Living root bridges, Caves, Waterfalls, Hills, Canyons, Rivers, National Parks — explore all this and more in just 5 days. Only in North-east India.
I had 5 days to explore the North-East india and Manas suggested we spend most of our time in Meghalaya since traveling to Arunachal wasn’t feasible. If you’re looking for a 5 day itinerary Manas’ blog is pretty good. Read on to explore my journey.
Here’s a quick snapshot
Day 1: Land in Guwahati at 8 am. Cab to Mawlynnong(172km — 5/6 hrs). Explore Mawlynnong. Stay night here.
Day 2: 6 am cab to Dawki — a town on Bangladesh border. At 1pm leave for Cherrapunji, stay night here. See waterfalls, Caves and parks.
Day 3: 6 am cab to Nongrait — Double Decker bridge living root bridge. Night at Cherrapunji/Nongrait
Day 4: 6 am cab to Shillong. See Elephant falls, Tea gardens. Night in Shillong
Day 5: Early cab to Guwahati(100km) — check-in hotel. See Kamakhya temple, Brahmaputra river. Flight back home.
Some things to keep in mind about Meghalaya/nearby regions.
1. It gets pitch dark at 5pm
2. In case of rain it gets foggy after 7:30/8am. So you want to start out as early as possible.
How to reach North-east India:
Guwahati in Assam is the nearest airport to reach the North-East. There are direct flights from all major cities. Once you reach Guwahati — you should get a cab to Mawlynnong (about 172km south) from the airport — it takes 5/6 hrs. A decent rate it about 4k. The rest is up to your negotiation skills.
We just took a cab to Mawlynnong & then booked cabs/used public transport to reach different places. You can book a cab for 5 days at a go too if that’s more convenient. If you have more time Meghalaya Shared Sumo Taxis are available between Shillong-Cherrapunji-Mawllynnong-Dawki and cost as little as 70 bucks for one route.
Day 1: Mawlynnong
Mawlynnong was rated as the cleanest village in Asia by Discover India in 2003. You’ll reach here by 2 pm if you leave early from Guwahati. And the village is sparkling clean. You won’t find a single piece of plastic trash on the road and the entire village is dotted with Bamboo garbage cans.
We had booked a bamboo cottage on Airbnb. We reached Mawlynnong at about 3 pm and set off to explore the living root bridge in Mawlynnong. Its about 2km from the cottage and it’s the first root bridge you’ll see. It was fascinating.
It’s a nice, quiet place to spend a couple of days reading.
Day 2: Dawki & Cherrapunji
The next morning we set-off early to Dawki. We had expected to find plenty of cabs in Mawlynnong but sadly there were none. Thankfully we got a Meghalaya Max passenger cab that took us to Dawki in just 70 bucks! A private cab would have cost us 1–1.5k.
There’s a creaky old suspension bridge built by the British over the Umngot river in Dawki. Only one vehicle is allowed to cross the bridge at a time & there’s an army patrol at the bridge.
We didn’t have a cab to take us to Cherrapunji —so the first thing we did was to arrange for transport. Then we had some food at a nearby restaurant.
The water looks clear green when there’s no rain. It’s Bangladesh on the other side of the river! There are fishermen from both countries at the bottom.
It doesn’t look like a border. You can see Bangaldeshi tourists on the other side.
Next stop:
We setoff from Dawki at about 1pm for Cherrapunji. Cherrapunji is about 85 km(2 hrs) from Dawki. Cherrapunji was once the WETTEST PLACE ON EARTH. Nearby Mawsyrnam currently holds the record.
On our way back from Dawki the driver suggested we take a quick detour to see a waterfall nearby. And man it was beautiful. The water splashes in your face. There’s a old bridge near the waterfall — don’t try crossing it!
We had booked a hotel in advance but some of the hotels in Cherrapunji aren’t available online, so just google & call up the hotel to make a booking. We got some food and at about 3 pm setoff to check out Mawsmai Caves.
There are a couple of interesting places to see in Cherrapunji on Day 2/3.
1. Seven Sister falls — Named after the seven sister states because of the different clear streams you can see. The view of this waterfall is breath-taking!
2. Nohkalikai Falls — It’s the tallest plunge waterfall in India. Its height is 1115 feet, making it as the highest waterfall in India.
3. Mawsmai Caves are narrow limestone caves — they’re well lit and maintained. But the caves are a narrow and low so it’s difficult for heavier people to traverse. They’re about 1km from the Seven Sister Inn.
4. Eco park — About 1km from Mawsmai Caves you find the Eco-park. The southern corner of the Eco Park is the originating point of the popular Seven Sister Falls(also called Nohsngithiang falls).
All these places are nearby and can be seen in about 2–3 hrs.
Day 3: Double Decker Living Root Bridge.
We planned to go to the most spectacular attraction in Meghalaya — the Double Decker bridge on the 3rd day. About 12 km from Cherrapunji lies a village called Tyrna. If you go down 3500 steps from here, you reach Nongriat — home to the Double Decker living root bridge.
Half way through the journey, you’ll find a single decker living root bridge. There’s a cave on the other side of the bridge.
You have to cross two iron bridges to reach the double decker bridge.
There are 2 cottages in Nongrait and you can spend the night there.
The only one of it’s kind in the world, the double decker living root bridge is evidence of the ingenuity of the Khasi people. About 12km from Cherrapunji lies the Tyrna village. From Tyrna after going some 3500 steps down the hill, about 1000 of them so steep that one false step will send you rolling to your death & crossing two iron bridges — one of them narrow and creaky that the wind sways it around, you reach Nongriat village — home to the double decker bridge. But the sight that beholds you at the end is worth it. Before you’re struck by the fact that you have to make the climb back up :) It’s advisable to take a guide along — he’ll show you a single living root bridge on the way & a cave beyond it. Also get a bamboo stick for about 20 bucks — it’s helpful during the climb back up.
We started early in the morning at about 8:15 am and we were at the bridge in about 1 hr 20 mins. After spending a good hour admiring the bridge & having some delicious maggi at the bottom we set off for the top. Surprisingly it took us only about 90 mins to reach the top. Probably because i’m in better shape now.
We spent a couple of hours there admiring the bridge and came back to Cherrapunji. We were too tired to explore the rest of Cherrapunji but if you’re game there are a couple of other places you can visit like Arwah Caves.
Day 4 : Shillong!
We took an early morning cab to Shillong. Shillong is about 1.5 hrs away from Cherrapunji. We setoff early once again. Shillong looks beautiful in the morning.
Next up was Elephanta Falls — multilayered falls.
You can also visit the tea gardens in Shillong. Unfortunately they were closed when we visited.
Laitlum Canyons is one of the newer attractions in Shillong. Laitlum translates to ‘end of hills’ and the view is supposed to be breathtaking, a bit like the grand canyon in America. But the fog here was very thick and we could see little. Laitlum is a bit far from Shillong so if you want to go here make sure you go very early in the morning like 6 am.
Day 5 — Guwahati!
Guwahati is about 100km north of Shillong. The roads are pretty good since it’s a national highway.
We checked into a hotel & setoff to Saraighat Bridge to see the magnificent Brahmaputra.
About 3,848 km long, the Brahmaputra is the 10th largest river in the world by discharge and 15th largest by length. It flows through China, India and Bangladesh. Standing at the Saraighat bridge, the view was breathtaking. We walked along the stretch of the bridge to admire the expanse of the river.
We then headed to see the Kamakhya Temple — one of the oldest of the 51 Shakti Peeths.
Kaziranga- Abode of the Rhinos
The park was closed during October so we had to make do with the Assam state Zoo. But if you’re a nature lover, the Kaziranga National Park is a must visit.
It was an eventful trip and I was a bit sad to be heading off to civilization & traffic jams. If you’ve never been to the North east — it’s a must visit. Go explore the other side of India.
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