The Apatani people are famed for their beautiful rice paddies and their unique culture. It is solely down to their talents as great agriculturalists that the Ziro Valley became the ‘bread basket of Arunachal Pradesh”. Yet much of the agricultural work is now done by the Apatani women and it is the older generation that have kept alive these rice paddy skills. This is therefore the best place to meet the older generation who still wear the traditional clothing and who sport the unusual facial tattoos and face plugs. The men traditionally tie their hair in a bun just above the forehead and this is held in place by large hairpins (these days it can be knitting needles). They also sport a facial tattoo just under the lip in a straight line that descends down the chin sometimes in a sort of triangle. In the case of the women these tattoos start on the forehead and go down over the tip of the nose, crossing over the mouth finishing at the chin. They also have two large (in some cases as much as 2 inches in diameter) black nose plugs inserted into each nostril. These pegs are made from bamboo and inserted at a young age and then replaced slowly by bigger ones as the woman ages. Originally this was considered a sign of beauty and the bigger the plug, the more beautiful the woman. Since this practice has been outlawed (in the 1970s) one is unlikely to encounter anyone under 50 years with the plugs.