Meghalaya - A trip to Wettest place on Earth, Cleanest Village and Scotland of East

After our successful trips to Vagamon - Scotland of Asia, Ponmudi this year we did up the stake a little and went a little further away from Tamil Nadu to the North Eastern state of India, Meghalaya. We visited Cherrapunjee aka Sohra - one of the wettest place on Earth, Mawlynnong - Cleanest Village of Asia, and Shillong - Scotland of the East.

The preparation started in February itself and we booked the flights by March first week. Applied leaves right after booking the tickets. Then, for the last month, we were busy purchasing Jerkins, Raincoats, T-shirts, Slippers, selfie sticks and what not just to make this a perfect trip. Even booked Ola for early morning pickup to reach the airport on time.

Day 1: Sohra - One of the wettest places on Earth, but weird weather.

So, we all started as early as 2:30 am on Wednesday morning or for me it was Tuesday night since I didn't sleep. And, we did complete the process and just in time for the final call and caught our direct flight to Guwahati. It was a smooth ride and Guwahati's weather was as good as Chennai. After getting into our pick up van, the driver who knows only Hindi stopped us at an excellent veg restaurant for the breakfast and everybody got their mojo back after that. And, we started clicking the pics right there. And, after a few kms, the weather changed dramatically and it started raining and our first stop was at Umaim Lake on the way to Cherrapunjee. So everyone got down with rain-cots, umbrellas since we were so prepared. And, after five minuted the rain stopped and it started sweating like we were back in Chennai. It was weird weather.

Umaim Lake

The next stop was at Elephant Falls, it was just for sightseeing, but the fun part was we dressed in Khasi traditional attire and took photos and even a video of dancing like legend Goundamani for his famous "start music" from Sooriyan movie. It was more fun for than we expected for the 50 rupees rent for that costume and an unforgettable memory.

Perfect Gang Picture

Start Music

Finally reached Cherrapunjee by night seven and the weather was good, it wasn't shivering and at the same time, we didn't require a fan to sleep.

Day 2:  Awesome Pooris and the unbelievable trekking

This was the most unforgettable day for me. After getting ready by 8:30 we found a small hotel for breakfast where we feasted on the most tastiest Pooris. Then we headed to our destination to visit the Double Decker Root Bridge. It was just 3 kms walk as it was mentioned, but they forgot to mention it was 3500 steps. It was mandatory to rent a bamboo stick just for support which I thought wasn't necessary, but thank god we did. We began enthusiastically and it was easy while going down those steps. And, after reaching over 2000 steps which included two hanging bridge, we needed to climb 300 steps. And, just after 50 steps, I couldn't move at all. That's when I realized the use of that bamboo stick and also I came to know it's gonna be a nightmare while going back.

After 2500 steps

But, that place was worth the sweating, the Double-Decker Root Bridge was awesome, but there was an excellent waterfall to take a bath. And, that's the reward for the hard work we put in. We spent enough time on the falls, the guide we hired wanted to take us to another spot which includes another two hours of up and down in steps. I was like even if there's a chance to meet god there I am not up to it. So, we decided to spend more time in the double-decker itself and then began the return. It was almost noon well past two. There wasn't any rain and it was sweating like anything. I really wanted to time-travel to the time where I slept peacefully in our room instead of climbing. It took me more than two hours to finally finish the trekking. What I achieved was almost impossible for a guy who can't even move his a** to the kitchen from the bedroom to get a glass of water. It was an achievement of my life considering my current physical status :D. On the way to our room, there was a beautiful view of Bangladesh, thanks to the sky.

Double Decker

The return

And, after dinner, few of us decided to walk (what was I thinking) towards our room while a few went in the van. Then, we realized nobody actually knows the route to our room. And, it was fun when we followed the van and after some time, they followed us and finally they returned saying we are on the way to a dead-end. So, now everyone was onboard the van and somehow found the room. That was an eventful end to an already eventful day.

Day 3: The leg pain was unbearable, I can't even walk normally for a few steps. And, the leg pain continued till I reached Chennai. The sun comes out too early in Cherrapunjee, like 4:30 or 5:00 and finally it was raining early in the morning and it stopped once I woke up. And, our first stop was Nohkalikai Falls, (From WiKi: Nohkalikai Falls is the tallest plunge waterfall in India. Its height is 1115 feet). The view was spectacular and there were another 150 steps to go down and get near to have a good look. And, then we spent the whole morning in that are thanks to the spectacular view all around that area. For every 100 meters, we go the view gets better and better. And, finally, we started from that place once the mist covered entirely. And, so we couldn't go back to that awesome Poori place. Everyone wanted that Poori so bad, but couldn't leave this view as well so we had to sacrifice that Poori.

 Nohkalikai Falls

The Gang

Should get a drone before the next trip

The next place was Seven Sister Falls, but we couldn't even see a single sister thanks to the mist cover. But, we did eat an awesome Maggi. And, then we left Cherrapunjee and proceeded to Mawlynnong. And, Cherrapunjee finally decided to give us the reason why it's one of the wettest places on earth. It rained heavily for the most part of our journey.

Day 4: Mawlynnong - The cleanest village of Asia, what should be Normal is an attraction here.

We started early in the morning in search of a river to take a bath. After, inquiring to many and explaining what we were looking at we finally found the path. And, once again it was "steps" descending down. But, we did find the place which was awesome with another waterfall. And, nobody was even there except us. It was a morning well spent. And, that's the highlight of that village. After getting ready we did visit that village, but we almost covered it while searching for the river in the morning and the village has more HomeStays than actual Homes. The next stop was another root bridge which was the Longest Living Route Bridge, and another 250 steps. My legs are already crying. I wasn't impressed thanks to the hot weather and also the steps. If it wasn't for that morning bath, I would have hated my visit to Mawlynnong.

Dawki river with some photobombing

Then we proceeded to the Dawki river which was at the border of Bangladesh. After a boat ride in that picturesque location, we visited the border. The only time I ever got close to a foreign country. And, then we proceeded to Shillong. The ride was a little scary since we couldn't see anything in the road because of the mist, but our driver did a fantastic job and finally reached Shillong. Surprisingly the weather was colder than the other places here.

Border Selfie

Day 5: Shillong - Scotland of the East, second trip to Scotland.

Our first stop was to Laitlum Canyons, which was supposed to have some beautiful views, but it was covered with too much mist and was we were getting wet as if it was raining. But, the weather was too good to miss. The only significant thing we saw in that place was a dance by one of our friends which is a popular GIF in our group now.

Laitlum Canyons

And, from there we decided to do something adventurous and decided to go that zip lining place which was almost near Cherrapunjee. We have to convince the driver and his owner to go back again. And, the valley was completely covered in mist, so we didn't see how deep it was until we completed the ride. After completing the ride the mist cleared for a few seconds, it was actually very deep. But, even with the mist, it was so thrilling since we couldn't see anything anywhere. We couldn't even see the destination for while we were zipping, it was surely a lifetime experience.

Zipppppp

That Sathicha moment

After, that we were back to Shillong and visited the Wards Lake, which was the mandatory lake with boating in which we can see in every hill station. Thank god, I got into a boat where two guys were good enough to pedal me and take photos as well. And, after that, we started searching for the much heard about Police Bazaar for shopping especially for my wife without that I don't think I could have returned home :D. The Bazaar was very crowded which looked as good as T Nagar. It had street foods, clothes, etc. In the meantime, we were following India's innings while we were traveling and we all settled in our room to catch the Pak innings. But, it turned into a disappointing one-sided game. So, we got to sleep early.

Day 6: Back to Chennai

The final day was nothing but travel from Shillong to Guwahati airport. The traffic was little hectic at the Shillong, but everyone was very disciplined and were following a single line, which was so heartening to see. The majority of the cars are modified Alto or Maruti 800.

THE END, thanks to our amazing companion driver Zamal

And, we boarded the flight without any delay and after a transit at Kolkata airport, which looked really good. We reached Chennai. And, Chennai's weather is like "You tried to escape, but where did that bring you? Back to me. I am.. Inevitable", which was at 33 degrees at 10:30 PM.

Overall right from the planning till landing everything went so perfect and it turned out to be one of the best trips of my life easily. After visiting Scotland of Asia and Scotland of the East maybe we should visit actual Scotland next :D.

To all those asking how did your wife agree to this, my answer is மனைவி அமைவதெல்லாம் :D :D