Ziro Valley

The Inner Line Permit required to enter Arunachal Pradesh has been Ziro's most effective protector. The Apatani tribe of Ziro Valley has practiced a form of rice-fish farming for over 2,000 years — flooding their terraced paddies with fish that feed on the weeds and fertilise the rice simultaneously, eliminating the need for pesticides. This system is so sophisticated that UNESCO has nominated it as a World Heritage site candidate.

Ziro sits on a plateau at 1,500m in the Subansiri district, ringed by pine-covered hills. The Apatani villages — Hari, Bamin, Mudang-Tage, Hong — are clusters of bamboo-and-wood houses arranged around communal fields. Traditional Apatani women once wore nose plugs and facial tattoos to discourage raids by neighbouring tribes; the tradition is ending with the elder generation.

In late September, the Ziro Music Festival transforms a rice field into a 3-day outdoor concert bringing together independent musicians from across India and abroad, camping under the stars of the Apatani plateau. It is one of India's finest festivals and one of its least known.