinner of rice and chicken ready for us. After gorging on the food, we retired to our rooms with a lovely view of the lovely Hnahlan village.
As in Hmuifang and N. Vanlaiphai, we were the only guests at Hnahlan tourist lodge that night It soon started to rain heavily with strong winds and I tucked myself in bed under a warm layer of blankets feeling very happy about the day gone by.
North Vanlaiphai to Hnahlan
Distance: 200 kms
We planned to stay at Champhai for the day but ended up driving further 70 kms to Hnahlan. But more on that later.
Gearing up for a long days drive
The route from N. Vanlaiphai to Champhai is one which is not generally taken if one is travelling from Aizawl. Our route for the day looked like this: N. Vanlaiphai- East Lungdar- Biate- Chawngtlai- Champhai- Hnahlan.
The road till Biate is in very bad condition and the going was slow. Things improve slightly after Biate.
Leaving N. Vanlaiphai
Earlier, Mr. Ngakhtea very prepared a full course meal for breakfast for us. This was a very good decision as the number of eating options is next to non-existent on this route. The room rent was again Rs.500 for the night. Truly value for money.
We crossed many neat and clean villages on our way. A lot of public toilets shows the commitment towards cleanliness of the villages. In every village, the most prominent structure is the church. Also, one would find kids playing football and volleyball everywhere.
Enjoy the drive
We were stopped by OIL people for one hour who were doing some research work before reaching Chawngtlai. There are lots of ginger cultivated hills on this route.
Some pics near Champhai:
Let the light shine upon you always
And you too
We reached Champhai at around 4:30 pm and went to Hotel Chawngthu which was suggested by Mimi. It is the best private hotel in Champhai, which is quite a busy and bustling little town. However, Pahar and I decided not to stay at the hotel as it was located in the heart of the market (which is not at all a bad thing but just reflecting on our preference) and more importantly because we were spoilt by the awesome locations of the Hmuifang and N. Vanlaiphai tourist lodges. So, off we went searching for the Champhai tourist lodge through numerous twists, turns, ups and downs of the town. Finally, we reached the tourist lodge and were disappointed at rooms not being available that day.
As we were breaking our heads about our next plan of action, a place called Hnahlan came to my mind. It is known for its grape plantations and winery. I had read about Hnahlan and at the planning stage was in two minds whether to visit the place.
I asked the manager of the Champhai lodge if Hnahlan has a tourist lodge to which she replied in the affirmative. Ms.Nguri went the extra step and booked us in Hnahlan tourist lodge and also gave her contact number for stay at Champhai in the future. I was also put on line with the manager of the Hnahlan tourist lodge and after asking about the number of persons, the second question was about our dinner menu
Ms. Nguri informed us that it would take further 2 hours to reach Hnahlan and wished us safe journey. A gem of a person who would help us in the coming days as well.
It was getting dark by the time we started from Champhai and we were pretty tired even before reaching Champhai. However, the road to Hnahlan (approx. 70 kms from Champhai) is an excellent one with narrow but smooth tarmac.
Some pics while exiting Champhai:
Rice bowl of Mizoram
Pahar and I were really hungry as the only food we had was the breakfast at N. Vanlaiphai. We were both irritable and kept bickering with each other. Looking back I find the situation quite funny. After driving for 2 hours, we reached a bridge with a signboard saying welcome to Hnahlan tourist lodge. We looked around but saw no entrance way or gate (Hnahlan is another 15 odd kms from this point and this signboard confused us).
With our hungry tummies making louder noises than the DI engine, we marched on in the dark for any signs of civilisation. Pahar started prophesying a night in the bolero
Finally, after what seemed like infinity we saw the welcoming lights of Hnahlan glittering in the distance. After asking about a dozen people on the way (we didn’t want to get lost. Not at this late hour), we finally reached the lodge at around 9 pm. The first order of the day was food and the caretaker had a lovely dinner of rice and chicken ready for us. After gorging on the food, we retired to our rooms with a lovely view of the lovely Hnahlan village.
As in Hmuifang and N. Vanlaiphai, we were the only guests at Hnahlan tourist lodge that night It soon started to rain heavily with strong winds and I tucked myself in bed under a warm layer of blankets feeling very happy about the day gone by.
hackernewbie
Guru
Fantastic!!
sukantasarangi
Active Member
recent years looks like north east side road is getting better and better.
Gunin
Well-Known Member
Thanks bhai
I have heard good things about Mami too but couldn't meet her. I am sure Ms. Nguri is a Mizo.Awesome..
Hotel Chawngthu i was staying there.. Mami lady owner is a great friend..
Ms.Ngurishe must be Gallo from Arunachal...
Yes there is lots of improvement in road conditions in many places.
sanuroxz
Super User
Something Fishy here for sure...
I am damn sure Nguri is Galo .. need to investigate more... I guess some inter-tribal marriage...
Gunin
Well-Known Member
Day 5: Hnahlan
We woke up at a leisurely place as we would be staying at Hnahlan that day. Mimi had told me of household wineries which make grape wine in the village. We got some grape wine for our friends and family from one such household.
The rains previous night had made everything fresh and green. We could see from the tourist lodge little kids busy with football right from morning.
Some pics:
Sleepy Hnahlan from our balcony
Hnahlan tourist lodge
Rain kissed
The caretaker (I am sorry I did not get your name) told us that the Myanmar border is around 7 kms from Hnahlan. We never got around to seeing the border from Hnahlan but we set out anyway.
We were on the Hnahlan- Champhai road when we saw a mud road running on the opposite mountains. We later found out that it leads to Selam. We soon found an entry to the mud track and saw a board welcoming us to Tualcheng village around 15 kms from that point. With nothing else to do, we took the mud track.
Mud track beckoning us
Off we go
We came across entire hills covered with ginger cultivation. The cleared hills with the red mud tracks made for an entirely different landscape. There were sacks of ginger waiting to be loaded on trucks and we inspected one such sack to confirm it was indeed ginger.
Some pics enroute Tualcheng:
Ginger cultivation
Bolero 4wd
Cant have enough of this landscape
A hut for cultivation work
The road looked a little challenging especially with mud caused by the overnight rains. A good time to try out the 4wd’s prowess. We had to engage 4*4 on some tricky inclines where 2wd had kept the bolero sliding and slipping. One thing we noticed was that almost all bolero pickups we came across in Mizoram were 4wds.
We came across two young guys near a small waterfall who were plucking something from a tree. They were from Tualcheng and joined us for the ride to the village. Once in the village, they went out of their way to show us the village- their mizo school, english school and a park. All this while, we never understood each other’s language yet somehow we got along just fantastically.
Tualcheng village
We went to the only eatery in the village (we were hungry as we didn’t have any breakfast) Since we didn’t understand what was on offer, the owner went ahead and gave a sample of the menu. First up was rice soup with some tough noodles. Next was some snacks and eggs. I asked for Chaw (meaning rice in mizo) and we got chow-mein which was not bad at all. We topped it off with some soup and boiled eggs.
We drew a lot of curiosity from the villagers of Tualcheng as the small eatery was filled up with people and kids asking us something or the other. One kind person who spoke English translated their queries and our answers for everyone’s benefit. Soon, it was a really lively discussion.
We were particularly impressed with the school kids looking smart in their uniforms and running around happily.We turned back from Tualcheng and the sun had dried up most of the muck and slush. 4wd was not needed on our return journey.
The hills around Hnahlan were covered with grape cultivation. On our way back, we were hailed by two ladies who were working in one of the grape plantations. We gave them a lift to Hnahlan. They thought we were mizos and happily went about talking and chatting with us. Pahar was determined to find the way to Myanmar from Hnahlan and kept asking about the border route. As with Pahar’s most queries so far in Mizoram, the answer was lots of good natured laughter. Once in Hnahlan, they invited us for tea in their home which we happily accepted.
We decided to drive on further for 7 kms and see if we could locate the border. We drove for another 25 kms towards Khuangphah. The road is excellent and the views even better. We didn’t see any border but we were not complaining.
Lovely village after crossing Hnahlan
Drive among clouds
It was around 4:30 pm and the only food we had was at Tualcheng. The caretaker of the tourist lodge prepared a lovely meal of rice, dal and chicken for us. By this time, it was already dark and Pahar and I went strolling on the streets of Hnahlan. The streets were full of kids of all ages playing football. Service was going on in the beautiful church and we heard some lovely music coming from it.
Good night Hnahlan
Tomorrow we go to Zokhawthar, the border town of Mizoram.
We woke up at a leisurely place as we would be staying at Hnahlan that day. Mimi had told me of household wineries which make grape wine in the village. We got some grape wine for our friends and family from one such household.
The rains previous night had made everything fresh and green. We could see from the tourist lodge little kids busy with football right from morning.
Some pics:
Sleepy Hnahlan from our balcony
Hnahlan tourist lodge
Rain kissed
The caretaker (I am sorry I did not get your name) told us that the Myanmar border is around 7 kms from Hnahlan. We never got around to seeing the border from Hnahlan but we set out anyway.
We were on the Hnahlan- Champhai road when we saw a mud road running on the opposite mountains. We later found out that it leads to Selam. We soon found an entry to the mud track and saw a board welcoming us to Tualcheng village around 15 kms from that point. With nothing else to do, we took the mud track.
Mud track beckoning us
Off we go
We came across entire hills covered with ginger cultivation. The cleared hills with the red mud tracks made for an entirely different landscape. There were sacks of ginger waiting to be loaded on trucks and we inspected one such sack to confirm it was indeed ginger.
Some pics enroute Tualcheng:
Ginger cultivation
Bolero 4wd
Cant have enough of this landscape
A hut for cultivation work
The road looked a little challenging especially with mud caused by the overnight rains. A good time to try out the 4wd’s prowess. We had to engage 4*4 on some tricky inclines where 2wd had kept the bolero sliding and slipping. One thing we noticed was that almost all bolero pickups we came across in Mizoram were 4wds.
We came across two young guys near a small waterfall who were plucking something from a tree. They were from Tualcheng and joined us for the ride to the village. Once in the village, they went out of their way to show us the village- their mizo school, english school and a park. All this while, we never understood each other’s language yet somehow we got along just fantastically.
Tualcheng village
We went to the only eatery in the village (we were hungry as we didn’t have any breakfast) Since we didn’t understand what was on offer, the owner went ahead and gave a sample of the menu. First up was rice soup with some tough noodles. Next was some snacks and eggs. I asked for Chaw (meaning rice in mizo) and we got chow-mein which was not bad at all. We topped it off with some soup and boiled eggs.
We drew a lot of curiosity from the villagers of Tualcheng as the small eatery was filled up with people and kids asking us something or the other. One kind person who spoke English translated their queries and our answers for everyone’s benefit. Soon, it was a really lively discussion.
We were particularly impressed with the school kids looking smart in their uniforms and running around happily.We turned back from Tualcheng and the sun had dried up most of the muck and slush. 4wd was not needed on our return journey.
The hills around Hnahlan were covered with grape cultivation. On our way back, we were hailed by two ladies who were working in one of the grape plantations. We gave them a lift to Hnahlan. They thought we were mizos and happily went about talking and chatting with us. Pahar was determined to find the way to Myanmar from Hnahlan and kept asking about the border route. As with Pahar’s most queries so far in Mizoram, the answer was lots of good natured laughter. Once in Hnahlan, they invited us for tea in their home which we happily accepted.
We decided to drive on further for 7 kms and see if we could locate the border. We drove for another 25 kms towards Khuangphah. The road is excellent and the views even better. We didn’t see any border but we were not complaining.
Lovely village after crossing Hnahlan
Drive among clouds
It was around 4:30 pm and the only food we had was at Tualcheng. The caretaker of the tourist lodge prepared a lovely meal of rice, dal and chicken for us. By this time, it was already dark and Pahar and I went strolling on the streets of Hnahlan. The streets were full of kids of all ages playing football. Service was going on in the beautiful church and we heard some lovely music coming from it.
Good night Hnahlan
Tomorrow we go to Zokhawthar, the border town of Mizoram.