The Niathu Escapade

The Escapade is a curated adventure module inside the Hornbill Festival — not a private commercial trek. Under Nagaland Tourism's programming it bundles three linked activities: guided trekking on one or more of the three Kohima-area peaks, a camping night at a forest base, and a rotation of traditional Naga games run by local youth clubs at the campsite.

The three summits on the poster — Mt. Niaju, Mt. Neiphiu Badze and Mt. Niathu — sit in the belt of hills immediately west and south of Kohima town, above the villages of Kigwema, Jakhama and Viswema. They are Angami country. Elevations sit in the 2,000–2,500 m range, so nothing is technically difficult, but December mornings are cold, ridgelines are exposed, and pacing matters if you are new to hill walking.

Traditional games at camp are the second half of the experience. Depending on the host village these usually include Naga wrestling (a grip-and-throw discipline with no ground game), top-spinning, tug-of-war, indigenous archery with bamboo bows, and pounding-rice contests. This is where the Escapade earns its programming slot — you're not watching from a stand at Kisama, you're being pulled into the circle.

Mt. Niaju is the gentlest of the three and the usual warm-up. The path climbs through community forest above Kigwema village, passes an old jhum-cultivation shoulder and opens onto a grassy summit with a clear view of the Kisama arena below. Round-trip walking time is roughly four to five hours at an easy pace.

Mt. Neiphiu Badze is the middle of the three in effort and the most rewarding for photography. The trail moves through mixed evergreen and oak forest, with rhododendron and wild banana under-storey. In December there is often frost on the leaf litter at first light, and the mid-morning sun cuts through the canopy in visible shafts. Allow six to seven hours with a summit break.

Mt. Niathu is the highest and the one the Escapade is named for. The final ridge is exposed and windy — expect it to be five to eight degrees colder than Kohima town — but the summit view is worth the effort: the Barail range to the south, the Dzukou massif to the east, and on a clear day the Japfu peak to the north. This is the walk most groups do as an overnight, camping at a saddle below the summit and continuing at dawn.

Camps are set up by the operating village youth club at a designated forest clearing with tented accommodation, a communal fire pit and a covered kitchen. Sleeping is on foam mats inside two- and four-person tents with warm quilts issued at check-in. Water is drawn from a piped forest source and boiled; toilets are simple pit or dry-composting units set apart from the sleeping area.

Dinner is Naga camp food — smoked pork with axone or bamboo shoot, boiled greens, sticky red rice, and a thin ginger-and-chilli broth to warm the throat. Vegetarian meals are available if pre-declared. Rice beer (zutho) is usually offered by the host village and is part of the welcome.

After dinner the games start around the fire. Expect a wrestling ring marked with rope, a top-spinning square, and a mock-archery lane lit by hurricane lamps. Foreign and Indian visitors are actively invited to try — the ability to lose graciously is more important than any technique. The night usually winds down with folk singing by the host village choir, one of the most quietly moving experiences of the whole festival week.

Fitness needed is moderate — anyone comfortable with a half-day of steady uphill walking will manage. Trekking shoes with grip matter more than boots; the trails are dry in December but leaf litter can be slippery. Bring three layers: a thermal base, a warm mid-layer and a windproof shell. Nights at camp drop to 2–5 °C, so a beanie, gloves and a buff make a real difference.

Carry two litres of water, a headtorch with spare batteries, sunscreen, lip balm and a small first-aid kit. Signal is patchy on the ridges — Jio and BSNL work best in the Kohima district. Cash is useful for optional purchases at the host village.

Photographers should carry a wide lens for the ridgelines and a fast prime for the fire-lit games. Drone use is not permitted in Nagaland without prior clearance from the state authorities.

The Escapade is designed to slot around the daily programme at Kisama. A common pattern is to do the arena and morung programme on days 1–3 (opening ceremony, opening days of dance), leave for a two-day Escapade module on days 4–5, and return in time for the Night Carnival and Hornbill Music Festival evenings and the closing ceremony on 10 December.

Because the Escapade is officially programmed inside the Hornbill Festival, your Inner Line Permit for the festival covers it — you do not need a separate permit. Foreign travellers on the relaxed festival-window Protected Area regime are also cleared for the three peaks; carry a printed copy of your PAP with you on the trail.

For a fuller planning picture — permits, transport, packing, cost bands — see the Hornbill Festival Permits Guide and the Cost & Budget page linked below.