Again, there was heavy military presence everywhere and one of my fellow passengers told me that the area wasn’t safe (which I have heard throughout my entire trip). Some groups obviously want independence for their province or aren’t happy with the current situation. As I have said before, for me there was no kind of trouble but you definitely get the feeling that something’s brewing in the area. People along the way with their goods in baskets seemed to be very peaceful, but still … when we stopped at some intersections to change passengers, we were carefully observed by the military.

After An Odyssey, I Arrived In Imphal.

The taxi only drove up to a larger village, where I had to change for the local bus again (déjà vu anyone?). I was pretty exhausted after all this changing & delays and during the last 50km this was topped with having to give up my second (paid) seat. The bus was really overcrowded and two small Indian ladies sat down next to me. They hesitated at first and were pretty shy but after a while they giggled and seemed to be excited to sit next to a foreigner. Towards Imphal the road improved and so did the driver; he started speeding as if there was no tomorrow. I can honestly say that I was relieved to arrive in Imphal in one piece.

After a few times asking around for a hotel, I booked myself into the “best place in town” – Classic Hotel. It had working air-con, clean beautiful rooms, a hot shower and even a fridge. There were still a few power blackouts but I didn’t care as long as I had a nice place to sleep.

Exploring Imphal.

Imphal has a very interesting market called “Imas” (mothers) markets. All 3.000 vendors were women, which is an interesting concept and as far as I’m concerned, these ladies seemed to be pretty good businesswomen. The hardware section on the other side was occupied by men. The market really seemed like a giant beehive, because there were so many people – who were all super friendly. I bought a couple of materials and a fishing net as a souvenir.

My impression of Imphal was actually really good but there was also a disturbing part: the day I left, a home-made bomb was set off in a market a bit outside of the city and ten people lost their lives. Events like this are not uncommon and I guess that explains the heavy military presence…

The road blockade of the National highway N39 (which btw was lifted – after 92 days – today) was also a sign, that some groups want reformations or changes in the province. The ones who suffer most of these incidents – as it’s always the case – is the common population. Prices were sky-rocketing: food, petrol and major provisions were running short. Ambulances (if needed) couldn’t get through… I guess I was really lucky in the end because I probably couldn’t have gotten out of Manipur easily. But since the blockade is lifted, I’ll return again soon for sure!

Read about the first part of my trip from Kohima to Imphal.

The road to Imphal…

Fresh maggots can be found at the market in Imphal.

Market life in Imphal.

Tuk tuks around the area of Lake Loktak – located south of Imphal.

Rice paddies fill the landscape of Manipur in India.

Women are the “rulers” of the markets in Imphal.

Street market in Imphal.

Finding Out How To Get To Imphal.

Kohima in Nagaland is laid out on a few hills and public transport departs from various corners of the city – depending on the direction, so it was quite an uphill walk to check out my options on how to get to Imphal. It was a real hustle and bustle around the taxi stand. English isn’t really spoken, and I had enough hassle so I decided to skip this try to check out the big market nearby. It rained cats and dogs and after a while a guy took pity on me and asked where I wanted to go. I then found out that there was no direct bus or taxi to Imphal. I would have to change cars at the regional border, but it still seemed doable in a day if I’d start early enough.

So next day I was at the station at 6am. Definitely too early … I was the only one and the shops and market around the station were just opening. The first taxi was already pre-booked (bad luck for me). The second taxi in line was still waiting for travellers to the border but was more than pleased with my offer on paying the entire middle row (so that I can take pictures on the left and right side).

Off I Go.

It took about one hour to fill up the car with passengers intending to go my direction. And of course everybody stared at me. After leaving Kohima the driver stopped at a road block to get the travel permit and to pay the road tax. The area is heavily controlled by the Indian Army (called the Assam Rifles). They protect the roads because there’s a lot of tension in the area and sometimes home-made bombs are set off or important local individuals are kidnapped for money. I don’t know exactly, but it didn’t seem like that they were going to kidnap foreigners. I still heard a few times (from the few people who speak English) that the area was not safe. What can I say? For me the trip was very safe.

Luckily the driver didn’t think he was Michael Schumacher, so I enjoyed the ride which took me along a winding tarmac road. Now or then the trip was interrupted by earlier landslides. We stopped a few times to let people in and out, always with a few military guards in sight. These guys were all very (!) good looking in their combat uniforms!

Faster than expected the border to Manipur came in sight. The road was in bad shape the last kilometres, with some barriers along the road. At one of these barriers we had to strop and I had my passport ready – of course it was me they were looking for. The officer spoke English, said sorry for the delay but it was procedure that he had to copy my passport. After about 3 km we pulled into the taxi station I was ready to get off at. Now I had to look for another transport to continue my jounrey.

First I needed a rest through. A quick scan of the area showed me a big restaurant sign and I thought that I’d check it out. The food offered excellent vegetarian variety and the owner even had rooms to rent. I would have stayed, but since I already heard about the road blockade, I wanted to continue. I walked along the main road until I reached the border post of Manipur. Everyone seemed to be on their lunch break, because nobody opened an eye when I went in and said “Hello, is anybody here?” One guy looked at me and waved me out as if he was saying “Just go ahead.” So I did and stepped on Manipurs soil.

Here’s part 2 of my trip from Kohima to Imphal.

The view of Kohima in Nagaland.

A local bus driver in Kohima, Nagaland.

Women carrying home their goods along the way to Manipur

The military is present all around Nagaland.

Rice terraces can be found all around Nagaland.