Meghalya - A guide for your trip to the Abode of Clouds

Meghalaya is a small state in the Northeast part of India. It's home of the wettest place on earth and the longest caves. I explored Meghalaya a few weeks back and I have no hesitation to call it India's best kept secret destination. Hills, Valley, Waterfalls, Rivers, Lakes, Tropical forest, Excellent roads, great foods, I had seen it all in my 4 days trip



Day 1

Guwahati - From Bangalore, I flew to Guwahati. Guwahati has an international airport and directly connected to most parts of India. From Guwahati, we hired a self-drive car and drove to Shillong.

The road from Guwahati to Shilong is excellent and scenic. Its four-lane national highway, 98 km journey and takes around 2 hrs to reach Shillong



Shillong - Just before entering Shillong, you could see Umiam Lake. Its vast and scenic reservoir. A popular attraction in Meghalaya and has water sports facilities.



After checking in Hotel, we started exploring Shillong. The next attraction was the Ward's Lake. It's in the middle of the city surrounded by a lush green garden. There is 10 rs. entry fee and 20 rs camera charge.



The next destination in Shillong was Police Bazar. Its most happening place in Shillong because of the market place, shops, restaurants. There are a few pubs where you can chill beers and enjoy rock music.



Day 2

Dawki is 80 km from Shillong. We started our day in a bad note and stuck in traffic for 4 hours because of a major accident in the outskirt of Shillong. The route was again scenic, this time we could see mist all over the place. Roads were hardly visible in some places.



Dwaki is a small village near India-Bangladesh Border and most famous of its Umngot River. Umngot river is truly a photographer's delight because of its crystal clear water.



After parking our car, we decided to take a boat ride. The boat ride fee is 700 rs per boat. During the boat ride, it started raining heavily. Without raincoat and umbrella, we drenched, decided to stop the boat ride in midway. The sailor of boat then helped us to connect with another person, who provides a tent for camping. We decided overnight stay in Dawki and did camping at the riverside.




Late afternoon we drove to Krang Shuri waterfall, 28 km from Dwaki village. The road condition is ok but you will see hundreds of trucks lined up onside because of India - Bangladesh border trade. We came across a beautiful landscape on the way.



By the time we reached Krang Shuri it was 5pm and it was getting dark. From car parking, 500-meter trek down, you can see the Krang Shuri waterfall. Its beautiful waterfall with crystal clear water. Its like natural swimming pool, swimming is allowed there. We couldn't spend more time there, as it was completely dark and entry to the waterfall is not allowed after 6pm.



We drove back to Dwaki. Our tent was ready, after exploring the village and dinner, we retired to bed. It rained all night but our tent was solid, stayed firm. Another good experience.

Day 3
Double Decker Living Root Bridge

Next Morning after another boat ride, we left Dawki and started our journey to Tyrna village. Tyrna is the starting point of the trek to Double-decker living root bridge. From Dawki it is 95 km, From Sohra(Cherapunjee) its 13 km. The route was scenic and in some part full of mist.

In the trekking entry point, there is a parking place. We parked our car and started trekking.

Double decker living root bridge is in Nongriat Village. It's very small village with hardly 100 people living in there. Trek to Nongriat village is scenic. There is a clear trek path with more than 3500 steps.

En route, you can see many water streams, cross iron bridges and a couple of living root bridges.



We completed the trek and reached Nongriat village in 2 hours. Finally the double-decker living route bridge. I will cover more about this trek in another blog



Once we reached, we started looking for homestay and found a small homestay close to Double-decker bridge. There is nothing much to do in the evening and we did hang out with other travelers in the homestay. It rained most part of the night and sharing each other's story over a hot cup of tea, It was time well spent.

Day 4
Last day in Meghalaya, woke early around 6, after a cup of tea and packing our bag, we trekked up to Tyrna village. It took exactly 2 hours and then we drove to Guwahati (159 km) to catch out flight back to Bangalore.

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