Loktak Lake

Loktak is the largest freshwater lake in northeast India, and what makes it unlike any other is the phumdi: floating masses of vegetation, soil and organic matter that build up into islands thick enough to walk on and to build huts on, drifting with the wind. Fishing families live on them, and many have been cut into rings, phum, which act as enclosures for fish farming, so the lake from above shows hundreds of dark circles on the water. A hydroelectric barrage built in the 1980s changed water levels permanently and has thinned the phumdi, which is the central conservation problem here.

What you actually see

• The phumdi rings - hundreds of circular fish pens cut from floating vegetation.
• The floating huts - fishing families living on the islands.
• The boat routes - canoes and motorboats through the channels.
• The hill viewpoints - overlooks showing the rings from above.

When to go

October to March for clear weather and calm water; the monsoon raises levels and makes boating harder. Mornings are best for mist and light on the rings.

Honest expectations

The barrage has damaged the ecosystem and evictions of lake-dwelling families have been a source of conflict. Boats vary in safety standards.

Nearby

Keibul Lamjao lies on the lake; Imphal is northeast.