Location: East Khasi hills, Meghalaya
Isnt that worth a screensaver!
Mist and cloud hugging past you, vast green meadows and thick green forests vying with each other, piercing buzzing of the jungle, wild fragrances of bamboo and ginger – Khasi hills is an explosion to all senses, if you let them open up.
Meghalaya derives its name from the clouds – Abode of clouds. And clouds are the first thing that struck me through out the journey. Cottony clouds set against the stark blue skies; clouds that looks almost touchable, and the mist enveloping beautiful hills that lay like a huge peacock-green saree left to dry on two lines. And we had a leisurely itinerary for 3 days: the wettest place on earth (formerly), the cleanest village in Asia, and a transparent lake. Simple.
Cherrapunjee
Cherrapunjee or Sohra recently lost its title as the wettest place on earth to its neighbor Mawsynnram. However the place is still beautiful and its waterfalls are a treat to the eyes. I was not fortunate to see the rains in there, but then that allowed me to enjoy the beauty of the mist and waterfalls.
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- Beautiful drive towards Cherrapunji. More than anything else, the drive is most enjoyable
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- The way to cherrapunjee – Sun and clouds chasing each other
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- Nohkalikai waterfall – the highest waterfall in India.
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- In a few minutes that huge cloud hid the entire hill and waterfall from view. Hide and seek!
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- Nohkalikai Falls and the blue pool – The story goes that Likai jumped off the cliff after learning that her husband killed her daughter
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- Seven sister falls getting enveloped by the mist
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- Felt curious about this Earth Sciences office on the way. Football passion?
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- First of the “Three stepped waterfalls”
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- Idyllic
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- And the mist engulfed us – through the evening sunlight…
Mawsmai cave
Khasi hills own some of the longest caves in India. Mawsmai has a limestone cave, around 6 Kms from Cherrapunjee. The cave is around 300 meters long with openings on both sides; it doesn’t have natural light inside, but is electrically lit. The caving trip was not highly adventurous, but certainly different – with low ceilings and limestone stalactites pointing down upon you, calcium-laden water droplets almost everywhere, musty smell and darkness beyond the electric lights. Luckily we were the first ones to enter in the morning, so that helped with less crowd.
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- Into the cave
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- Thanks for making the cave walk-able!
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- Those lime formations!
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- Limestone formations
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- Finally at the end of the cave
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- And that tourist moment when we dressed up in what they sell as tradition. Khasi Jainsem, Jainsen, and colorful jwellery
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- Colorful array of jewelry waiting for tourists
Mawlynnong village
Acclaimed as the cleanest village in Asia. The best way to experience the village is to stroll around, and stay in. There is nothing very special to see and check a to-do list. I enjoyed staying in Ngori’s home stay, one of those typical wooden stilted house, that we booked through airbnb. The hostess Ngori stayed just behind us, so it was almost like staying like a local. A morning walk through the clean streets, fresh air, and some photos – that is a nice experience! I do not know what others enjoy when they visit for an hour and leave the village.
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- Nongrai’s house. We had booked through Airbnb. It was good stay like a local!
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- See! gardens outside. Felt very nice to see how much people care for their surroundings
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- Pathways in the morning sun- pruned and swept. and solar-lit, in the night
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- A new house getting ready. Stilt, wooden, and simple
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- Ngori teaching us how to wear Jain Kyrshah – the khasi chequered cloth piece worn by women. We got one for Nisa too
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- Serene and unpretentious. Nobody was awake, though sun comes out really early here
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- By now we got used to this Khasi food of potatoes, bamboo shoots with sticky-rice.
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- Parking lot. Most of the tourists spots have dedicated parking spots with a few souvenir shops. Directions are usually centered around the parking lot
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- A souvenir shop. Children were seen managing transactions in many shops.
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- Fences and pathways
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- The village ends here?
Mawlynnong Root Bridge
Among the many root bridges that are unique to these hills, this one is quite easy to access; hence an easy choice. I was happy to see how humans can tame nature without hurting it. In the morning before the crowd came, this was a very tranquil idyllic brook, nice small waterfall and cold water. As in many tourist places in Khasi hills, there is a parking lot with a few tea shops, and then go by walk, take tickets and walk down through the steps to reach the bridge. My phone was stolen from one of the teashops; but still I feel it was worth the visit to this bridge.
We got to know about the bus trips Meghalaya tourism department arranges from Shillong and back. That would have been a very good option, had we not planned to stay in Mawlynnong
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- Root bridge – human-made bridge by braiding live roots of the rubber trees, across a brook.
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- Braided roots that make up the solid root bridge of Jingmaham bridge
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- There is a reason why the root bridge is also called the living bridge
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- Sturdy root bridge
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- Braided roots of the Root bridge
Dawki
Dawki borders with Bangladesh in the Jaintia Hills. My reason to visit the place was those photos I keep seeing in social media of a transparent lake. I learnt the name of the lake was Umngot. And the lake was beautiful and clean, but not exactly transparent – the locals told us because it was raining the previous day and the water must be still for some days to be clear.
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- Transparent water and colourful pebbles
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- Umngot lake
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- Metal bridge across Umngot lake
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- I didnt see motor boats in this area. That must be keeping the water clean
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- Dawki Umgnot lake must have a lot of fish. I saw many of them fishing around the lake, it seems both Bangladeshis and Indians
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- Boats serving various purposes in daily life. And the clear blue sky
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- This is the closest I got to those Social media photos showing the illusion of boats hanging on air, due to transparent water. Perhaps rain is not the right season for that photo
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- 30 minutes boat-rides waiting for takers
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- Quite a lot of fishing around the lake