Phawngpui »
The highest peak in Mizoram, Phawngpui or the Blue Mountain is situated near the state’s south-eastern border overlooking the bend of the mighty Chhimtuipui river and the hill ranges of Myanmar. With a height of 2157 metres at the peak, the ridge stretches nearly 10 kms in north-south direction near the southern end. It is surrounded by sheer precipices and cliffs, of which Thlazuang Kham is the most spectacular one. This breezy ridge is a virtual garden of beautiful flowering trees like rhododendrons and orchids of various hues, and one can also get splendid views of blue hazed hills extending to the horizon all around.
Abounding with diverse flora and fauna, Phawngpui has been declared a National Park covering an area of about 50 sqkm. The thick forests are interspersed with small patches of grassy glades and are replete with diverse fauna typical of Montane Sub-tropical forests including oak, rhododendrons and rare species of bamboos. Here one has a good chance of sighting gorals grazing peacefully in the steep slopes, brightly plumed sunbirds hovering over colourful flowers, peregrine falcon swooping down on fleeting cliff swallows or hearing in the evening the sharp calls of barking deer or the resounding howls of a hoolock gibbon family. With the cliffs and rocky ledges on all sides providing natural shelter, Phawngpui is home to an amazing variety of birdlife including the rare Blyth’s Tragopan, Dark Rumped Swift, and Mrs. Hume’s Pheasant, the Mizoram state bird, and endangered mammals like the Slow Loris, Tiger, Leopard, Leopard Cat, Serow, Goral, Asiatic Black Bear, Stump-tailed Macaque and Capped Langur.
The base camp to scale this mountain from the Southern end there is Vawmbuk village where there is a tourist cottage. The mountain tip is only 3kms from here. The norhthern end has a base camp at Sangau 12kms to the mountain where there is a tourist lodge. Both the base camps can be approached from Saiha by daily Sumo services.