Tour of Nagaland 2022 | Day 20 | Tuensang – Nakshu- Mon | 161 kms

I woke up just about the time when the sunrise was due. We had slept very late yesterday and also the body was tired due to the amount of torture it had undergone. We freshened up quickly and had our morning breakfast of coffee, bread toast, and boiled eggs. Thanks to us that we had taken these provisions the previous night and we could use the same for breakfast.

The outside view of Tuensang town was just perfect. The sun was coming up from behind the mountains lighting up the entire town as the color changed from dark blue to bright orange. We could see smoke rising from some of the houses from the distance. I could even spot the football ground of the town from this distance.

We left the place around 8 am, thanking Thango’s uncle for hosting us and showering us with generosity. He even packed boiled eggs for me so that I could have them along the way. The previous night I and Thango discussed the old-time head-hunting practice and keeping the skull of the enemy to show how supreme and mighty the hunter was. The more number of enemy skulls the person had, the more respect he got within his tribe. He was even ranked higher and revered among his tribe. Headhunting was practiced to a large extent in Nagaland before Christianity came in the late 1950s. I was desperate to witness these and had asked Thango to take me to such a place where I could see it.

The roads were bad right from the start. They were broken and disoriented and also slush was present at some stretches. We arrived soon in Tuensang town where we stopped first to refuel at the local petrol bunk. On the road, Thango and I stopped to meet some of his friends where he enquired about the headhunting skulls. We got to know that there was one skull cave nearby in Tuensang where skulls were present. We also came to know that when the headhunting practice was stopped at the onset of Christianity, many of the skulls were buried in the earth or thrown away. This skull cave was one such example of that. It was ok for us as long as we could have a look at the skulls.

We again stopped at the iconic Clock tower where we posed for some photos and there on the side wall of the road, Thango showed me his club’s logo painted. I again posed for a photo along the logo which was a little faded owing to the dirt on it. We met another rider friend in the town and he agreed to show us the place where the skulls were present. It was less than 1 km. I was very much excited as I followed him behind with Thango tailing me.

We parked the bike at the roadside and walked down the hill slope towards the cave. It was 10 min hike as the road zig-zagged its way downwards. Finally, I could see what I’d thought of seeing. In front of my eyes lay a heap of broken skulls. I approximated around 50-60 skulls but none was intact. Even jaws were presented separately and the teeth were still attached to them. Taking a look at one of the teeth, I wondered what the ancient people lived like. The tooth looked strong and so must be the people too. Without toothpaste and toothbrushes, teeth were such of quality, and while today’s generation, has all the tooth care in the world but still face many dental problems. This was just a thought running through my mind. We retraced our steps back to the main road above. Climbing uphill was very challenging due to the heavy clothing being worn which restricted our freedom of movement. I’d started to sweat.

We were told that there was a village nearby located up a mountain where we could see the skulls in their intact form. It was like 30 km towards the north direction. When I checked it, it was the same place that I had marked on my must-visit places in Nagaland. The village’s name was Nakshou. This was the village where the human skulls were preserved in their original form. It was an extra detour for Thango as his hometown road was further down south. But, he agreed to tag along with me as he had time and could comfortably reach his hometown before dusk.

We cut off from the main road and entered a small narrow dusty road which wound slowly towards the mountain top. The road was narrow having a width of small cars. Riding parallel was not an option and so I was tailing behind Thango, his bike blowing up dust as we cruised ahead. There was no one riding other than us. We suspected it to be a shortcut to reach the village. The road was of such type that only a seasoned rider could handle it. The road was strewn will all types of things. Dried grass, Loose rocks, small stones, big ruts, broken small tree branches, live roots exposed above the surface, etc. On top of that, we faced water crossings too which challenged our handling skills on the rounded pebble rocks. After all this, we were sure that this was not the occasional road used by the village people.

We faced many hairpin bends as we gradually gained altitude and the temperature went down further. At some sections, the road was widened using earth movers and we could see that it was recently done. We considered ourselves lucky for not facing any road closure due to such activities.

We had miscalculated the distance. The 30 km seemed like an eternity. We were riding almost non-stop without a break and still couldn’t see the sign of the village or the road signpost where we could have a look at the remaining distance. We rode and rode and rode but the sign to the village was missing. At some point, we even doubted whether we had taken the right road or not or missed some turn that led to the village. We saw chopped wood neatly stacked together in big heaps on the roadside which were up for sale as the price was written on of the barks. I guessed this must be the only source of income for a village so remote up in the mountains though I could see some farm lands at the base of the mountain.

We soon came to what looked like the mountaintop. The clouds hugged us as the area around us felt damp, cold, and wet. The weather had turned from sunny to a dark greyish dull look. We rounded a turn only to be greeted by the imposing facade of Nakshou village. We thought it lay there only to welcome the two of us. The facade was done in concrete grey with ‘WELCOME TO NAKSHOU VILLAGE’ written in big and bold white letters. We could not contain our joy as we rushed towards it. We still had to drive for 2-3 km before we came to the village where the houses were present.

The clouds hung low and we could see them moving with the help of wind. This made the visibility a little poor. We were not able to see far-off places and everything was grey. It was like this village was floating in the clouds. We parked our bikes near the church. The Christmas decorations were in full swing as we could see children and people moving around with all the decoration items. Thango caught hold of one such person, they talked within themselves for a while and then Thango signaled me to follow as the kid led us to the place where the skulls were kept. Here too, at this point, we were the only tourists present even though this village was marked in the tourist guide handbook which I’d received during the Hornbill festival in Kohima.

We walk down the large steps towards the base of the village where the skulls are kept. The kid tells us the story behind the preserved skull. We come to know that the skulls belong to the people of the village who died fighting the enemy and also some group of family members who died in a house fire. It’s sad to hear about the tragic incident. We climb down the final steps where we come across a concrete square-shaped chamber filled with intact skulls and protected by iron bars from outside so that they remain protected. We take a close look at the skulls and click some photos. We thank the kid for giving his time to show us the things for which his village is famous. On the way, he invites to his house for a cup of tea to which we happily oblige.

The tea tastes good and gives me some relief as it’s cold outside. The house has big interiors and almost completely is made out of wood. It has a centrally located kitchen and a small fire is burning. Thango and I decide to hand over some money to the kid as a donation for the Christmas decorations around the village. We leave the place and come down the mountain via the same route that we’d taken earlier and rejoin on the main road. This time Thango chose to tail me so that he too would get dirty from the blown dust from my bike so that we both would look same, all covered in dust!

Emotions were flying high as it was time to say goodbye to my dear brother who had kindly helped in all the ways possible and ensured I had a comfortable journey. The past 2 days of riding with Thango had been great. He was a great rider with good riding skills and was always attentive, guiding and motioning me while I tailed him. It was time to part ways. We clicked a selfie together and he recorded a video while I left the scene. The time was 1:30 pm and I had a long way towards Mon which was 150 km. The moment I left, I knew it was going to be tough as the road conditions were horrible. I had no choice but to accept the challenge as it was the next big city in the northern part. Thango helped me in selecting the best one out of possible 2 routes towards Mon as one was more severely damaged than the other.

Bad roads continued ahead as I stopped wishing that I would be getting good roads ahead. That pain was somehow soothed by the beautiful scenery all around as I stopped at some locations to capture the sunset. The traffic was almost nill and I had the entire road to myself. I tried to cover as much distance as possible as I knew that the sun was going down quickly.

After riding for close to 90 minutes, I stopped to stock up on my water as I had none left and I didn’t want to take the risk in these unknown areas. I still had a long way to go. The sun was exactly behind me as it cast my shadow in front of the road ahead.

After stopping at Tobu, I rode almost continuously as stopped for the last break for the day as it was about to get dark. I munched on some light snacks, got hydrated properly, and got ready to prepare myself for riding in the darkness. On the way, I was lucky to have an encounter with the national animal of Nagaland which is called ‘Mithun’. As I rode slowly past them, I was afraid of them charging at me as they were just standing beside the road and watching me pass by. But, nothing like this happened and I left the place unscathed.

At exactly 5 pm it got completely dark. I still had 100 km to cover with close to 4 hrs of riding in the dark. I knew that I had to show some excellent patience skills and not hurry myself. By this time, I was clear that I was going to be the lone soul on the road and decided not to make silly mistakes. It was pitch dark and my old support was my headlights. Somehow, my aux lights started to misbehave so I couldn’t use them to their potential. I was all dependent on my halogen bulb which cast a not-so-strong light on the road ahead making visibility very poor.

Wild thoughts started to circle my mind. Firstly, the thought of my bike getting broken down in such conditions where I would be stranded in complete darkness and then the encounter with wild animals crossing the roads at night. I was, in particular, fearful of the big animal ‘Mithun’ and the last thing I wanted was to collide with him in darkness.

I made some strategies so that my mind would not get stressed leading to some silly mistakes. It was more of a mental challenge than a physical one. I broke down the 100 km stretch into 10 km segments and concentrated on achieving those small targets before moving on to the next 10 km segments. This way, the overall target didn’t seem far away and the mind became calm and composed, not worrying much about the bad roads and body fatigue.

I did face some nightmares along the way when sometimes a big vehicle would come from the opposite direction flashing its blinding halogen lights. At that moment, I was left at the mercy of the driver and hoped that he could spot me with my dimly lit headlight against his sun-like intensity-powered headlights. It made me temporarily blind and I had no other option than to move to the side of the road and stop. Crossing him like that may have proved dangerous as there was a high probability of going down the road and I was not aware whether the side skirts of the roads were an extended portion of the road or it was a long downhill slope to the base of the valley. It was completely pitch dark and I didn’t want to risk myself and the bike for saving some 3-4 secs of my life.

Finally, I achieved the impossible when I entered Mon village. I congratulated myself as my strategy had worked well. I didn’t feel fatigued even though I rode for almost 3.5 hrs in the dark and my mind was stable too. On the way, I stopped to click a photo of my bike against a billboard that had the town name ‘Mon’ written over it.

I had the guest house details with me which Thango had given. He had told me that I would get accommodation here comfortably. I was wrong. I’d managed to locate it and even entered its premises. I waited for like 10-15 minutes hoping that the caretaker would come and check me in. I was wrong. He did not live there but had gone to his home for the night. This I got to know from the people staying in the guesthouse. I was doomed. I had completely overlooked the time factor in such a remote part of Nagaland where everything got shut around 6 pm. The time was 8:30 pm which meant that it was too late in the night.

I had no option but to leave the place and look for some other accommodation and hope that someone would take me in for the night. Outside too, it was complete silence everywhere, and hardly anybody could be seen in the open. I got scared and tried to call other hotels through Google Maps. I got no response from them over the phone and some of them said that they were full. Alas, I could locate a guesthouse called Helsa Cottage on Google Maps and decided to go and check it out. As I stood near its gate, I could hear people talking and there was even a dog inside. I tried to bang to door to indicate my presence to which the dog started to bark loudly. Still, there was no response from the people inside. After repeated banging, I guess I was banging too softly and only the dog could hear it, the people took notice of me and opened the door for me. I explained my catch-22 situation to them.

They were not the caretaker of the guest house but some other people from an adjacent building. They told me that the caretaker was not available and I explained my situation to them. They told me that the guesthouse had some empty beds in the Dorm section and that I could use one and pay the bill the next morning when the caretaker would come. The rate was 500rs and I thanked them for helping me out.

I quickly transferred all my soiled luggage to the room and prepared myself a dinner of hot readymade soup using my cooking stove as everything was closed outside at this hour. Thanks to the provisions that I had collected the previous night which included the pack of readymade soup too! I relished the hot soup in the cold weather which breathed some energy back into my body and made my headache go away.

I finally lay on my bed after braving the harshest of road conditions and fell asleep almost immediately.