Champhai & Rih Dil
Mizoram's rice bowl and vineyards on the Myanmar frontier
Champhai, on the eastern edge of Mizoram against the Myanmar border, is the state's rice bowl and, increasingly, its wine country: a wide, fertile valley of paddy fields framed by blue ranges, with local vineyards producing grape wine on the terraced slopes. It is a scenic, gentle base far from the tourist trail, with viewpoints looking across the frontier into Myanmar.
Just across the border in Myanmar, a short trip away, lies Rih Dil, the heart-shaped lake that in Mizo belief is the lake through which souls of the dead must pass — long a place of pilgrimage and legend for the Mizo people. Champhai is also the base for the archaeological site of Vangchhia, Mizoram's mysterious field of carved standing stones.
What to see & do
- The wide paddy valley and local vineyards
- Rih Dil, the mythic heart-shaped lake (just inside Myanmar)
- Border viewpoints looking into Myanmar
- The Vangchhia megaliths, Mizoram's 'Stonehenge', nearby
Getting to Champhai & Rih Dil
| How to reach | A long drive east of Aizawl (about 8 hours) on hill roads. |
| Best time | October to March. |
| Permit | An Inner Line Permit is required; visiting Rih Dil across the border needs additional formalities. |
| Good to know | Confirm current border-crossing rules locally before planning Rih Dil, and pair the trip with Vangchhia. |
More to explore
Living Root Bridges
Nongriat & the Khasi/Jaintia hills
Bridges grown, not built, over generations.
Dawki & the Umngot River
West Jaintia Hills, Bangladesh border
Boats that seem to float on air over glass-clear water.
Sohra (Cherrapunji)
East Khasi Hills
Waterfalls, caves and some of the heaviest rain on earth.