I'm afraid the pictures are uploading only sporadically, but I will try to get more on as I can.
We are finally back in internet access, so I will try to post a little more often this week.

Last week we went into Manipur. You need a permit to get into Manipur, and in past times as I understand, these were not given out easily or often. In any case, we did get permits, for a 10 day stay. Unfortunately, we had only 6 days, but at least if we had been delayed for any reason, we would have been okay.

Manipur is different from the other states we have been in. There are less cows and goats on the roads for example. We went to the cities of Churchandpur, and Imphal, which are at either end of a large valley in the mountains. Very beautiful place. The buildings are somewhat different. We say more wood used in building, for floors and walls for instance. The local dress style is different. The women mostly wear embroidered wrapped skirts, and shawls, rather than saris or salwars.
Another interesting thing is the power situation. The power was only on for a couple of hours a day, in either city. Keep in mind that it gets dark at about 6. So, in Churchandpur, everything closes then. There are no street lights, only a little light from people's windows. People have battery operated lights, or sometimes generators, if they are well off, or candles, and I think everyone goes to bed early. In any case, we had evening classes, till 7 or 8, and sometimes went to peoples houses afterwards, so it was very dark walking back to our guest house. We were really pleased to have remembered flashlights.
The people were all very friendly. Bob has a number of really good friends in the area, so we visited many families, and had tea everywhere.

In Imphal, there was an evening curfew, at 6:00. Shyam Salam had planned for us to have evening meetings at his school, Brighter Academy. However, because the curfew had been set, not many people were able to come. However, Shyam and his wife Peggy had us stay at their home, which is in the school, to make it more convenient to come and to for the meetings and such. It was very kind of them, and we had a good visit with them and with their children and grandchildren who were home at the time.
Shyam has several schools. We have visited 2 others on our trip: another Brighter Academy in a small village outside of Imphal, where his daughter Betty is the principal, and the Bread of Life Academy in Kalipani.