NEI (North East India)

Mumbai - Guwahati - Shillong

Caught an early morning 6am flight Mumbai - Kolkata - Guwahati. Guwahati is known as the gateway of North East India. It is well connected to all Indian states through air and road ways. Because of this, flights are way cheaper than those heading further ahead into interiors of the states. Landed at around 11am and left for Shillong after crossing Meghalaya checkpoint.
Lunch was at Jiva Veg restaurant in Meghalaya on Guwahati - Shillong highway. A very decent restaurant with good quality food and ambience.
Next stop was Umiam Lake which is created by damming Umiam river. One can opt for few water activities here like boating & kayaking. We however just soaked in the sunset on the waters and continued our journey for Shillong.
Stay was at Latei Ville Inn in Shillong. After settling in we left for a night walk around the hotel and found a small shop selling momos. Couldn't eat today though as they didn't have Veg momos in stock. So we placed an order of 8 plates Veg momos for the next day.  😉
Had dinner at hotel and spend the night knowing other human companions as it is a group trip of all solo travelers.

Shillong

Today after breakfast we left for Shillong site Seeing.
First stop was Mawphlang Sacred Forest where the khasi tribe sacrifice animals to their deity i.e. Nature. This place is a really peaceful one and requires one to walk for a good 1 hr in the forest trail with a guide explaining all the floral and fauna and rituals here. One can see many Monoliths here which is an indication of the place where sacrifice had taken place. Chestnuts, Wild Mushrooms, Rudraksh are few items one can spot here.
Lunch was at Three Birds Cafe which is a 2mins walk from Don Bosco Museum.
Don Bosco museum was our next stop. This museum consists of life like figures of all of north east india's tribes and their weapons and cultures. All seven floors are dedicated to this. Terrace has a sky walk from where one can see entire of Shillong city.
At evening we went to Police Bazaar for local shopping and eateries. For those who like chat & Bengali sweets, do visit Delhi Misthan Bhandar. Raj kachori, Jalebi, few sweets was on our table. Pineapples, paans, momos were few items we relished on in the market. Night walked back towards main road and took our bus back to the hotel.

Shillong - Cherrapunji

Today after breakfast we left for Cherrapunji. On the way we visited three layered waterfall Wei Saw Dong. This waterfall is not easily accessible as it requires one to descend  few not so easy stone stairs/steps for view point and 15 more mins of trek on vertically placed bamboo steps to reach the waterfall. Pristine green waters of the falls with sounds of water crashing soothes ones soul.
Next stop was Lunch, Veg thali at Orange Roots which is 15-20 mins away from the waterfall.
Mawsmai caves was our next visit which is again 10 mins from orange roots. This cave is not recommended for aged or not so physically fit people as it has many steps and stones which one needs to climb and cross.
Next stop was Nohkalikai waterfall which has its own story of origin. This one is easily accessible and a must visit for all. Stalls for souvenir, honey, pineapples are present here. The owners are pretty kind souls (with always smiling face) as they will give discounts on purchase for people who don't bargain. 😁 well I was one of them! Saw sunset here with tea and biscuits from a local restaurant which was waterfall facing.
Stay was at La Kupar Inn which is a 3 star property. Dinner with bonfire and drinks along with few games was the highlight.

Cherrapunji

Today entire group except me went for living Double Decker root bridge which starts at Tyrna village which was 9kms from our hotel & had to be done on foot coz of the strike. This trek includes 3500 steps descend plus a 45 min trek into the woods crossing few bamboo bridges hung high above the ground with blue waters from the waterfall in the ground. A trek of another half an hour ahead was required to Blue Lagoon which is a small yet mesmerizing water body with all shades of blue.
P.s. for return you have to trek back to double decker then 45 mins another trek in tje jungles and then ascend 3500 steps. Keep this in mind and be prepared mentally for it. The group had left at 6am and got back at 7.30pm.
I personally didn't go for this trek as I found it extremely tedious and rather went for seven sisters waterfall and Eco park which was 4kms walk one way from our hotel. Seven sisters waterfall was completely dried up as it was summers, however scene is very different in monsoons. And can see 7waterfalls making it way from mountains and falling down into the valley. At distance is flat land Bangladesh. As the climate was very foggy, I couldn't see flat land. Afternoon I was back at the hotel, called lunch in room itself and rested for the afternoon as it was too sunny to go anywhere out on foot. Evening I spent reading book on swing in the hotel garden. Much relaxed day which I needed.
Group arrived and we all had dinner (Chinese) together with our stories for the day and bonfire.

Cherrapunji

Actual plan was to head back to Shillong today covering Dawki (indo-bangla border) & Mawlynnong (cleanest village in Asia). However we couldn't do this coz of the strike.
So we stayed in Cherrapunji only and instead went to Wahrew for boating. The clean blue waters and no presence of tourists as its not well known made this super worth it. This place was quite far from hotel and also roads were still under construction which made our ride a very bumpy and dirty one.  We returned back late evening directly for dinner & Bonfire with few drinks. This night we all stayed awake talking about ourselves and knowing each other on a much deeper level as we all were strangers before the trip started. Morning 4am we went up to our rooms to pack and freshen up as 5am we were to leave for Kaziranga.

Cherrapunji - Kaziranga

Left early morning at 5am for Kaziranga national park. Don't quite remember the bus journey as well all were tired from previous night's jaagran & we all slept half of the journey 😉.
However I do remember stopping at a Tea Plantation in Assam. Reached Kaziranga National Park by early afternoon and had lunch at a local dhaba on highway. Upon reaching the national park, we took afternoon safari of 1.30-4.30.
We spotted Single horn Rhinos with a baby Rhino, Elephants, Wild Buffaloes, Deers (sambar), Eagles, Kingfisher, Wild Ox, Wild Pig in their natural habitat in the safari. Watching Sun set from our jeeps at a distance with its reflection on grassland was a pleasure to the eyes.
We settled in our rooms at Wildgrass Resort and were waiting for dinner time. Suddenly we all felt building shaking from left to right in an extreme Wavelength & thought someone must be running  down the stairs causing the structure to wobble. Later found that Assam was hit by an 4.5 magnitude of earthquake.
The discussion continued at bonfire with personal life experiences. A very rustic stay with very spacious rooms and compound.

Kaziranga - Majuli

After having delicious chole dal with puri and tea for breakfast we left for Majuli island. It is World's biggest river island. Its closed during monsoons as it gets submerged in Brahmaputra waters and the locals also have use their boats to commute from one place to other on the island itself.
Caught an afternoon 2pm ferry from Nimati ghat in jorhat to Majuli island. The ferry ride was about an hour and a half. Upon crossing Brahmaputra river we reached the other side, Majuli.
Transferred our bags to our cottages (Yadrasill Bamboo Cottages) and immediately left for lunch at a local restaurant named Monalisa. Roti thali and Rice thali with sweets. Super yummy and delicious food I would say.
Came back to our bamboo cottages and rested for the evening with bonfire and stories. I wouldn't recommend a stay here as the property was not quite maintained and nor were the staff. I would suggest you find someplace else instead of this property on the island.

Majuli - Guwahati

Today after a quick breakfast we visited Samaguri Satra for witnessing mask making family in action. They are well known Nationally & Internationally for making life size lively masks used in Ramayana & Mahabharata plays. The head of the family gave us a tour of his art works and culture. One can also shop for masks here as a souvenir.
Later we visited Bhogpur satra. One can skip this one as its not that of interest and very debating religious place. These devotees are krishna followers who have taken sanyaas and left all worldly pleasures of life in Krishna's devotion. Came back to our cottages for lunch.
Caught an 3pm ferry back to Nimati ghat. Saw sunset at the ghat after crossing the river. Before starting our overnight journey for Guwahati we stopped at Cafe Beans restaurant in Jorhat for dinner. This restaurant had our hearts as it had library of books and games and also a pool table. We spent our entire evening till night from 6pm to 11pm here having a time of our lives with games and good quality food.
By 11.30 we started our overnight journey for Guwahati airport.

Reached Guwahati airport early morning at 5am. Bid adios to the group and everyone left for check ins at their respective flight timings back to their homes i.e. Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Banglore & Jaipur.
Took a quick bite at airport itself for breakfast. Caught a flight (Guwahati - Patna - Mumbai) and back to Home Sweet Home.