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| Megaliths at Mawplang Sacred Grove |
Trip Itinerary: Meghalaya (fully curated by tour guide), Assam (part curated).
- Guwahati (Port of entry/exit)
- Pobitara(Assam) : 1 day
- Cherrapunje : 3 days
- Shillian Joshar : 1 day
- Tyrna : 2 days
- Chandubi(Assam) : 1 day
- Kaziranga(Assam) : 2 days
Dates: Nov 15th to 25th, 2025
Travelling: We travelled by car driven by guide.
Facilities: All places were well developed with good resort or home stays, from 1 to 3 star level. Roads were good for the most part unless construction was going on. Places were clean and trash minimal. People professional and helpful. Most of them spoke English. Tyrna had a restriction of tourists not allowed to wander after 8pm. Food was mostly rice based with basic dhal. Maggi was very popular. Bread available in higher resorts or on request.
Click here for the Assam part of the trip.
Landed in Guwahati and in East India for the first time! which I personally always feel is almost like another country. The beauty of India and its diversity at its most extreme when a South Indian visits East India. Our ride, Bishar, received us at the airport and after a day stop at Pobitara, we crossed over to Meghalaya and Alfred our guide and driver for Meghalaya took over.
Our first stop was at Umiam Lake view point, where we stopped for few mins, then onto Mawplang Sacred Grove. Our host there had set up a tent and table just for us. She had arranged a picnic lunch, bursting with local flavors, at the edge of a large grassland with the Sacred grove in our sight. Perfect welcome to Meghalaya. The landscape was indeed like 'Scotland of the East'! We then walked into the Grove with another guide telling us about its significance and rituals that make it sacred. The fascinating part was the rule of nothing taken out or into the grove.
We reached Cherrapunjee late evening but dark already as sunset is at 5pm here. It was quite cold so a hot dinner with good soup was most welcome. No rain was predicted for the 5 days we were in an area that receives the highest rainfall in the country as we had unintentionally timed our trip in the few weeks its dry! Lucky or did we miss out on a spectacle? Have to make another trip to answer that.
During the time we were in Cherrapunjee, we made 2 day trips. One to explore caves and another for waterfalls. Both were enjoyable. Water was freezing cold... but so clear and clean that we braved it and splashed around. All tourist points were reached after a small trek with entry fees of 50 to 100 Rs. Toilets were 10 Rs. Life vests was mandatory if we wanted to into deeper areas and were available for rent. Overall, the tourist spots were well organized and not crowded enabling us to enjoy to our hearts content. Well done Meghalaya!
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| Living root nest |
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| Living root ladder |
Our stay at Shilliang Jashar was with Babah (LRS Retreat) who met us around noon with his 10yr old son to guide us. Destinations were a Living root nest and a ladder both of which were lovingly crafted by the root experts. The walk to and from the locations was fun which is a daily routine for the villagers. Babah picked up leaves and other edibles along the trail for our picnic lunch which we had in a wild farm. He had packed some some rice and meat but made the salad and chutney with things he picked up and some ingredients. Highlight was grinding the chutney with a bamboo utensil cut there itself and discarded! Truly living in the wild. An interesting aspect of the local culture was how Babah cut a walking stick for us which he then left at the start of the trail as we exited for someone else who may need it.
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| Muthoks farm |
Next we drove to Pung Weikyan called weavers village. There Muthok who is working on local agricultural practices was our guide along with his active and voluble mother. Got to wander around their village for a few hours along with a farm visit and lunch. For lunch, they had collected 10 different types of just leaves and kept them in a basket like salad. No dressing or even salt. Just pick a few and munch along with rice! All were edible but I liked 2 or 3 of them only as they were juicy.
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| Relaxing on a root bridge |
Our last stop was Tyrna where we stayed at a simple no frills place homestay, Gods gift. This was close to the double decker root bridge start point. We chose to skip that popular destination as it would a full day. Instead we visited Ummunoi and Umkar root bridges that are accessible by a shorter trek and had enough time to have lunch at Cherrapunje First resort with awesome views.
The last day was just a long drive into Assam and Chandubi lake.
Birding and nature watching was poor in the state. The reason is probably because the birds and animals have been hunted for many years. Some we sighted were highly skulky and would disappear quickly into foliage. Understandable!
Meghalaya Photo Album
Checlists:
Cafe Cherrapunje
Tyrna
