A Complete HAFLONG Travel Guide, Assam’s only Hill Station

There are many names attributed to Haflong when it comes to its natural beauty and the fact that it is the only Hill Station in Assam. Haflong is often called Scotland of Assam or Switzerland of Assam due to its pristine beauty, ethnic culture, and heritage; majestic hills, lush evergreen forests, and numerous small rivulets and waterfalls. This Haflong travel guide will help you to plan your trip to this beautiful hill station. A minimum of a two-day visit will be enough to explore the best places in Haflong. 

A brief introduction about Haflong

Located at an elevation of 680 m above sea level, and situated in the lap of the Barail Mountain Range, Haflong is the main town and district headquarters of the Dima Hasao District in Assam. The Barail Range is also the highest Hill range in Assam. Formerly Haflong belonged to the North Cachar Hills District in Assam.

Dima Hasao is one of the least populous districts in Assam and if we go back in history Dima Hasao belonged to the Dimasa Kingdom during the medieval period with its capital in Maibang and Dimapur. Dimapur is now in Nagaland; thus, you will find a lot of Dimasa Kachari tribespeople and even Dimasa ruins in Dimapur.

Haflong is also Assam’s only Hill Station and for the iconic Hill Line train journey, crossing Haflong rail junction, many people prefer to book a train ticket from Guwahati to Badarpur Junction just to enjoy the greenery of the North Cachar Hills.

With the majority of the tribal population belonging to the Dimasa Kachari tribe, Haflong is also home to many other tribes like the Kuki, Hmar, Karbi, Khasi, Zeme Naga, Biate, Hrangkhol and many more.

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How to reach Haflong

You can reach Haflong by cab or bus and train. The on-road distance from Guwahati to Haflong is approximately 330kms which will take around 8 hours and by bus, it takes generally 10 hours. Haflong Junction is also one of the important railway junctions in Assam connecting many important stations and trains. You can book your train tickets via irctc website.

But with my many personal experiences and numerous journeys to Karimganj and Silchar since childhood, I can bet that no one journey will be as special and memorable as a train journey across the NC Hills. The best and the most highly recommended way is to book a train ticket.

Vistadome Special Tourist train to enjoy the beauty of North Cachar Hills and visit Haflong

The Northeast Frontier Railway has introduced new Vistadome coaches for its passengers to enjoy the beautiful train journey across the North Cachar Hills. You need to book GHY NHLG TOURIST 15888 which runs from Guwahati to Badarpur junction.

 

 

The train departs at 6.45 am with just two stoppages one in Maibang and the next in Haflong. It reaches Haflong at 10:45 am and Badarpur at 2:35 pm.

This train runs every day but the Special Tourist coaches are available only on Saturday and Wednesday. From Guwahati to Badarpur there are a total of 5 stoppages on some of the important Railway Stations.

 

The comfortable reclining and rotating seats, transparent glasses on the top, big-sized windows, a special pantry, and also a special small chamber at the end of the train to get the best view of the hills and rivers.

The tourist special coach is set at the end of the train (the last coach) so passengers can enjoy a 160-degree view of the journey. I shall write in full detail about this special train journey to Haflong in another blog post.

My journey  to Haflong and some childhood memories

It was last year in February when I visited Haflong. It was a quick weekend trip, we didn’t have much time in hand so we decided to make the best use of the weekend. Since my paternal home is in the Karimganj district of Assam, I used to visit there twice almost every year.

We used to stay in Dibrugarh which is in Upper Assam and at that time there was no Broad Gauge Rail service in the NC Hills and Barak Valley part of Assam.

So we used to board the train at Dibrugarh (It was mostly the Kamrup Express) and then at Lumding Station, we had to board another train that was a Meter Gauge. That journey across places like Haflong, Maibong, Maigrengdisa etc was the most spectacular one.

I had never seen those bluish waters in the streams flowing, the green mountains, flowers blooming everywhere and the clearest skies as the train kept moving unfolding the beautiful scenery in front of us.

As kids, we used to get thrilled by the tunnels since it was a hill line and some rail bridges were so old that I remember someone saying “These bridges belonged to the British Era”.

Some of the bridges were so long that when it took a turn we could see the whole train on a bridge and that sight was something I cherish till now. I didn’t have a camera at that time to capture the visual but it will remain stored in my memory and my eyes forever.

I and my sister used to sit and write down on small notepads the names of the stations and the total number of tunnels that we crossed by.

But nowadays everything has changed with modernisation, the upgradation of the rail lines and the construction of new rail bridges and infrastructure I felt much of those sceneries is lost. The mountains are reduced to create new rail tracks, I am sure many trees are also cut down and the number of tunnels was also reduced.

But I think change in infrastructure, improvement in communication system, creation of new bridges, roads, etc has now become an integral part of development and progress.

Places to stay in Haflong

There are not many options for staying in Haflong as the place is still evolving as a tourist place in Assam. With the improvement in train connectivity, many things have changed over the past few years. We stayed in The Landmark Hotel. It is quite a humble place to stay, with great food and ambience. It is located in Member’s Council Hostel Road Haflong.

Just a walkable distance from the main road where you can get autos for communication. There are other hotels like the Nothao Lodge. There are many other hotels and some homestay options too but since I don’t have any exact review I am not mentioning other names.

The best time to visit Haflong is from October to March when the temperature ranges between 10 to 23 degrees. Avoid the monsoon seasons from July to September as there may be heavy rainfall and even landslides. The summer months can be really hot and humid. We visited by the end of February and the weather was simply perfect. 

Best Places to Visit in Haflong

Now let’s come to the main part where I shall list all the best places you can visit in Haflong in this Haflong Travel guide. You can either book a cab/taxi for a whole day tour of Haflong, it will let you visit all the important places. And you can also book an auto for the same.

Please don’t forget to bargain the charges, they will ask you an abrupt amount. On day 1 our cab picked us up from the station, then we checked in at the hotel and then we went sightseeing which ended in the evening.

For this whole period, he charged us 3000 INR. On day 2 we booked an auto and he showed us some more places and then dropped us at the railway station at 2.30 pm as we had to board the Kanchenjunga Express to Guwahati. 

The Haflong Railway station is also quite a scenic one, you can spend some time there sipping tea and enjoying the beautiful hills surrounding the railway station and also get some candid pictures. It’s also a great Instagram-worthy spot as I felt. 

Boro Haflong View Point

Some 12 km away from the main Haflong town, you can visit the Boro Haflong View Point. It’s a tall building and from the terrace, you can enjoy the beauty of the Barail range. On a clear day, the whole range is visible and with the clear blue sky at the backdrop, it seems like a painting with the brightest of colours of nature.

There is also a restaurant on the ground floor of the building if you want you can eat some food or have a cup of coffee and enjoy the scenery. 

The Haflong Lake

Located at the centre of Haflong, it is the largest natural water body providing activities like boating, angling and bird watching. The place is visited by many migratory birds during winter. You can have a splendid time in the evening with your family or take a stroll around. 

Jatinga Bird Watching Centre.

From there, we went to the Jatinga Bird Watching Centre. Jatinga remains a place of immense interest for ornithologists, scientists and also tourists from all over the world. There is a mystery behind Jatinga related to the mass suicide of birds ranging from both local birds to even migratory birds.

This is a mystery which hasn’t been solved yet even by experts from all over the world. No one could come up with a perfect answer to it. There are many stories associated with this tragic event but not one can you claim is true. The event generally takes place from September to November and in a place where mountains surround it but no one knows the exact location.

But I never met any eyewitnesses or never saw any videos of this mass suicide of birds. The history behind this mass suicide of Birds goes back to the time when the place was dominated by the Nagas in 1900.

When they saw this mass suicide they fled thinking the place was cursed. But later the Jaintias settled down and are still residing in Jatinga. They considered it among the many blessings or mysteries of Mother Nature.

Many definitions behind this event have come up. Some say some evil force or spirit is working behind them, some say it is a curse, and some scientists believe that due to foggy weather and winds the birds lose their direction and collide with the mountains.

I am sure in the coming days many more theories are going to untangle this mysterious phenomenon. According to a famous Ornithologist from Assam Anwaruddin Choudhury, the birds dying are mostly juvenile. 

From the watch tower/viewpoint, we could handle spot any bird, there were a couple of kingfishers and lots of sparrows. So don’t expect there will be flocks of birds awaiting your arrival. However, during the winter months, you may spot some migratory birds.

There was nothing much to see, just mountains and pretty bougainvillaea blooming to add to the charm. There is also a restaurant but when we visited it was closed. 

Haflong Ethnic Village

From Jatinga we visited the Haflong Ethnic Village. It is a well-maintained park around a picturesque setting with small cottages belonging to different tribes of Halong. The place is an ideal spot for picnics and for spending some leisure time with family.

In front of each cottage, there are installations of statues/models of Men depicting the particular tribe. The park is open till 5 pm in summer and 4 pm in winter and it opens at around 8 am.

A traditional Dance Court is constructed just at the entrance, the kind of one where traditional functions or events of the various tribal groups take place in Haflong. There are Khelma Cottage, Vaiphei Cottage, Biate Cottage, Hrangkhol Cottage, Semkhor Cottage, Rongmei Naga Cottage, Dimasa Cottage, Dekichange Cottage, all of these resembling some prominent indigenous tribes of Haflong. 

Presbyterian Church of India, Fiangpui Haflong

We asked our driver to take us to a church as there are many churches in Haflong and we wanted to visit one. So he took us to one of the oldest churches in Haflong, The Presbyterian Church of India at Fiangpui in Haflong which was established in the year 1966. But unfortunately, the church was closed so we could just have a look from the outside. 

The Haflong Circuit House

Although the Circuit House is a very important place in the district and is mostly restricted for outsiders due to its picturesque location and lovely view of the Barail Range and the iconic rail bridge at a distance, the Haflong Circuit House is now counted among the major tourist spots.

There are benches where you can enjoy the sunset and breathe fresh air and also take some lovely photographs. I also list this place as an Instagram-worthy spot in Haflong.

If you are lucky and have good contacts with higher government officials you may also book a stay here. But this place is closed to the normal public. This is probably the most scenic circuit house I have ever seen.

It was almost evening hour, so we asked our driver to take us to a place where we could eat some local cuisine. He took us to a small outlet run by women and they served us delicious food very similar to our homecooked food. We ate at our heart’s content. It was almost evening by then so we decided to take an evening stroll around the newly constructed Council Gate.

The Haflong Council Gate

Places we visited on Day 2 at Haflong

Haflong Market

View Point

Sielkal Peak Trek or Tumjang Trek

Maibang

Some important travel tips

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