Secluded cabin stay in Dzuleke Village, near Khonoma, Kohima

As I drove past Khonoma Village (under Kohima district, Nagaland) junction, keeping an eye on the small wooden plank sign board, on the the roadside, to the left, marked “family cabin”, I pulled my car over, just two kilometers before reaching the last petrol station, near the village entry gate of Dzuleke Village, Kohima district, Nagaland. I drove down, below the road, to the left, and within few seconds the breathtaking, misty cabin was there, with pristine, crystal clear, chilly, mountain river flowing beside the property.

The cabin was a duplex, has a basic, yet a complete kitchen on one end of the ground floor, with provisions of gas stove, filled gas cylinder, and all necessary kitchen utensils and of course a 24 x 7 cold spring water supply directly into the kitchen sink. On the other end of the kitchen is a traditional Naga kitchen, basically consist of an earthen hearth fireplace where firwoods may be placed, start the bonfire, and be used for warming oneself, sitting around it during winter, and for cooking purposes.

It took me nearly two hours to reach the cabin from Kohima city, by road, on my four wheeler. I took along a live local chicken, one kilo of rice, match box and a 300 ml gas can cylinder with the lighter, and of course a log bundle of dried firewoods from the gate of Dzuleke Village. The first thing I did once I I entered the cabin, very typical of a Naga lifestyle was to start the fire by placing firwoods on the traditional naga hearth, and fire I lit. The smoke seen from far distance, at the chimney outlet, is a sign that the cabin was alive, lifting the spirits of the residents in the cabin, experiencing the age old, typical, traditional naga lifestyle.

It was almost dark by around 5.30pm in the afternoon, with no electricity, no phone network and hence no internet took me all the way back to the old countryside adventure stories of huts in the wilderness, with forgotten milestones half hidden amongst the untamed wild grasses. I started dressing the chicken, by plucking the feathers, feather by feather, like the hawks does, burning them on the fire, and two of my friends arrived from Dimapur, driving all the way from Dimapur after their work hours.