THE ROAD TO MANDALAY

The best known of India’s international border crossings is the one at Wagah-Attari on our western frontier. But perhaps the coolest is the one in the east, in Manipur at Moreh-Tamu on the India-Myanmar border. Getting to the border crossing is an adventure in itself. Setting off from Imphal, the roughly 100 km journey on the grandly named Asian Highway 1 (or AH1) to Moreh takes around 3-4 hours. En route, you cut across the pretty Imphal Valley, before climbing sharply up and descending even more precipitously down the mountain range that separates India from Myanmar in these parts.

There is much to ponder on the mountain stretch: not only are you in an area where South Asia gives way to Southeast Asia, but this road is also steeped in WW-II history. The Japanese and the Indian National Army came up this way from Burma in 1944 as they sought to capture Imphal; it was also the route taken later by the victorious British forces as they counterattacked in the other direction. Much of the highest section of the road was a battlefield.

Today the men in uniform visible here belong mainly to the Assam Rifles, who man two major checkposts. Getting through them, with their verification of IDs and checking of vehicles, is the only jarring note in what is otherwise a fairly smooth ride. From Moreh, Indian day-trippers can cross over the border and explore Tamu without requiring a visa, but you need to get back the same afternoon. It’s just enough time to have a quick look around at the noticeably neater town and visit the local market or a pagoda—or a beer bar (whichever way one is so inclined). To go further afield, you need a valid Myanmar visa as well as a special land permit.