Rih Lake

Rih Dil lies in the Chin hills near the Indian border, a small lake in a bowl of grass and hills whose outline is usually described as heart-shaped. In Mizo and Chin tradition it is the lake that souls pass on the way to the afterlife, and it appears in songs and stories on both sides of the border, which is why it draws visitors from Mizoram as well as from Myanmar. The setting is quiet upland country with scattered villages, and the lake itself is shallow, still and grazed right down to the shore.

History

The name is said to come from a Mizo folktale about a girl named Rih-i. In the traditions of the Chin peoples, among them the Mizo, Laimi and Zomi, the lake is the corridor that all souls must pass on their way to Pialral, the afterworld; it is about a mile long and 60 feet deep (Wikipedia, Rih Dil).

Highlights

• The lake - a small still body of water in a grass bowl, heart-shaped from the ridge above.
• The ridge view - the vantage point from which the shape is actually legible.
• The setting - open Chin uplands with villages and grazing, unlike the forest further south.
• The pilgrims - visitors from both sides of the border, for whom the lake carries real meaning.

When to go

November to March is the dry season and the roads are at their most passable. The uplands are cold in December and January. The monsoon makes the mountain roads genuinely difficult.

Things to know

Access is the problem: the roads through northern Chin State are rough and slow and the journey is long from any direction. There are almost no facilities at the lake. Border regulations in this area change and permissions should be checked locally before setting out.

Nearby

Falam and Tiddim are the nearest towns of any size, both several hours away on mountain roads.

Key facts