Arunachal Pradesh, one of India's Eight North Eastern States. It shares its border with Bhutan, Tibet and Myanmar. Much of the land is mountainous, covered by the Himalaya in the north and west and the Patkai hills in the east. The state is also home to countless valleys and rivers, the mightiest being the Siang. The climate of Arunachal Pradesh ranges from alpine to temperate and sub-tropical, varying with elevation. The state receives heavy rainfall during its monsoon season making it the perfect home for dense forest and an enormous diversity of plant and animal life. This part of India is appropriately known as the "unexplored paradise." It is a thinly populated state positioned in the foothills of the Himalaya. Just over one million people inhabiting an area a little over 83,000 square miles. Much of the Arunachal population live in tribes whose ancestors are believed to have migrated from pre-Buddhist Tibet two to three thousand years ago. Oral histories and material culture, including the traditional way of dressing and religious practices, are the strongest indicators of a Tibeto-Burman origin among many of the tribes. (Oral histories and material culture, including the traditional way of dressing and religious practices, are the strongest indicators of a Tibeto-Burmese origin among many of the tribes.) March of the Apatanis Ziro, a town in the lower Subansiri region of Arunachal Pradesh. With a population of just over 12,000, it is a town of mostly rice and bamboo growers. Apatani as the local tribe is called, derives their name from the Apa Tani plateau where Ziro sits. Tourists are drawn here to see their distinct lifestyle and bamboo village. Here you will find ancient customs and traditions still being carried out and untouched by time. This morning the Apatani women have come together to begin a wedding ritual at the home of the bride. Over one hundred women from a neighbouring village will gather here and begin a long march. They wind their way through the farms and fields carrying baskets full of rice. The bride's basket is topped with bamboo shoots and a pair of eggs. This is part of a fertility ritual that dates back to ancient times. While the bride's mother brings up the rear, the bride herself leads the marchers to her soon-to-be husband's home, in this March of the Apatanis... On reaching the groom's house, the rice is off-loaded into the family granary by the groom's relatives. The rice has not been de-husked and remains farm-fresh. As the village women drop their rice and leave, they are given a token of appreciation for their hard work, by the groom's family members. Each is given twenty Indian Rupees in return or just under half a US dollar. As they are exhausted after a long early morning trek from the neighboring village, on the way out they are also given a series of snacks. First comes a cup of tea and then a packet of boiled mithun meat followed by one egg and strip of seasoned dried pork. The pork is often many yea