Ziro Valley

Ziro is a valley of rice paddies ringed by pine hills, and it is the home of the Apatani — one of the few communities in India who terrace-farm rice and fish in the same flooded field. The farming is the thing to understand here. The Apatani irrigate paddy and raise fish in the same water, without machinery, on a system worked out over centuries. Walk out into the fields around Hong or Hija in the early morning and you will see it running. Older Apatani women wear facial tattoos and large nose plugs — the practice was abandoned decades ago, so the last generation carrying it is now elderly. It is a difficult thing to photograph well and an easy thing to photograph rudely. Ask, and accept no. The Ziro Festival of Music happens in late September, brings a few thousand people to a valley with limited beds, and transforms the place for a weekend. Whether that is the version you want is a real question. Arunachal Pradesh requires an Inner Line Permit for Indian nationals and a Protected Area Permit for foreign nationals; arrange it before you travel. Come March to October.