"If you want to live life, tie it to a goal and not to people or things"
Albert Einstein
This blog is about one of the best adventure trails I have experienced - The Great Double Decker Living Root Bridge. This was during my Meghalaya trip between 21st Oct - 27th Oct 2019. You can ready my Meghalaya travel blog for more exciting details.
Before I venture into explaining our mind-blowing trek, it is important I tell you folks a brief history about these bridges. These Living Root Bridges are made up of tangled thick roots that provide for formidable structures. They are formed by placing the roots into hollow canes and then foster properly until they grow enough to reach the opposite bank, completely entangled. The double-decker root bridge in Cherrapunjee is one of its kind in the world and are recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Sites.
So we started from our Hotel La Kupar at around 7:30 am. It was a 30-45 min drive to reach to the starting point. From here, we began our long descent towards the bridges, slow and steady. The entire path was engulfed in thick forests, surrounded by stunning ecosphere of nature. The whole journey was around 7-8 kms/7000 steps ( to and from) and as we walked down the steps, we passed through 2-3 villages on the way, many small restaurant huts who kept an ample supply of water, soft drinks, hot drinks and fruits ( So you need not carry anything with you, at least we did not carry). We first reached the Single Root Bridge, following which we "courageously" ???? crossed two suspension bridges and finally, reached the jaw dropping Double Decker bridge. Our whole journey was spellbound and left an everlasting impression on us.
This was the gist of our incredible journey - keeping it as simple as possible ????. I will explain our exciting trail using Life as a Metaphor.
For me - life is passion, an adventure, a plan - where we define our goals. It is very important to set goals for our short-term and long-term motivation.
It is a journey that starts with simple steps lead us towards our first goal. We proceed watchfully using the right tools to support our voyage. We also take a pause at some point, to refresh our plans and assess if we are on the right path.
Sometimes life also shakes you and stumbles you with obstacles. But you have to be strong and move on undeterred.
Along the journey, life also brings you friends to help you, support you. These act like catalysts that keep your inspiration level at peak.
And then you finally reach your first destination; your first goal, and it thrills you. You are jubilant and electrified with your first taste of success. But, mind you, this is not the end. So you rest and ponder around, look back at your journey, cherishing the wonderful moments and refuel yourself. You still have your long-term goal to triumph over, so you carry on with all your full conviction.
Remember, as you continue your journey towards your goal, life brings you across challenges. It is up to you, how you decide to face those challenges. If you maintain your balance and proceed cautiously, you become successful in overcoming these challenges.
This keeps you on your toes; keeps you going forward, while you keep contemplating on "Did I actually do this?", you realized you have effortlessly glided to your penultimate goal.
This success uplifts your confidence multi fold, you are now poised for any kind of challenge life throws at you. You are ready to face the bumps, cracks without any hesitation. While there are times when the roads are straight and there are also times when there are steep obstacles along your way.
But this does not stop you. You move on towards your destination. And all along this unbelievable adventure, you realize that there always was an angel, our guide Suki, who had been holding your hand, without you even knowing, helping you.
You liked it? I am sure you did. At the end, we were completely burned out; body was aching and legs were completely numb. After having an awesome vegetarian lunch, we spent the rest of the day in the hotel, to recover/rejuvenate.An end of an EPIC JOURNEY.
Khublei!!