Ashish KumarWho has not heard of this place? We all have learnt it by heart when our teachers asked us to repeat the answer to the question“Which place gets most rainfall in the country?”“Cherrapunji” .Of course that title is now taken away by neighbouring village Mawsynram.
To start with, we landed in Guwahati, Heart of Assam.After spending a day in Guwahati. The next morning I set-off early to Cherrapunji along with my friend Vivek Mittal .Our trip was in May last year and the place was chilling cold even when the whole country was facing wrath of the sun.
Cherrapunjee is one of the wettest places in India. Throughout our school life in geography we read about Cherrapunjee, the place with highest amount of rainfall in the world, we decided to explore the place. Driving between clouds, breathtaking natural scenery and the cold weather, we were in a different world – a cleaner and prettier world I would say.
Our first stop was at JIVA veg restaurant situated on the National Highway 6 (NH6) which goes directly from Guwahati to Shillong. A nice, clean and tidy restaurant on the road side of Nongpoh that serves vegetarian food.
Beautifully crafted building with excellent interiors with spacious dining halls nicely furnished and with a clean and neat wash room facility. The exteriors were also done well with greenery and flowers all around.The place was also well maintained and comfortable.
We had Puri Bhaji and Coffee over there .The food quality was too good and was very hygiene. Loved to visit this place again if in future planned for Shillong.
Once our breakfast was done we started our journey for our first tourist spot Elephant Falls.That tourist paradise with 3 layer of water falls was accessible from different view points. The first wide fall was hidden behind dense trees , the second one is thin with turbulence & third one very wide clearly visible flows like a thin milky sheet is simply mesmerizing.
The falls are very nice, especially the top and bottom falls.There one can get the traditional Khasi attire for rent to get photographed also local shops selling handicrafts.
The Next place spotted on our way to Cherrapunji was Umiam Lake with stunning view .That lake was so mesmerizing and so soothing for your eyes. Definitely worth a visit to that lake. The water was so calm and serene.The scenic beauty of the vast lake with azure waters was truly enchanting and makes it an ideal spot for landscape photographers.
Mawkdok Dympep Valley , this valley fall mid way to Cherrapunji,it is very beautiful and we see wonderful clouds floating over the skies. It was a scenic view of lush green valley. We could saw it from main road only while going to Cherrapunjee from Shillong
We got excellent and deep view of the picture valley view, we found so many mountains criss cross, we had clicked many nice shots from there. That place also had the facility of a zip line !I saw so many valleys till date but never felt an experience like that before cold breeze hitting on my face and clouds passing over me wow…..
After spending some time over there we made our way to Nohkalikai Fall. It is the highest fall in India and we were fortunate to saw it .Were lucky as the cloud disappeared as soon as we reached the view point. For about a KM or so we drove through thick cloud with almost zero visibility. Clouds usually cover the view.
It was a beautiful waterfall, and a great view. we cannot get to the waterfall itself, but only able view it from a distance. The water plunges from a height and it was a treat to watch the slow motion of the water as it reaches the ground and forms a small pond before trickling off further down.
Next we moved on to explore meghalya tradition and culture by visiting artifically created Khasi people huts and things representing there way of life and many more.
After having our lunch we visited to Mawswami cave .It was amazing to see the impressive formation of large passages and chambers.The formation of the rock was something which gave us a surprise because that kind of formation of rock in different shapes and sizes was also new to us.
Last point of attraction which we visited in Cherrapunji was Seven Sister Waterfall .The view point for 7 sister falls offers splendid views . Bangladesh territory was also visible from here.
Lastly we found our stay in one of the homestay available in Cherrapunji . In evening we spend some time playing and chit chatting with children and family member of house owner.They we were very much humble and provided great hospitality to us. Even in morning the house provide me cup of tea free of cost before we started our journey for next destination “Double Root Living Bridge“
