Our last trip before lockdown- #NorthEast #Meghalaya-Part 1

They said Abode of clouds, To see one must visit Meghalaya, the land of roaring waterfalls, crystal clear river, which is unimaginably close to nature. Meghalaya is often compared with Europe because of its clean roads, progressive culture.

This place has the cleanest village in Asia, tallest plunge in India, the wettest place on earth makes it one of a kind. If Himachal is the heaven on earth then northeast is definitely the way to heaven.

To explore true Meghalaya you need at least a month as It has so many hidden places, waterfalls, trekking roots to offer even there are still some places which are unexplored by the locals. We visit for a 5 days short trip. As it said, “ It's better to be late than never”.

Best time to visit:

Post monsoon is the best time for Meghalaya. As per locals, monsoons are brutal. Communication between one village to another gets lost at this time.so after the monsoon, you can avoid these and will be able to see waterfalls in their best possible way.

Although it is a sudden plan for us to visit Meghalaya, we are fortunate to see the other side.

How to reach:

To reach Meghalaya one must reach Guwahati first, as it is the gateway of Northeast.

you can take a flight to Guwahati from Delhi/Mumbai/Kolkata or any metro city. It is just a matter of hours.It took only 45 mins from Kolkata to reach Guwahati. From the airport or from Guwahati there are numerous taxi, cars available for Shillong. In our case, we pre-booked an Innova car for 4 days. (contact number is given at the end of the blog of part 2 in case you need).

Trains are also available which will take almost 24 hours from Kolkata. So if you have less time like us will suggest taking flight as most of the time flight fares are cheap ,especially on this route.

Guwahati :

On 6th March We reach Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport around 2 a.m. our flight timing is 4:45 am. which landed Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport/Guwahati on time, around 5:45 am with a welcoming shower. Completing all the formalities we book a taxi to our pre-booked Oyo hotel in Paltan bazaar.

We get a good deal at the airport taxi stand where 5 of us(adults) manage to fit into an Alto car.

The driver drop us in our destination Paltan bazar.but the pre-booked Oyo hotel ditch us and behave rudely, deny to give us rooms as they claim they don't accept online booking, even after showing the receipt of payments they are not helping us at all, they just don't bother. with no other option left we search for the other hotels and luckily we get a good deal.

After having breakfast and freshen up we headed towards Kamakha Mandir and other sightseeing for the day.

Day - 1

Kamakha mandir

One of the most touristic places of Assam, The Kamakhya Temple also known as Kamrup-Kamakhya temple is a Sakta temple of goddess Kamakhya. It is one of the oldest of the 51 Shakti Pithas. Situated on the Nilachal Hill in the western part of Guwahati city in Assam,8km away from Guwahati railway station. From station cab/bus is available.

According to the Kalika Purana, Kamakhya Temple denotes the spot where Sati used to retire in secret to satisfy her amour with Shiva, and it was also the place where her yoni (genital) fell after Shiva danced with the corpse of Sati.

Like most Devi temples, the temple of Mother Kamakhya is perched atop a hill, namely, Nilachal Hill. So, come prepared to walk uphill you reach the shrine. In puja, there is only one VIP pass which is 500 Rs.Tickets can be bought from inside of the temple or online.

Other tourists spots-

We visit to a viewpoint top of the Nilachal hill and Later in Brahmaputra river bank. We skip visiting some other places like-peacock island, Nehru park, Umananda temple and museum. If you have time then stay another 2 days to visit these spots and to Kaziranga national park as well.

In the evening we return to our hotel and stroll in Paltan bazaar for some shopping and have delicious dinner in roadside Dhaba.They are amazingly delicious.

Note- Do not pre-book any Oyo hotel, on the spot they might say they do not accept online booking. Generally, you will get rooms at a good price on spot booking.

Day-2

The next morning we leave early for Meghalaya.

Our plan is to check at some nearest sightseeing spots on the way to Cherrapunji.We avoid to stay in Shillong as it is a crowded place and choose Cherrapunji a less crowded place.

Umiam lake

20km away from Shillong, Barapani or Umiam lake is a large blue lake with a small island,enveloped by East Khasi hills. It’s a man-made lake. There is a cottage in the island run by the govt where you can stay also. It’s a perfect spot for picnic.if you want you can take a day halt, boating in the lake and roaming in the island.

Laitkor peak

After beating Shillong’s most famous traffic jam for almost an hour, we reach to Shillong viewpoint or Laitkor peak. If you are lucky you can have a stunning view of the entire Shillong city from here. Alas! we are not that fortunate, only got view covered with clouds which make the place mystical. It is a calm, clean and a military protected area,

Elephant falls

One of the most touristic waterfalls is Elephant falls. The name derives from a elephant-shaped rock which incidentally is not there anymore.It's more like three-tier cascading falls that finally flow into a small lake surrounded by some garden-like area.

After elephant falls we do not waste any more time as it is almost dusk and we need to reach our homestay before it gets dark. But must say the road towards Cherrapunji is one of a kind which we can not describe by words, it demands to be felt.

By the evening we reach our homestay in Mawsmai village which is in a walking distance from seven sister waterfalls. The temperature suddenly falls, and a chill breeze blows such that we need to wear warmer clothes.

To get to know  the adventerous part and stories of myth stay tuned for part 2 Meghalaya blog  ...

We will share the expenses,lodging in details at the end of the Part 2 blog.

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Happy Traveling :)