Monsoon Road Trip to Meghalaya

I, along with my better-half, reached Guwahati by evening from Visakhapatnam. Went straight to Treebo hotel that I booked for the night at Beltola. We proceeded thereafter to Christian Basti, Fancy bazaar, Paltan bazaar to get a glimpse of the city. Entire city is literally on the sides of GS Road. There is nothing much that you can do at night apart from shopping in few places and malls on GS Road. We had dinner and went back to hotel to call it a day.

Morning, we picked up Zoomcar near Central Mall and went to Kamakhya Maa Temple which is one of the Shakti-peeths. Let me caution you the roads to Temple from wherever you are in city are quite busy and are usually heavily jammed. Also, the temple is also quite crowded and strongly recommend to leave very early for the darshan. Be prepared to stand in queue for almost 3-4hrs on a busy day. Unfortunately, we could not have darshan as we went late and there was so much rush. We had beautiful view of mighty Brahmaputra river on the way to temple.

One can still go up the hill from Kamakhya Maa temple to visit another temple but humble one. There we get even more beautiful view of river Brahmaputra view. After a short break there, we started to Shillong. If time permits, it would be a good idea to visit pobitora wildlife sanctuary where largest concentration of single horned rhinos exist. Visit to the sanctuary can take half a day and it is usually closed in monsoon. Way to Shillong is breathtaking with a wide 4 lane road and mesmerizing views. We had lunch on the way. Our first stop on the way to Shillong was Umiam lake which is vast in size and beautiful with blue skies and white clouds in the background.

After a brief stop there, we went ahead to Shillong and checked-in at an Airbnb that we booked. The stay name was Breezewale Home Stay which is very good and economical for a couple travelers like us. Though it was monsoon, the skies were clear and weather was pleasant. We went to Police bazaar which makes you feel Shillong like a metropolitan. We did some shopping and proceeded to Cafe Shillong for dinner.

Next day we drove to Shillong View Point which is a famous tourist attraction. Here is a word of caution. Google maps shows the location properly but the route was misleading. Since we were on one side of city, maps showed shortest route which happened to be a restricted Defence access. We followed that route only to be asked to go back.

We went to Elephant falls next which is just 6km away. It is a simple and beautiful three level waterfall. We had fun for sometime and proceeded to ML05 cafe for lunch which is very nearby.

After lunch, we went to Don Bosco museum which displays complete cultural heritage of North East states. The museum is vast and there are no. of shows if one is interested. There is a sky deck on top of the building from which you can get panoramic view of Shillong city. End of Day.

We left Shillong to spend time in Cherrapunjee. On the way, we decided to visit Laitlum Grand Canyon which is lesser known yet magnificent place. The canyon is an hour drive from Shillong. We reached there as the clouds were closing in early in the morning. The roads are not that good but not tiring either. We have to type "Laitlum Grand Canyon" in Google maps to get correct location, else it points to a different location. This canyon has a very deep gorge and it is just gorgeous. Deep valley, a village at bottom and a river with cloud cover and greenery, distant waterfalls, everything there is enchanting. If you are interested, one may trek down the gorge on steps (Time has to be planned accordingly which may take 2-3 hrs).

We proceeded to Cherrapunjee and stayed in Kutamadan resort which has beautiful view of Bangladesh Plains. This resort is quite and calm and more of hill-side cottages.

We went to see seven sister falls, Mawsmai caves and Eco park to close for the day. To our luck, it was not raining then but started pouring down as we reached resort at night.

Next day, though we decided to go to Double decker trek, we could not due to heavy downpour and very low visibility. But if you can drive down to the trek start point, it is a must do trek (it is as good as climbing Tirumala hill, some 3500 steps). We waited till noon and went to see Nohkalikai falls. It was in full spate and we could get a glimpse of the tallest plunging fall for some 5-10 mins before clouds covered it. It is so typical of Cherrapunjee in monsoon where it rains till 12PM and then we get some relief till evening. This is the time when you can see attractions, in monsoon.

After the falls, we went to Thangkharang park and Motrop. The road from Cherrapunjee to Motrop was muddy and gravel road downhill though it is wider.

Jiva resort is very good option for dinner and even stay if you can shell-out money.

Day-6 we proceeded back to Shillong. On the way we went to Arwah Caves and then Garden of Caves which is again a lesser known place. I must say that this was my best of all that I have seen in Meghalaya. With several waterfalls, this place is a photographer's paradise. We can bath and enjoy hours here. After some good time here, we saw Mawkdok view point on the way and went straight to Shillong. After hotel check-in, we went to Golf course and spent some good time there.

Day-7, We covered Living root bridge near Mawlynnong and had walk in the cleanest village of Asia. It is very clean and picturesque. Drive to Mawlynnong takes around 2 hrs, 75km from Shillong. Drive to the place is awesome! We came back to Shillong by evening.

Day-8, Depart to Guwahati, end trip for Zoom car and proceed to Airport. End of one of the most memorable trips :-)

Note: Follow Google Maps with Caution. People are good and helping in Meghalaya. Pineapples are must try. Traffic in Shillong is too much to cope up. You need to be good at driving: winding, steep, muddy, narrow roads and low visibility.

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