How I solo travelled to Meghalaya amid the pandemic

My journey date was 14th April. I took a direct flight from Kolkata to Shillong. Reached there around 11 AM. Shillong airport is around an hour drive from Police bazar. Police bazar is the Shillong city center and one will get shared cabs for different places from there. So, you can either book a cab to your destination from the airport or you can take a cab till Police bazar and from there you will get a shared cab for your destination. I wanted to reach Tyrna and planned to cover some places on the way which was not possible in a shared cab, so I booked a cab till Tyrna from the airport and it cost me 3K. On the way from Shillong to Tyrna I covered Madock View point and Duwan Sing fall, Wah Kaba fall, Dainthlen fall and Weisawdong fall. The last one is the most beautiful one. The path to the falls from the road may scare you – it was made of temporary bamboo structures but when you’ll reach there, it will blow your mind! I reached Tyrna which is 13 kms from Cherrapunji (Locally known as Sohora) at around 6 PM. You’ll get some hotels and homestays there.

Next day was the most exciting part of this trip. I had my breakfast and started for the root bridge trek. There were 3700 steps from the trek starting point to the double decker root bridge. It took me 45 minutes from the starting point to the single root bridge. Then another an hour from single root bridge to double root bridge. Then another 1 hour 45minutes from double root bridge to the rainbow fall. I visited natural swimming pool on the way to Rainbow fall. You’ll be exhausted by the time you’ll reach there but the mesmerizing beauty will erase all the pains. I would recommend to push yourself and make it to the Rainbow fall – you won’t regret. The return journey was more punishing. I walked for 3 and half hours to reach the starting point –this time I had to climb those 3600+ stairs. My calf muscles became as hard as stone when I finished the 8 hours walk in the woods, stones and stairs but it was worth the effort! If you are travelling alone and not habituated with this kind of walk, then its better to book a guide - they are available at the starting point. If you are travelling in a group, then you can push each another when you are about to give up, but in case you are travelling alone then you may need someone to push you. They charge 1K for the whole trek covering single bridge, double bridge and rainbow fall. If you are going to double bridge only, then they charge 700. I stayed that night at Tyrna.

I left for Sohora in the morning and covered the sightseeing there – Seven sister falls, Mawsmai caves, Nohkalikhai fall (the tallest plunge waterfall in India), Arwah Cave. By 2 PM I completed them and had nothing more to do there. So, I took a shared cab from Sohora to Shillong and reached by evening.

I planned to visit Dwaki and other sightseeing around Shillong. I was lucky to get another traveler at the taxi stand who agreed to share the ride, but we were unlucky that Dwaki was closed for tourists as that whole area was declared as a containment zone due to massive covid outbreak there! Heartbroken us visited Krang Shuri fall, Mawphlang Sacred Grove and Elephant falls instead and called it a day.

I had my return flight from Guwahati. I took a shared cab from Shillong to Guwahati – it cost 300 bucks and took less than 3 hours.

I hope this itinerary will help you to plan your travel when the situation becomes better. Till that stay safe, stay at home!

PS: From the very next week Meghalaya closed its doors for tourists due to covid situation.