Mawlynnong

Cleanest village of Asia

As we went deeper into Meghalaya, we felt the hug of mother earth. No exaggeration! Those big bees, hundreds of butterflies, flowers, fresh air, what not? Numerous insects and birds coexisted with human beings (unlike our cities). In the name of civilization, we eradicate anything which come in our path. ???? Meghalaya is home for 100s of different species of butterflies and bees. so many types of insects, colorful dragonflies, tiny birds. We all were mesmerized by the rich ecosystem.

Mawlynnong is the village west of Dawki, say around 1 hour drive from Dawki, our home stay was 2km before Mawlynnong village. RB home stay, the owner was a tribal, and owners nephew Rang ???? was our host. Rang was a very jovial person, he barely spoke English. Most of the people speak Nishi in Meghalaya ( Monpa Tribal language). When we were discussing about food in Kannada, he not only understood, but replied to us in our language! We all were awestruck. Apperantly, he had a friend in south india, who helped him learn kannada and he was too shy to speak about that 'friend'. ????????

Rang brought a insect with him, and showed us. He was pretty sure, we will ask him about that insect tomorrow "??!!? We were confused. Sure! we are never bothered by a insect until it bites. ???? But yeah, we all were curious to see what that insect does ? After a nice tea and dinner, Rang helped us with camp fire to beat the cold. As were no street lights, hence less light pollution, we could see like a zillion stars in the sky. That day we slept early. We kept the canopy light on, to deviates all kinds of insects towards the light and away from the room. ???? I have not seen that many varieties of insects together anywhere.

Next day morning we woke up to a shrill, siren like sound coming from a couple of trees near by. The sound was so sharp, we couldn't hear the person next to us. Rang came with a big smile, and before we asked, he answered. In mating season these insects make shrill sharp noise to attract females, I say, who would get attracted to such sharp, ear piercing, disturbing noise?? ???? insect stared off by 6am and continued till 12:30 pm. we were perplexed?!

After Tea, We decided to take a stroll in the plantation, in front of our home stay. There was a well paved cement walkway. There were 100s of butterflies, bees, colorful caterpillars, Big and bright spiders with humongous webs. so many types of insects, kids were totally in love exploring unknown species. At the end of our morning walk, we came to know, it was broomstick plants.

I was wondering, what would have been the fate of this shrill noisy insects, if they were in so called metro cities????

It was 10 am and Rang came with a sling bag and a cap. Asked us if we are ready to go around Mawlynnong. We had not planned to take rang with us! we looked at each other, and not to shatter his enthusiasm, we smiled at him and gave a heads up. Rang instantly added 3 places to our list.

Single Living Root Bridge

Single living root bridge.

Travel Tip : If you are a person who wants to experience living root bridge but do not want to spent a day trekking, this is the place for you.

The pics we clicked, did no justice to this enchanting place. we reached the root bridge around 10:30 and there were around 200 people in the place. Ahh! crowded places are our last priority.

This is a place where, we need to feel the fresh air, taste the pure river, walk the path where our ancestors walked, touch and feel the root bridge and most importantly, not disturbing the Virtue of the place. So next day Rang took me and Avi to the place by 7 am, we had the place for ourselves for nearly an hour. ????

Single root bridge and us ????

Travel tip: Get a guide and go to Single root tree bridge by 7 or 8 am, Place opens to public by 10am and till then you can enjoy the place in tranquil.

Bangladesh view point!

Rang took us to a view point after this. There are many view points around Mawlynnong, built and maintained by locals there. flauting the view of plain land Bangladesh to one side and Meghalayn mountains, with water falls, to the other side. Whole of the terrace is build by bamboo poles, sticks, and bamboo climbers to them together. we couldn't find a single nail hammered or string tied. we were very impressed with the workmanship. he charged us nominal entry fee and trust me we enjoyed the terrace (view point) more than the view ????

Mawlynnong or wow!!lynnong!

Until now, we thought we were in Mawlynnong, but it only striked us, when Rang told, " Now, we will go to Mawlynnong! with raised eyebrows we headed towards the village.

The entry point to the village itself told us, why it ranked the cleanest village in Asia. well paved roads, clean surroundings, cute and clean dustbins. Bamboo cones dustbins were installed in front of each house, like we have mail boxes in front of our house.

There is a nice black hoarding which gave us list of things to be followed.

Trust me! dustbins were so cute, ❤ we did not feel like throwing something in it. ???? so we carried our waste back to the home stay. in front of a few house took a step forward and had kept flowers in it. it was like a vase.

It was very hot, we all were tired by the time we reached the end of village. Guess what! the end of the village had a nice sitting area and very well maintained toilets! we spent some time in that area, hungry us left Mawlynnong as there was no veg food available there.

Travel tip: You need to stay inside Mawlynnong village to experience it, as the cleanest village in Asia. Wake up in the morning and take a walk, witness the practices, and measures taken to attain this rank etc. visiting the place for half an hour may not do justice.

Ha la Rympei homestay, Nangroi House, arud Wahduid Home Stay, Hala tyngkong Homestay and many more home stays available in the village. All are with very basic amenities and restaurants around.

Baked in the hot sun! we all were so tired, we just wanted to skip everything and get back home. we ordered lunch from Kyntiew restaurant. Tired of eating Dal and sabzi continuously for 13 days in a row, our taste buds wanted some tang and spice. We had packed up Indira instant rasam and sambar packets, which saved us that day. Kids felt they were back home, so as we!

we southIndians are so addicted to rice and sambar! ????

The day ended for all of us, as kids slept early. We all dozed off, but Avi took rang for a small trek to a nearby high land, for star gazing. Apparently they went to a hill near by, which had a small stretch of tar road on top. Quiet, dark, and clear skies, which was perfect for photography.

Avi and Rang on mission Star trail.

Next morning, we woke up to that noisy insect. But not bad, we all had already adapted to that sound. It did not bother us, as it did, the previous day. Avi showed us all photos he tool the previous night. It was like zillion twinkle in the sky with hundreds of shooting star. ???? Sad I missed it.

Mawlynnong! cleanest and soulfull! ❤ ❤