We struggled finding the correct route out of the city as our GPS maps had finished which limited our ability to navigate using electronics.

Luckily there was only light traffic due to a bun (strike) which meant all traffic was meant to be off the roads, fortunately tourists are generally allowed to travel without obstruction.

At one point we came across a picket line of women blocking the road. The police saw us through although they were reluctant to disclose what the reason for the protest was about. We were told it was something to do with the women asking for more money from the government?

Once through the picket line we were set upon by the press that were reporting on the protest as the seamed to find our ride more interesting that the protest. After several questions we made our way off.

Due to the strike the traffic became none existent which was a very odd experience in India and the temps cooled with very light showers travelling alongside forests and national parks which certainly made for a lovely ride.

AS we approached Kohima which involved traversing many hills and working around the mountain sides the road conditions deteriorated terribly and the last 40km’s appeared to take forever, what didn’t help was the light was quickly fading and cloud was low due to our 1,700m altitude.

Traffic in Kohima was at a standstill and the hotels located in the town centre were dumps. We were kindly escorted to our hotel that we had previously checked out on TripAdvisor which thankfully was far nicer than the other options we had seen.

P.s. Nagaland (province of India) is a dry state meaning we lucked out again with the beer.l