Between April and June 1944, a battle was waged between the allied forces and the Japanese for control of Kohima. We visited a memorial to all the allied forces who died in this battle, a total of 2,397 souls. The British, from Dorset to Scotland, were joined by Indian and Nepalese soldiers, engineers and other non-combatants. The cemetery marks out what was the officer's tennis court before it became a battlefield.

Kohima is the largest city in Nagaland, a state occupied by 16 main tribal groups. The cultural tradition used to include head hunting, but this has now thankfully been stopped. The people are now predominately Christian, leading one to wonder how many missionaries gave their lives.

Kohima is a beautiful city to approach as it sits illogically on the steep mountainside. There is much to love here, though traffic jams through mountain passes is not one of them. This is quite literally a city on a hill making one realise what can be achieved.