Manipur and Tripura travel guide

I have covered most states in India with the exception of North East. My previous visit to North East was to the states of Assam and Meghalaya few years ago. Impressed with the visit, I had planned to come to North East region again but that never materialized due to many reasons. This year we (Sankara and me) managed to visit North East again covering the states of Manipur and Tripura along with our families. Few motivational factors behind choosing these states were:

• Beautiful states with lot of history.
• There is a direct flight from to Bengaluru to both Imphal and Agartala. There was also a flight between Imphal and Agartala.
• Travel planning during Christmas is always difficult. Most places are expensive and crowded. But these states are not the top choice of general tourists, I expected the crowds to be less.
• Inner Line Permit (ILP) is not needed for both states. (It is now enforced in Manipur too from 1 January 2020)

Both the states are very unique and different in many ways.

CAA protests

The carefully planned trip seemed to be in jeopardy when CAA protests turned violent in many parts of India. Manipur was given ILP and kept outside the ambit of CAA, but parts of Tripura was exposed to CAA and people turned violent. Tripura is a state that has seen lot of clashes between tribal and non-tribal people. But after couple of days, tempers cooled down and things turned normal. The area was completely peaceful during our visit!!

Apart from locals, there were hardly any visitors in most of the places we visited. I am not sure whether outsiders do not visit these places or people just stayed out of these places due to protests.

Is it safe to visit Manipur and Tripura?

This is a question that people normally asked when I mentioned about our trip. This is due to the several issues that plagued these areas before. Things have changed a lot in North East. Tripura has come out of insurgency long time back. Today, it is a very peaceful state. Manipur suffered a lot from insurgency and ethnic conflict, but it has been peaceful for last few years. Most incidents are related with security personnel and tourists are not affected. I was told that some separatist organizations still have extortion check posts on highways, but private vehicles are not touched. It is common to see security people with automatic rifles. Unlike our lathi wielding policeman, Manipur Police have sophisticated rifles.

In a nutshell, I do not see any issue in visiting these states. We did not face any issues even we went out early in the morning and late in the night.

But note that officially Manipur is still designated as “disturbed area”. Keep an eye on Naga peace talks that is supposed to be concluded with Indian Government shortly. This is quite a sensitive issue in Manipur and is also a very difficult problem to solve and keep everyone happy.

Update May 2023: Unfortunately, Manipur has been severely hit by ethnic clashes. People have died and properties destroyed. It is absolutely not safe to travel to Manipur under present circumstances.

Tourist infrastructure

Tourism is still in a nascent stage in both states, especially in Manipur. The Governments have still not harnessed its potential. You may not find very good hotels to stay or restaurants to eat outside capital cities.

The roads are in a decent condition in most places, but the journey can be slow due to hilly areas. Tripura has some good train network.

We had pre booked a vehicle in Manipur for our entire trip. For Tripura, we arranged everything after landing in Agartala. No concerns at all.

Language

Manipuri is spoken in Manipur. It was Bengali in Tripura. But each tribe and sub tribe have their own language!! Hindi is understood my most people in tourist circuit. You can manage with English in some places.

Food

It is not an issue for Vegetarians though you may not find “Pure veg” restaurants outside capital cities. Agartala has some good South Indian options.

Our itinerary

• Reach Imphal from Bengaluru on flight. Cover Loktak lake, Imphal, Moreh (and to Tamu in Myanmar) and Willong Khullen.
• Fly from Imphal to Agartala. Experience ceremony at India Bangladesh border. Visit Unakoti and places near Udaipur.
• Agartala to Bengaluru on flight.

More posts on the trip will follow.