This trip is really close to my heart; first because I was going to travel with some of my friends with whom I have been really tight, second the place, very correctly referred to as The Abode of Clouds, and last but not the least this was my bachelorette trip.
Our first group pic outside Bi-Ti
Maphisha (my bud from grad school) hails from Shillong and she had been inviting us since our graduation days, but you know how we all “get busy & caught up” with our lives; and hence I didn’t want to leave this opportunity of meeting up and make my first trip to north-eastern India. To make this blog a tad bit more interesting, I’d say my travel group deserves a special introduction; we were a group of 6 and no one knew one another except I. Isha (third from right) knows me the longest, from our school days in Calcutta, Shadia AKA Shady (second from left) and Maphisha AKA Muff third from left) from my graduation days, Natasha AKA Natu(extreme right) from my post-grad time and Parnika (second from right) was my flat mate before I got hitched. This was my first all-girls trip and I had mixed feelings, needless to say I was very excited to have all my chaddi-buddies on this trip, Concerned over the fact that my buddies didn't even remotely know each other; I went with what my heart said, it was going be a fabulous trip!
Clearly, we were all traveling from different part of the country, owing to our jobs; therefore, after a lot of planning we managed to take flights which would land in Guwahati at around the same time. I met Shady, Muff and Natu in Guwahati directly; literally trotted my way towards them and I was pleasantly surprised to see all my girls exchanging pleasantries and getting along as though they already knew each other from ages. Muff had arranged a cab for us and we kickstarted our approx. 3 hours journey to Shillong.
Muff owns a BnB, Bi & Ti, a no-brainer stay option for us as we wanted to experience staying local; her place is a perfectly balanced traditional Khasi household loaded with all the modern amenities, situated in the heart of the city; also close to all the city attractions. It was almost late evening by the time we reached Shillong; gorged on delicious dinner arranged by aunty and called it a night.
We packed for a night’s stay in Cherrapunji and headed out the next day. After a hearty breakfast, Elephant falls was first on my list; which is about 12 Kms from Shillong. As I recall the drive ( yes! THAT DRIVE (*o*) just as we exited the city limits, the route got fairly hilly with constant twists and turns and clouds floating along with us. All of us exclaimed “Wooow” in unison, at the first sighting of the magical view, and the landscape kept getting better with every turn our car took. After about a 45 mins of Wooooow ride, we reached the Elephant falls; a multi-tiered waterfall surrounded by picturesque greens and a walking trail. We visited during the transition between rainy and winter seasons and witnessed a fair share of downpour, so the waterfall was at its best, gushing with heavy water currents and we were majorly trying to save ourselves from slipping.
Elephant Falls
After a bunch load of pictures, we were headed to Arwah Caves, arguably the wettest place on earth which also has religious significance.
Khasi Hills
It was all sunny and gay outside as our guide parked our vehicle outside the cave, and in no time, I could barely see anyone around; no, I was not stranded, a gigantic cloud was passing through us! Our joy knew no bounds; we screeched and screamed till Muff quirkily said “Gawaaaarr Log! Who goes wild seeing clouds?”, but who cared, we had let our child-like nature overpower us to the fullest; running around while chasing the floating cloud!
Fog outside Arwah Cave
There was a narrow path alongside a hill cliff which led to the mouth of the cave and was decorated with exotic regional plants from the and wooden railings made it totally insta-worthy. We could hear the gushing of a water body very close by, however we could not see anything due to poor visibility; it even started drizzling lightly and made the visit all the more memorable.
Pathway to Arwah Cave
The cave is famous for its calcium deposits in form of stalagmites, making the area quite rocky and the kind of fickle minded and self-damage hungry person I am, slipped and confirmed that it was majorly wet too. There was barely any light inside; duh! we were in a cave, but who could stop 6 girls from trying to click pictures over there too.
Arwah Cave
Park at Arwah Cave
We spotted another spectacular view point on our way to Cherrapunji and could not help feeding our photo appetite. The hills were multi tones of green, softly touching the clouds while the sun played hide and seek; and we could see this view till the horizon when the weather cleared up a bit; an absolute showstopper for the day! It started pouring on our way to Cherrapunji, however, the rain subsided soon thankfully, and we reached well before dusk.
Khasi Hills
We stayed at another BnB managed by Muff’s cousins which was also a very traditional Khasi home fitted with antique wooden furniture and cosy cushioned stools and chairs with a beautifully kept balcony overlooking the hilly slopes and the Nohsngithiang Falls in the backdrop.
BnB at Cherrapunji
We were sipping on warm cups of tea while watching the sunset and making hooch & nosh plans for the evening owing to the brilliant weather; it started to drizzle in no time. We scurried back to the inner porch waiting for the rain to subside only to realize after an hour later that we had no option but to go out in the rain to stock up. Dressing appropriately was surely a mandate in order to combat the rains; covered our socks with plastic covers and secured them with rubber bands before wearing our shoes, wore light quick dry clothing, picked up 3 antique umbrellas and a smaller one and braved our way outside. We visited a couple of nearby stores , most were shut due to the rain and the ones open offered only chips and coke; determined our gang was to kickstart bachelorette celebrations and so we grabbed whatever the shops offered. By then, the rain had reached its torrential levels and our umbrellas had started giving in; we were to walk upwards to reach home, but the water kept gushing down the hilly slopes. By then the small umbrella had turned inside out, a clear indication for us to not care about the rain any longer and run upwards battling the flooding water. I literally looked like a kitten forced to bathe and scrubbed heavily, thanks to the bold hair bangs I got 6 months before my wedding! We gathered in a room after a heavy cleanup session and super high on our spirits our go to games were "Piggy" followed by the all the time famous Truth or Dare while binging on Lays and Coke. None of us needed any extra stimulant, we laughed till teary-eyed, one of the best evenings with my gang of girls!
Dinner was served and we gorged on warm home cooked rice with chicken curry and Tungrymbai which is a local delicacy made with soybean; the warm meal was what we wanted after the full blown drench.
Dining Room at Cherrapunji BnB
The sky was considerably clear the next morning; we enjoyed our cuppa while soaking in the mild sun; packed our very wet clothes and headed out.
Nohsngithiang Falls
Today we were going to see the Jingmaham Living Root Bridge in Mawlynnong; made from roots of hundreds of years old living rubber trees which is a very rare natural structure and is also easily accessible by walking about 100-150 steps. We were super thrilled to see a marvel like this which is quite unheard of; the locals have maintained the place very well and we were in luck with a brimming pristine clear river flowing under the root bridge; this is still a growing root bridge which would only get stronger with time. We were brimming with excitement too and ran towards the bridge together; but were immediately summoned by the guard asking us to cross the bridge only one person at a time. I promptly remembered my middle school days where strict invigilation was kept while walking in line.
Living Root Bridge, Mawlynnong
The area is surrounded by deep green flora and boulders covered with age-old moss; perfect for all our monkey business.
Water gushing at Living Root Bridge, Mawlynnong
Mawlynnong
Mawlynnong is acclaimed as the cleanest place in Asia and it is an exaggeration by no means. We had all chuckled slightly at the claim, however we were all quite dumbfounded on seeing the perfectly manicured gardens and houses with a picturesque backdrop of Dawki river.
Dawki River in the background of Mawlynnong Village
After a quick stroll around the village we left for a boating ride on Dawki river; a must do on everyone’s list visiting Meghalaya. This river separates India from Bangladesh and trust me when I say this, it is accurately a hop away; fishermen from both sides meet and chat with one another; creating a lesser known harmonious border. We boarded 2 boats and the soul of the nursery kid was on in full swing; we waved and squealed across boats, posed and clicked infinite pictures along with the setting sun. The river is typically crystal clear and emerald green in colour if one visits during the post monsoon season, which in our case was slightly off-mark due to the heavy downpour; but all in all, a memorable experience. We spent the evening indoors watching movies and chatting with Muff’s family.
Dawki River, Bangalesh border on the extreme right of the picture
Dawki River
The city tour was last on our travel itinerary, so we headed to the famous Don Bosco Museum; and Gee! It was loaded with literature on anthropology, history and evolution of different tribes of the region and some major information on religious evolution as well. It is a 7 storied building running in spirals and it ends on roof of the museum with a colourful panorama of the city. We were stunned by the gorgeous view and the weather was perfect to dwell for longer.
At Don Bosco Musem
Panoramic View from Don Bosco Museum
Next, we headed to the striking gold course situated in the heart of the city; trimmed and clipped to perfection. After a series of boomerangs and green-stained bums from all the lazying around on the grass, we wanted to grab local Khasi lunch and went to Trattoria.
Golf Course, Shillong
Golf Course, Shillong
We order portions of Jadoh, a Khasi dish consisting of flavoured rice with meat, some vegetarian noodles and few plates of momos; a perfect blend of flavours from the sharp red chutney and delectable Khasi dishes.
Black magic is still practiced in a celebratory manner in this part of the country and Muff told us about this witch’s house situated in the outskirts of the city limits. I was petrified, however did not deny the plan, so I talked to myself “I am old enough to get married, and the height of being a sissy! Let me stop behaving as though an Aahat set was in production!”. We gathered outside the “witch’s” house, it was a mud villa with structures lined with heavy forest wood and a gigantic thatched roof; there were cats lazing all around the porch. I relieved a sigh of relief when someone told us we were not allowed inside the house, “Phew! Peripheral save” I told myself. But everyone else was very curious and on persistent request, we were allowed inside to see the hall and inner porch area alone. I gulped heavily and tip-toed towards the middle of the group; visibility was bad inside, a few rays of lights came in through the thatch and we found ourselves roughly surrounded by 3 pairs of glistening eyes, black cats meowed their way around us; thankfully we exited soon!
Outskirts of Shillong
We spent the evening in Police Bazar picking up some souvenirs and merchandise native to Meghalaya, the woolen shawls are a total steal. My friends planned a surprise bachelorette party indoors with some hooch and nosh; Muff had even arranged an in-house hookah set up and Oh Boy! We played a series of distinctive bachelorette games, followed by some specifically drawn dares, Ahem! Whatever happens in Shillong, stays in Shillong!
I wanted to use the washroom in the middle of the night, but thanks to the visit to Witch’s house, I could not gather courage to even turn the other side, I wanted to wake up Natu to accompany me but chances of getting abused were higher; so I decided to wait till the wee hours to go to the loo, as I didn’t want to die without wearing my wedding saree even once. Looking pretty over a bursting bladder any day, guilty!
We did wake up to some aftereffects from the night before, but the joy of spending my last few days of bachelorhood with my best buddies topped it all.
My besties!
We were returning that day, hurrying to reach Guwahati in time for our flights, a memorable trip which I am going to cherish all my life!
Expense Summary Trip duration - 4 days Flights - INR 8,500 return fare Stay - INR 5,200 for twin sharing rooms, (therefore, INR 2,600 per head) Food - INR 3,000
Cab rent - INR 2,000 for an SUV, shared between 7 pax Basic expense total - INR 16,100 Additional Expense Entry at Living Root Bridge - INR 30 per head (pax+camera) River boating at Dawki River - INR 700 per boat (can seat at 3 @ INR 200 per head)
Shopping at Police Bazar - Extra
Additional expense - Approx. INR 230
Recommendations -
Try and visit the Dawki riven during post or pre monsoon season, the water would be crystal clear
A visit to the Living root bridge is a must
Visit Trattoria for the best Khasi food