Yangkhullen often referred as ‘Hanging Village of Manipur’ is in Senapati of Manipur state. The place could be reached from Jalukie - Peren, Nagaland or Maram or, we can go to Kohima - Viswema - Maram (in the Imphal road) and then to Right turn before Don Bosco College Maran and take the state highway. From Indisen Dimapur Yangkhullen is 140 kms via Jalikie.
It is a challenge to visit this village, as the road conditions are not very friendly. There is no paved road available (as of October 2022) and the available path, or can be called road, is closed anytime due to landslides and other natural disasters. Currently massive road construction is going on between Jalukie – Peren, (Nagaland State) to Maram (Manipur State) that makes life harder for travelers. The roads are manageable for four wheelers; it is a challenge for two wheelers. There are no shops, no signboards and practically there are no vehicles or human beings on the road except at few villages here and there. Solo riders, therefore, should be very cautious about these conditions.
Coming to our trip to Yangkhullen, four people travelled in three motorcycles. One Hero Xpulse 200CC (Mr. Toshi, Computer Department), one Royal Enfield Himalayan 411CC (Mr. Sarbanada, Maths Department & Mr. Omega, Computer Department) and one Benelli Imperiale 374CC (Prof. Janetius, Principal) were the vehicles. It was a planned trip during Deepali holidays, enquiring and checking google map etc. The itinerary was prepared based on the discussion and road condition. The itinerary was prepared in such a way that maximum places are visited with minimum strain. We had our journey on October 22,23 & 24, 2022
The initial understanding from the
conversation with people was – there is a highway passing from Peren – Maram
towns, roadwork is going on. However, no one narrated the road condition for
motorcycle rides. When the people say HIGHWAY it does not mean that there is a
paved road, it means there is a way… that is all.
The first day trip was uneventful. We
started from Dimapur, visited the newly built Sukhovi Railway station, relaxed
a little bit, took few photos and reached Jalukie via the ghat road within 2.30
hours. The original plan was to have lunch at Jalukie and we cancelled it (as it
was early) and proceeded to Peren.
The road condition of Jalukie-Peren was
good except that it is under construction partially and slightly dusty here and
there. Since there was no rain, the road was good for motorcycles. We enjoyed
the trip, having stopover here and there for few photo shootings. The moment
reached Peren excitement took us to different levels. Seeing the clouds, mist
and chilly weather make us to sing and laugh. The lunch at Peren, in a small
eatery was tasty and all of us enjoyed the food and the hospitality. Our stay
was in a government Circuit House, thanks to some of our trip members and
friends for getting such an accommodation in a small town.
Peren town is not populated or having many
facilities, which we expect in a town or in a district capital. It is in fact a
small village of less than 10 thousand people. It has a chill climate all
through the year, as it was 1445 m above sea level. Though there is a
government college and few schools are there, it needs a lot of developments and
improvements.
The unpolluted natural setting of the town
was enjoyable as we walked through the main roads and drove through a few
streets. In the evening before the sunset, we want to visit a viewpoint shown
in the google map, only to find out that it is inside a military camp. Instead
of the viewpoint, we relaxed outside the camp and enjoyed the cloud moving,
mist falling and fog surrounding us. It was a pleasant, enjoyable day ONE.
On the second day, our intention was to visit Yangkhullen (65KM) nearly 3 hours ride and proceed to Willong Khullen (20 KM from Yangkhullen) 45 minutes ride. We planned our return journey at 1.30pm so that we can reach Peren comfortably before the sunset at 4.45pm.
We started our
travel in a good spirit at 7.15am. With road construction work progressing in
the Nagaland side, we reached a beautiful iron bridge over Barak River that is
the state boundary of Nagaland and Manipur around 8 am. We clicked as many
photos as possible without realizing the hardship and pathetic road conditions
ahead of us.
We promptly
rearranged our plan to visit the Willong Khullen and return to Peren before
sunset. That plan also received a blow when we were blocked by a roadwork.
Sensing that it would take more than 30 minutes to clear that road, and the
possibility of not able to return to Peren in the day light, we were once again
looking for Yangkhullen village. We enquired one supervisor of construction
work Mr. Singh and finally found out the village. Meanwhile, we shared some
snacks among us as our lunch.
Zeme tribe
inhabits Yangkhullen village. The village has some stone structures, fort like
constructions and notable carved wooden doorway with long stone steps. The
protection of this ancient stone settlement is the attraction. The guarded
entrances and the stone forts are meant to protect the village from whom, is
not clear. The village also has most of the houses on steep cliffs, which is a
common feature in the Naga Hills or Manipur Hills, adds attraction to the
settlements. The place has a beautiful view of the forest in the Naga and
Manipur hills. Lucky people...
The village people are very reserved, and no
one bothers about the visitors. The village folks are not ready to help anyone
(no idea, any village decision is taken by the head of the village). We saw
many heads peeping through the windows here and there (both men and women) but
no one really cares about the visitors or answers any queries. One man whom we
met at the entrance of the village informed us not to take videos and drone
photography prohibited. While we were venturing into the village, one authoritarian
male shouted at us, no visitors are allowed, go back… go back. He even
instructed some peeping heads not to entertain us. It reminded me of the movie,
‘Seven years in Tibet’ in which Brad Pitt was graciously chased out of a
Tibetan village saying “No foreigner... No foreigner... go away
foreigner”. People who admire different
culture come to visit places and therefore let us be helpful to them - attitude
is missing among local villagers. However, we visited the stone structures,
took many photos, and returned to Peren before 5pm.
The third day,
we expected some rains as per the weather report. However, we were not aware of
the cyclone Sitrang’s arrival and the orange alert in Nagaland. Indian
Meteorological Department informed that Northeast region encounter heavy to
extremely heavy rainfall, with wind speeds up to 60kmph on October 24. The
non-stop rains started in the midnight of October 23. We took the return
journey in the rain via Sainik School, Punglwa in a beautifully paved road.
After that we ventured again some patches of non-paved road to reach the newly
build Dimapur - Medziphema highway for lunch. We reached home safely but
completely soaked in rain.
Shall we call
our trip an adventure, excitement or relaxation...? It was total fun,
fulfilment and satisfaction.