Aizawl and the Mizo Hills

• Aizawl
• 1,130 m
• 32 km · 1–1.5 hrs
• Dinner

Indian citizens show their Mizoram ILP at the airport counter, or get a temporary pass there on arrival by paying the fee with a photo ID. Foreign nationals need a Protected Area Permit in advance and must register with the police within 24 hours. Our driver then takes you along the ridge road to Aizawl, crossing the Tlawng river valley before the climb into the city. After check-in and lunch we walk Bara Bazar, the main market that runs down the slope below the city centre, with stalls selling local vegetables, smoked meat, bamboo baskets and puan, the wrap-around Mizo cloth. In the evening watch the city lights appear down the ridges from a viewpoint near Chaltlang. Dinner at the hotel or a Mizo restaurant serving bai, the mild vegetable stew.

• Aizawl
• 1,130 m
• 60 km return · 2.5 hrs
• Breakfast, Dinner

Reiek is about 30 km west of Aizawl, a ridge rising to 1,465 m above the surrounding forest. From the road end, a 30 to 45-minute walk climbs through trees and rock outcrops to the top, where on clear winter days you can see across the hills toward Bangladesh. Near the base is a model Mizo village with traditional houses for a chief, a widow and a bachelors' dormitory called zawlbuk, which explains how Mizo villages were organised. Back in Aizawl after lunch, visit the Mizoram State Museum for its textiles, jewellery and the history of the Mizo hills. In the evening we can arrange a short Cheraw bamboo dance demonstration if a local group is available.

• Thenzawl
• 1,000 m
• About 140 km · 5–6 hrs with stops
• Breakfast, Dinner

This is the long day, so we leave by 8 am. The first stop is Hmuifang Tlang, about 50 km south of Aizawl at around 1,619 m, a hill forest protected by village tradition since the time of the Mizo chiefs. Walk the easy trail under old trees for an hour. We then continue south to Thenzawl, a small town known for its weavers, where many homes have looms on the veranda. Late afternoon we drive about 5 km to the Vantawng Falls viewpoint, where the Vanva river drops in two tiers down a wooded cliff; the falls are fullest from August to November. Tonight we stay in Thenzawl, which is quiet and dark by 8 pm.

• Aizawl
• 1,130 m
• About 90 km · 3.5 hrs
• Breakfast, Dinner

Spend the morning in Thenzawl's weaving lanes. Families here weave puan on loin looms and frame looms, and you can watch a length being made and buy directly from the weaver; prices are fixed and fair. After lunch we drive back to Aizawl through small hill towns, stopping at roadside stalls for oranges in winter or fresh pineapple in summer. In the late afternoon visit Solomon's Temple, a large white church on the city's eastern edge built by a local congregation, and then head up to Durtlang in north Aizawl for the evening view back across the city ridges. On a Sunday we switch this order, as most of the city goes to church.

• Departure
• 400 m
• 32 km · 1–1.5 hrs
• Breakfast

After breakfast there is usually time for a last walk around the city centre, or for a look at the handloom shops near Zarkawt for shawls and puan. We leave for Lengpui Airport at least three hours before your flight, since the road winds and can slow down near the Tlawng bridge. Lengpui has direct flights to Guwahati, Kolkata and Delhi, and connections toward Imphal, Agartala and Shillong on some days, so you can continue your Northeast trip from here. If you have a late flight, we can add a stop at a viewpoint on the airport road. The driver drops you at the terminal and helps with bags.