Waking alongside a foggy morning and cup of coffee was the best start to my day and the clouds gushing through valley of shillong and there I was staring them embracing them from my balcony.
After getting freshened up had a quick breakfast at this mess which serves delicacies filled with love ( hot aloo paratha in the winter is the best combination). The vehicle was waiting downstairs and after picking up few items from my room left for exploring the shillong or should I say land of clouds.
Started my sightseeing from the hilltop view point which provides the amazing view and covers the entire city and you could actually see few other places you want to visit from there and makes me feel such small creature living in the lap of mother nature.
Next stop elephant falls the entry doesn't cost anything and the people are generous and friendly enough to guide to the right path
The falls is adjacent to the resort and prior booking should be made for the resort.
The falls has three steps flows down swiftly and voice of water hitting rocks keeps you company along the way.
After the exploration of the falls we went to the airforce museum which is located in the Eastern air command of Indian Airforce
The entry cost somewhere between 10-20 bucks and that shouldn't be a problem.
The museum holds the collective memories from the time the Azad hind force was established to the present day. Showing pictures of various aircrafts and helicopters and different operations undertaken by Indian Airforce. Adjacent to the museum is a park called aero park which holds many models of aircrafts and helicopters and any defence aspirant would be filled with motivation after visiting the place.
By the time we finished visiting museum it's time for lunch and best place to get lunch is in the heart of city that is Police bazzar.
It holds the center of the city and the bazzar is just the starting leading to various other smaller bazzars exclusive to things. There are veg and non veg restaurants available. We had sitting in the rajhdani express pure veg.
It is a branch mainly started in Delhi and the owner said they have many branches all over the country.
The food was delicious and kachori was crisp enough to fall in love with the kachori. But it was the paav baaji that made me feel go weak on the knees. That was the best paav baaji that I had till date.
Well after lunch we ought have some sweet so we headed to the mall which host various bakeries and cafes and the chocolate cake was the perfect desert for the weather was turning warmer by the noon.
We had time in our hand so we thought to visit another musuem that was don bosco and we were amazed such a wonderful place the museum host everything from history to geography and science the live models just amazing to see. The beauty lies in the hardwork put by people behind the working to make us see the output. On the top floor there is a sky walk literally makes you feel you are walking towards sky.
And by the time we finished exploring the place it was 5 in the evening and it was dark and for a min it doesn't seemed right but eventually it hit me Eastern states have early rise and early fall and it took time to inculcate that but the hidden land of clouds is some place one should visit the shillong once in their lifetime.
We reached back to the room and had hot steamy bath before the dinner. The dinner was typical North Indian thali and daal was just yummy enough to get refill and the ambience of the place make me feel like I was literally living above the clouds.
Conclusion
Overall it was a reality which felt like dream and I wish the dream never ended. One must visit the unexplored Northeast India once in his lifetime as it holds the essence of mystic mountains and alluring valleys and the mighty rivers passing through them.