A Solo Backpackers Trip to Meghalaya (2022)

Leaving my first job from the corporate world, I decided to backpack across the Seven Sisters during the month of March, 2022. This blog is all about my travel itinerary and experience across the state of Meghalaya.

I hope that the below mentioned details would help as well as inspire you to travel to the state that is also known as Abode of Clouds!

Reaching Shillong

The first day was all about travelling to Shillong from Guwahati and then exploring a bit of what the city had to offer.

I reached Shillong by 11am and checked in at the Isabella traveler’s hostel by around 11:30am post which, I had my lunch and then I made a rough itinerary for the next 7 days. Once this was done, I left the hostel around 4pm to explore the city. For me, it was all about trying the local food, going through the lanes and interacting with the localities. From a tourist attraction POV, I visited Ward’s lake and later to Police Bazaar in the evening.

With that, it was a wrap for day 1 in Meghalaya.

KEY POINTS

1. You'll get a government bus from the ASTC bus stand for Shillong. Only 2 buses ply on this route - one at 7 and the other at 8 in the morning. You can book seats for the same via www.astc.com. The other options to travel to Shillong are via shared sumos or flight (least preferred). Timings are bound to change as per operator’s requirement.

2. Two-wheeler (Scooty) rental options are easily available in Shillong at a rate of about ₹600 per day.

3. The city as well as the state closes by 7pm-ish – Keep this in mind while creating your itinerary.

4. There are very few Petrol pumps in the state. Therefore, ensure that you refuel your Scooty as and when possible.

Cherrapunji

I started my day by 8am in the morning with Cherrapunji as my first destination. You drive along the Mawkdok Dympep Valley and so, there are multiple view points where you can stop and enjoy the view of the valley. My first destination for the day was Wah-Kaba waterfalls as it was on my way. As it was the month of March, the waterfall was totally dried up. Nevertheless, the view from the view point was quite good!

From Wah-Kaba, I left for Arwah Lumshynna caves, which is famous for its limestone fossils. You need to trek for a short distance in order to reach the cave entrance. Once I explored the caves, I drove to Nohsngithiang falls, which is also known as the Seven sisters waterfall. Again, the waterfall was totally dried up. Nevertheless, enjoyed a great view!

Post lunch, I started exploring Mawsmai caves, which is also famous for its limestone formations. After exploring the caves for about 45 minutes, I left for Nohkalikai waterfalls, which is the tallest plunge waterfall in India. You can enjoy the view, have some refreshments and if interested, then you could also check out the local artifacts that are sold over there.

By evening, I left for Wei Sawdong. It takes about 45 mins to trek downwards to reach the view point. Wei Sawdong is one of those waterfalls where water will be present throughout the year. It is one of the prettiest waterfalls and you can have a gala time over here in the evening.

After I was done enjoying the falls, I left for a village called Tyrna, which is the base village for the Living Root Bridge/ Rainbow waterfall trek.

With that, it was a wrap for day 2 in Meghalaya.

KEY POINTS

1. You could actually split the above mentioned itinerary into two days. I believed that a day would be enough for all of this and so, I accordingly allotted time for each attraction.

2. You can skip the waterfalls if you want in case you’re travelling during the period of Jan-May as there is no water at most of the falls; Do talk to the locals to figure out as of which one would be worth visiting during your arrival in Cherrapunji.

3. Visit Wei-Sawdong by evening as you’ll find very less crowd during that period.

4. Driving post 6pm is quite risky and so, I would suggest you to check-in to your home stay/hotel by evening. There are a lot of stay options in Cherrapunji and so, finding one would not be an issue. I would suggest Rani Homestay as one of the options that you could check out. I didn’t stay there but I heard a lot about it from other travelers.

Living Root Bridge/ Rainbow Waterfall trek

As mentioned before, Tyrna is the base village for this trek. I spent the night before trek in the village so that I could start the trek as early as possible.

I started my trek at 5:30am towards the Single Living Root Bridge, which took me about 90mins. The Double Decker Living Root Bridge takes approx. 20mins from the Single Living Root Bridge. From here, I continued my trek towards Rainbow waterfalls. It will take another one hour or so to reach Rainbow waterfalls from the Double Decker Living Root Bridge.

Return trek towards Tyrna is the toughest part. The initial 3500 steps of the trek during the day is quite easy as you are getting down. But by the time you cover all these points and you’re back to the last mile, these 3500 steps could be way tougher than you could imagine. For the same reason, there are a few homestays around the Double Decker Living Root Bridge. People usually start the trek, cover till Rainbow waterfalls and then get back to one of these homestays. After spending the night over there, they’ll start next morning towards Tyrna.

Nevertheless, I was persistent on completing the whole trek on the same day and so, I reached the base village by 2:30pm. After taking a break and freshening up for a couple of hours, I started my travel towards Kongthong.

I reached Kongthong by night. Once I reached there, I set up my tent, took a stroll in the village and then called it a night.

With that, it was a wrap for day 3 in Meghalaya.

KEY POINTS

1. I would recommend you to reach Tyrna at night and stay over there at a home stay, so that you can start the trek as early as possible. The 2 home stays that are available near the starting point are Delight Homestay and Greenland Homestay.

2. It is advised to start early so that you get less crowd at all the above mentioned attraction points.

3. A heavy bag while trekking could be cruel to you as this is a lengthy trek. Do not carry unnecessary items in your bag.

4. There are small cafes and eating joints along the trek where you can buy refreshments.

5. The road towards Kongthong is very bad and on top of that, unavailability of street lights makes it a very risky ride. Hence, if you feel that you won’t be able to reach Kongthong by evening, I would suggest you to stay in Cherrapunji and then travel to Kongthong the next day.

Kongthong and Dawki

The village and its inhabitants is the main attraction for someone who visits Kongthong. My host was also the village tour guide and so, he made sure that I could interact with the people and experience the uniqueness in their culture. You should definitely check out my coverage of Kongthong on my Instagram highlights (corporate.musafir).

Once I was done with the village tour, I packed my bags and left for Dawki. It is a small village and is known for Umngot river, which is the cleanest river in Asia. I went for boating, which costs ₹800 per boat and accommodates 2-3 passengers. The ideal time for boating is during sunset. I had a gala time during the ride and once it was over, I sat besides the river, spoke to the locals over there, interacted with the BSF officers, tasted the local Indian as well as Bangladeshi snacks (as the zero line passes through Dawki, you’ll find a lot of Bangladeshi’s visiting the river as well as selling their local delicacies).

Once I covered Dawki, I began my travel to Mawlynnong. Once I reached my destination, I was invited by the owner of my homestay to visit their house. It was fun interacting with their family members and I had a nice time listening to their stories! I had my dinner over there and then, I called it a day as I had to start early the next day.

With that, it was a wrap for day 4 in Meghalaya.

KEY POINTS:

1. Try to interact with the villagers in Kongthong. The essence of travelling to this place has a meaning only if you understand their culture and then try to gel up with them!

2. Traveler's nest is the only homestay that provides accommodation to travelers in Kongthong. The property is very good while the host (Bakhian) is an amazing person! He’ll help you in all possible ways and will ensure that you have an amazing experience.

3. There are private agencies as well who take you for boat ride in Umngot, but I would suggest you to go to the government ticket counter and avail their services.

4. You can also check out Shnongpdeng, which is a small village at a distance of 7km from Dawki. While Dawki attracts people, Shnongpdeng is comparatively a calmer and less crowded version of Dawki. If you’re interested in water sports, then I’d definitely recommend you to visit Shnongpdeng.

5. The ride from Dawki/ Shnongpdeng to Mawlynnong is quite risky due to poor road conditions and no streetlights. Therefore, try reaching Mawlynnong before sunset.

Mawlynnong

I had an early start as I began my trek to Lyngkhong, which is a bordering village to Bangladesh. There are various points during the trek where you get beautiful views of our neighboring country. At Lyngkhong, I got a chance to interact with the locals as well as the BSF officers who were posted over there.

Once I got back to Mawlynnong, I began exploring the village. Being the cleanest village in Asia, Mawlynnong is a small village that has been raised with proper discipline. It is interesting to know about how they ensure that the surroundings remain clean. I strolled around the village while my host gave me a brief about the village history.

Once I was done exploring Mawlynnong, I left for Shillong. Once I reached Shillong, I strolled around Police Bazar, bought a few artifacts and then went back to my base – Isabella Traveler's hostel.

With that, it was a wrap for day 5 in Meghalaya.

KEYPOINTS

1. There are a lot of homestays in Mawlynnong. You could reach there and check them out. I was staying at Kharmawshun homestays as it was recommended by a few travelers. From my experience, I would definitely recommend you to check this property. The hosts are amazing as well as the price is worth the service that they are providing.

2. There is no trail as such to trek to Lyngkhong. Nathan, who was the son of my host, had the experience of doing this trek and so, based on his availability, he takes travelers for the same on request.

3. Laitlum is another view point that you can add to your itinerary while you travel from Mawlynnong to Shillong.

Wakhen

I started the day by 8:30am from Shillong by visiting Laitumkhrah Presbyterian Church, which is quite near to the hostel. Once I was done with my prayer, I left for Wakhen, which is a small village at a distance of 52kms from Shillong. The drive is quite pretty as you pass through the tea estates of Upper Shillong. You also get a glimpse of the Indian Air Force's Eastern Command as you travel.

After reaching Wakhen, I began with the Mawrynkhang trek, also commonly known as Bamboo trail trek. There are two highlights of doing this trek – Mawpen Caves and Wahrew waterfall. Mawpen cave is a bit difficult to reach as the trail towards the end is quite steep. But do give it a try! Post Mawpen, it takes only about 15 mins from there to reach Wahrew waterfall.

Once I was done with Wakhen, I began my travel to Nongjrong. The drive is quite scenic and you’ll have an amazing time reaching the village. After reaching Nongjrong, I strolled around the village, visited their community church, had my dinner and then called it a day.

With that, it was a wrap for day 6 in Meghalaya.

KEYPOINTS

1. Drive towards Nongjrong is quite tricky as Google Maps does falter during navigation. It would be better if you ask the locals about the direction.

2. Nongjrong has only one option for homestay. As it has only about 4-5 rooms, it would be better to call them up before you start your travel.

3. You also have the option of pitching in your own tent over here. You can pay a minimal amount and then pitch it at the view point itself.

4. People do not understand English over here. Nevertheless, they’ll try their best to help you out with your needs via sign language!

Nongjrong

I woke up at 5am as the whole point of going to Nongjrong is to see the sunrise! After witnessing one of the prettiest sunrise that I have ever seen, I left from Nongjrong to Shillong.

Once I reached Shillong, I had my lunch and then proceeded towards the bus stand in the afternoon to travel to Guwahati.

With that, it was a wrap of my travel in Meghalaya!

KEY POINTS

1. WAKE UP! If you don’t, then you’ll regret for sure.

2. Ensure that you leave early so that you can reach Shillong as soon as possible. The traffic scene at Shillong can get pretty bad as the day moves ahead.

3. You'll get a government bus from the ASTC bus stand for Guwahati. Only 2 buses ply on this route - one at 2 and the other at 3 in the afternoon. You can book seats for the same via www.astc.com. The other options to travel to Shillong are via shared sumos or flight (least preferred). Timings are bound to change as per operator’s requirement.

Do check out my stories of Meghalaya as well as other parts of India and give a follow up on my Instagram page, which is corporate.musafir!