TO THE FESTIVAL OF THE FESTIVALS -

Q: What kind of food will be available during the trip? Are there any vegetarian food choices available at Nagaland and the Hornbill Festival?

Breakfast in most places serve simple things like poori sabji, fresh sandwiches, bread butter, Eggs (how ever you want), tea/coffee, fruits, cornflakes milk etc. Included lunches will be mostly home cooked food like Rice, dal, few naga chutney and boiled greens, vegetable curry, meat curry, salad and papad Veg food is available in out tours If you have dietary restrictions, do let us know in advance and we will take care of you

Welcome to 25th edition of Hornbill festival. Before anything is spelled about this celebration, one must know that Nagaland is a land of eccentric cultural festivals. These festivals are held yearround among the varied tribes in their respective towns and villages. The fundamental theme of these activities (in a nutshell) is to bring back to life the age-old tradition of the ancestors for a brief moment as a matter of identification and to showcase an element of a long-lost culture to the contemporary generation. Once the celebration is set off, all the people present at the event have the liberty to indulge themselves in the traditional luxury of delicacies, drinks, arts, crafts, music, attire, folklores, equipment, paintings, muses etc.

Apart from indulging ourselves in the festive celebration, we are going to:

Stay in an authentic Naga homestay
Curated walks in several Naga villages including the first green village of Asia.
Trek to the mighty Dzukou valley

Itinerary

Inclusion & Exclusion

FAQs

Map

Dates

Day 01 :

Welcome to Nagaland!

Dimapur airport - Kohima - Kiwema

Meet and greet at Dimapur airport as per flight timings
Drive straight to the capital town Kohima
Checkin to the homestay near the Hornbill main venue
Stroll at Hornbill festival in the evening with our local expert
Rice beer tasting and ethnic dinner awaits

Overnight in Kigwema village

Expect a total drive time of 3 hours

STARTING THE FESTIVITIES

Let's kick off our adventure by breaking the ice with our fellow travellers and locals, as we soak up the Angami tribe's warm hospitality in a Naga homestay. We'll dive straight into the festivities, strolling around hornbill venue popping up to different morungs. If you happen to be a meat-eater, there's a smorgasbord of seasonal exotic meats for you to sink your teeth into. And don't worry, our veggie pals won't be left hungry with delicious home-cooked food also on offer.

Day 02 :

Trek to the mighty Dzukou Valley

Kigwema - Dzukou - Kigwema

Breakfast will be served by 7:15 am and we start by 7:45 am
Drive to the starting point of the trek
First part of the trek is an ascend for about 60-90 minutes in a jungle. Terrains are rugged and rocky with no concrete steps
After the ascend we reach the valley and pleasant easy walk further for 2 hours will take us to the main Dzukou View point
Stroll around the valley with our local expert.
Picnic lunch
Trek back to the base before sunset
Evening at leisure taking well deserved rest

Overnight in Kigwema

Total drive time is 2 hours

STILLS FROM DZUKOU

Day 03 :

A day at Hornbill Festival

Kigwema - Kisama - Kigwema

Morning breakfast
Explore Hornbill Shananigans the whole day with our local expert
There are many things to do in Hornbill venue from visiting world war museum, visiting Morungs (house/ gathering place/educational institution) of different tribes, try different tribal cuisines and rice beer, watch cultural performances, watch things like chilli eating competition and naga wrestling, band war amongst many other events
After 3-4 hours of guided walk, travellers are free to scatter around to shop or visit any place they like

Overnight in Kigwema

Total drive time is 1 hour

STILLS FROM HORNBILL

Day 04 :

A day exploring the capital town and hornbill events

Kigwema - Kohima - Kigwema

With our local expert, explore the capital town of Kohima
Many events happen across the town like stone pulling ceremony, strongest man competition etc. We will visit a few interesting ones today based on Hornbill’s official schedule
Curated walk across all 5 sectors of Kigwema Village with a local story teller
Visit places like war cemetary, nagaland state museum and cathedral church
For the adventerous ones, we can also arrange a hike to a hill top called Pulie Badze for sunset at an extra cost
Enjoy concert and karaokes at hornbill venue post sunset

Overnight in Kigwema

Total drive time is 2 hours

STILLS FROM DAY 4

Day 05 :

A day hopping villages in Nagaland

Kigwema - Khonoma - Dzuleke - Dimapur

Drive to Khonoma after breakfast
Village walk in Khonoma
Visit to paddy fields and indulge in the cultural showcase the whole village omes together to do
Lunch amidst paddy field
Local Herbal tea time at UKU cafe
Quick visit to Dzuleke village
Drive to Dimapur for night halt
Bar and cafe recommendations for Dimpaur to be given

Overnight in Dimapur

Total drive time is 2-3 hours

STILLS FROM DAY 5

KHONOMA

Walk around the at the first green village of Asia, where our local experts will take you on a curated route through all the main khels/sectors of the village. During the walk, there will be interactions and storytelling to help us understand the land, the culture, history, architecture, food, lifestyle, superstitions better and anything else that piques your curiosity

Day 06 :

Bid Adieu!

Dimapur - Dimapur airport

Say farewell to the hills post breakfast
We will have you at the airport as per flight timings
If you're extending your stay or joining us for another adventure, we will coordinate your drop-off
To those heading home, we can't wait to see you back for more North East India escapades

Total drive time is 15 minutes

FAQs

Expand all

What kind of food will be available during the trip? Are there any vegetarian food choices available at Nagaland and the Hornbill Festival?

Breakfast in most places serve simple things like poori sabji, fresh sandwiches, bread butter, Eggs (how ever you want), tea/coffee, fruits, cornflakes milk etc.

Included lunches will be mostly home cooked food like Rice, dal, few naga chutney and boiled greens, vegetable curry, meat curry, salad and papad

Veg food is available in out tours

If you have dietary restrictions, do let us know in advance and we will take care of you

What type of properties are we staying at?

We will be staying in a basic highly rated home-stay at Kigwema. You shouldn’t expect any kind of luxury but all basic things you may need like hot water etc are available and the properties will be super clean, tasteful, comfortable and will come with the hospitality of a very warm Angami family

In Dimapur the stay will be in a modern hotel/homestay

Room Sharing

Couples will be allotted same rooms. If you are a solo traveller, you’ll be paired with another traveller of the same gender. Dzukou Dormitory is a common room for all overnight hikers at Dzukou on that night. Please note that some of the properties may have different category of rooms and the allocation will be done randomly

What are the expenses over and above the package price? How much cash should we carry?

Major expense is the to and fro Flight to the starting and ending point of the trip. Other expenses during the trip is mostly the meals that aren’t included which will cost you not more than Rs 300 per meal, alcohol and recreational expenses and shopping expenses.
A total of 5,000 cash per head should cover the trip very easily.

Things to carry?

Around 15 days before the trip, we will give you a detailed list of things to carry once you have signed-up

We have heard that there is some special permit needed to travel to Nagaland. Is that true?

Indeed, an Inner Line Permit is a must for Nagaland travels, but fret not! We’ll handle all the nitty-gritty for you

TO THE FESTIVAL OF THE FESTIVALS

Itinerary

Inclusion & Exclusion

FAQs

Map

Dates