The Galo tribes are the predominant people in the region. They have the reputation of being friendly, organized, and disciplined. In the old days, the people practiced shifting cultivation, where the people make their living by growing one type of crops like barley, rice, or maize for a few seasons in one area. Then the area is cleared of all vegetation, and the area is abandoned for a few years until the soil's fertility is restored.
While this is an ancient tribal practice, it has been discouraged in recent years due to increased air pollution in the area during crop-burning. They now also practice wet rice cultivation, where paddy fields are flooded with water, and terrace cultivation, where rice is grown on steps cut into the slopes of the hills to prevent soil erosion by flowing water.
The tribesmen speak the Galo dialect, a Tibetan-Burmese derivative, but do not be surprised if they speak to you in English or Hindi.
Suppose you visit this area during the Mopin festival in April. In that case, you will be swept away in the joyous celebrations and folk dances and prayers for prosperity and universal happiness. Your face will be smeared with rice powder, and you can take part in the eating, drinking, and merry-making for many days.
The food you will get is simple but delicious. Food is cooked over an open fire; normally rice, boiled vegetables, chicken or pork, and stuffed inside hollow bamboo shoots and cooked without oil or too many spices. Breakfast is pitha, a type of rice cake with black tea. The local fermented beverage is Poka, a fermented rice drink that is heady and strong-tasting.
