The oft neglected areas in India while planning a domestic trip in India is possibly the North East. Considering that there are 7 states there, however, it is a treasure trove of unheard of destinations.
Meghalaya (abode of the clouds) conjures up the images of rain (Cherrapunjee) but even though that is what it is most famous for, there are 2 other things which are of prime touristy importance.
The first is the living root bridges and the second even lesser known fact is caving!
But let us start at the beginning as all good things must. Getting to Shillong, the capital isn't easy. The best way is to get to Guwahati and then take local transport (shared or private). There are direct flights but the airport is small and as we realised in our return leg, quite unreliable. Flights gets cancelled for reasons like rain quite often.
But Shillong is quite an interesting place. It is a city of music, stunning views and great food (not necessarily in that order).
Eventually the thing that blows your mind are the living root bridges. Long before modern construction became the norm, the local Khasi villagers innovated on connecting small villages separated by water bodies by planting trees on either side of the banks and getting the roots of these trees to grow across eventually becoming a bridge. Words fail to describe the engineering marvel that these 'bridges' are! Pictures may prove better but there is nothing like seeing them to understand how it functions. While there are many 'living root bridges' today, the best is the double decker one. It is a moderate trek (step climb and descent) but it is completely worth it.
And when you think you have seen it all, then you get to the caves. This is somewhat of a lesser known attraction. The bigger caves have stalactites and stalagmites which are good enough to get you interested but do visit the Arwah caves. These are caves which have fossils on the walls. You realise that at one point this entire region was under water and then along with the mighty Himalayas and the other areas in this part, they were pushed up and today there are fossilised sea horses, plankton and shells on the walls of a cave which is set in a mountain.
National Geographic won't be enough to get you to believe that one!
Drop the claustrophobia, forget the bats, this one is a must see!
Getting there
Shillong is the nearest airport but flights can be dicey since they are dependent on the weather. Guwahati is the safer option. Take a cab from Guwahati to Shillong, spend a day at Shillong and then move to Cherrapunjee. Take the same route back.
We stayed at the Ri Kynjai in Shillong and while it was super luxurious (and expensive), there would be many more places which are cheaper alternatives. At Cherrapunjee, the Cherrapunjee Holiday resort is the best. It is a family run place and they also help you with arranging transport to see the living root bridges.
In Shillong, do try out the local cafes, there are numerous and all of them are good.
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