We met our driver Chennai and headed off through the mountains of Manipur. This felt a lot more like a former British colony. The notices are all in English (first time we have seen the Roman alphabet everywhere since Estonia), cars drive on the left and there was a plethora of churches. The most shocking addition to that was the number of armed men, some of whom were clearly military guarding a checkpoint while others wore no clear uniform and rode in the back of a truck.

Imphal is the largest city in Manipur. We stayed there for less than a day so didn't get much of an impression of what makes it stand out, but India began to charm us. There is no escaping the allure of colourful saris, the hustle and bustle and the friendly faces in the marketplace accompanied by the pleasant aroma of various spices.

Our first difficulty was trying to get some cash, as we had unsuccessfully queued for the ATM's at Moreh. We stopped in a few villages at cash machines but each time we were informed that they had no cash. In the city we even waited for half an hour for others to finish their withdrawals only to get to the front of the line and find out the ATM was empty. We were unsure if this was due to an actual run on the banks, because of the upcoming holiday in a nearby state or was just a reality of life among the mountains.