Sunday in Thenzawl

 Sunday morning in Thenzawl is almost as quiet as Aizawl but not quite; for us, though, with no horns or cockerels it was bliss!



Not every business was closed, but almost. We did manage to get breakfast though not what we'd ordered - sort of eggy bread arrived and was good. We also succeeded in getting an auto rickshaw, despite the process involving many people including the hotel receptionist, cook, shopkeeper across the road and several passers by. 

I have never known anyone take so many phone calls, so almost all the ride the driver had his phone jammed under his cheek. We passed through several major road works - actual road building as the main road south is improved.





Our first destination, Vantawng, has the highest waterfall in Mizoram at about 230m. The track passed through dense forest and bamboo - the hillside above has been harvested of bamboo and awaiting collection. 

It's very difficult to get close to the waterfall but a viewing area makes that irrelevant. Despite dry season and very little water flowing over it was stunning, the photos really can't show the scale of this place. I was trying to find out about the geology but instead found this bizarre history:

"... is located in Vanva River near Thenzawl and is named after Vantawnga, who was said to be an excellent swimmer. So good a swimmer was Vantawnga that he could hover in the cascading water like a fish, but during one of such performances, a drifting log fell from above and killed him."






The next waterfall was closed(!) so on to Dilpui, a lake we'd been advised was very beautiful. 

Dilpui opened shortly after we arrived and was a small lochan around which a few  "attractions" and facilities had been installed with the objective of fun without investment. It was strange in places but very Indian! 





Our lunch was, for the first time here, almost as we expected and delicious. Throughout most of India the main choices are "veg" or "non-veg". Here it tends to be chicken, pork or beef. Beef biriani with fried mixed vegetables and daal. 



Early evening we took a walk around the village. We discovered it's flat enough for a couple of tennis courts and a football ground. Not much gloaming at these latitudes - only a few minutes of half light. We're pretty much on the Tropic of Cancer. 






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