Meghalaya : The blessed Land among the Clouds!

Quick stats:

It costs around 9000 rupees to and fro from Kolkata. Only Alliance Air(Air India) has flights, that is only from Kolkata as told by fellow passengers. Only one flight which starts around 1.45 in the afternoon which reach Shillong by 3.20pm. The return flight is around 4pm(same aircraft). Please note, these were says from taxi drivers/people around me at that time.
There are plenty of lodges at Mylleim. Please include this destination in your travel, as the stay was so lovely, the morning walks were so memorable for a long time. Also the lodges has courteous staff and the food was simply great(traditional, super non veg food I had).
The trekking around the hills are quite safe. The local people are friendly.
Plenty of taxis available at any time of the day. IMO, very cheap rates considering the steap hill routes and petrol taxis.
Nice momos and other food available.
In a rainy season chirapunji is a must visit. On a summer tour I recommend Mylliem and Umiam lake tour. Enjoy these two destination fully as other destinations offer full beauty when there are rains.

I have covered the following in my blog here:

Mylliem
Chirapunji(Sohra)
Mawsmai caves
Agriculture around Mylleim
Umiam Lake(dont miss!).

There is so much to cover in this beautiful state. want to do so in future.

How it all Began!

I visited Meghalaya in February 2019. In one of the Saturdays I felt escaping from Kolkata urgently. The past week was unusually hectic at the office and so wanted a break from it all on that Saturday. But, I had visited most of the nice places around Kolkata and personally I do not like to visit a place more than once.

I was checking flights status/rates in makemytrip.com and I found for Shillong there are airfares available at a reasonable rate. I searched in google about sight seeing near Shillong and there were plenty! Also the word "Chirapunji" did ring a bell, as a kid I had by hearted this as one of the places with most rainfall.

I booked the ticket and the flight was on the same day noon. I vacated the hotel I was staying and reached Kolkata airport by 11am. I parked my car and made it to the waiting area.

When it was time for boarding, I was delighted to find it as a ATR-72. I had a personal liking for this plane. I was seated in one the seats in tails just before the air-hostess' seats. The plane felt comfortable.

Soon, we started our journey, I usually prefer Indigo airlines, and difference between Alliance Air(Air India) and the former was soon become visible. There was no safety/ advice sessions or any instructions at all. Just an announcement from cockpit, "we are going to take off soon".

Every one was given a 200ml drinking water bottle and a snacks pack. The snacks were great. Two nice butter biscuits and one small sandwitch. An air hostess also offered me a cup of hot coffee.

One good thing about having a window seat in a turbo prop like ATR-72 is, it does not fly too high above the ground level. On a sunny day, you can enjoy the layout of the valleys, the mountains, the terrain from the plan quite comfortably. Something you miss when you fly in Jets where the cloud canopy will mask most the views during a flight.

After one hour into our flight, the plane started its descent. Soon, due to heavy weather the aircraft started swaying and it continued till landing. The last 10 minutes of the flight was so dramatic!. You see mountain peaks draped in mists all around you and some seems as high as the plane itself!. The plane makes left, right, up and down among the mighty mountains and finally lands at the Shillong airport. It was 3.20 in the afternoon when I landed there and still there was heavy mist around the nearby mountains.

Shillong Airport:

The Shillong airport is a surprisingly low-affair, calm and quite place!. There is only one flight landing here from Kolkata and the airport comes alive only between 2.30 to 4.30 in the afternoon. There is only one conveyor belt and the few passengers from the ATR-72, wait patiently in the nearby chairs waiting for their luggage to appear in the belt. It took a good 20 minutes before the luggage started to appear in the belt and it seemed only me was actually bothered about the delay!. Most people just patiently sat in their chairs and some had a tea in their hands waiting for the luggage without a trace of impatience in their faces!. I think they are quite used to its ways!.

On the way to Mylleim past Shillong Town:

I had my room booked at Mylleim near shillong. when I reached the parking lot of the airport, a group of taxi drivers confronted me. I asked about Mylleim and they said, it will take atleast 3 hours to reach there and the fair will be 1500 rupees. I was a bit tired and want to reach the hotel at the earliest. So without bargaining I agreed and a smart young fellow took me to his taxi. I was delighted to know, it was an old Maruti 800 petrol. Soon we started out journey.

Typical mountain roads in Meghalaya.. narrow roads with deep ravines on one side.

Soon, it was clear why a distance of 50 kms take around 3 hours to cover in the taxi. The driver told me in broken hindi that, there was a political rally going on in Shillong on that particular day and all the highways were blocked. We were travelling through village roads and I felt lucky as sights from the roads were quite marvellous! It resembled roads of interior Wayanad(kerala,India) and the smart driver was speeding through the narrow mountain roads at break neck speeds!. He was getting frequent calls from his newly wed wife and he was managing gears with his left hand while sharing his right hand for the Steering as well as for answering the mobile phone!. He was constantly chatting with his dear wife till I reached shillong!. That is over 2.5 hours. During the journey He asked for permission for smoking and I agreed. Soon, the sweet smell of native mountain tobacco filled the car. He started singing in his native language too. It was getting colder and colder after each mile and we were steadily making uphill in our route. I regretted not taking a jacket for this trip. It was a very cold(bone chilling cold) in the night on the first day of my stay at Mylliem. Due to the long, tiring journey, I fell asleep as soon as I checked into my room. I woke up around 9.30 pm in the night from my sleep and found that, the small kitchen adjoining the lodge is already closed. I felt very hungry and badly needed a cup of hot coffee due to the cold. Luckily there was some biscuits and ketchup packets from past pizza deliveries I could trace in my bag. I had those but for the cold I had to do something. Finally, I found a pack of Bidis in the corner of my luggage. My mother had forbidden smoking but I used to rarely enjoy smoking at occasions like these. I had a Bidi that night and it gave me as much comfort as if I had a hot cup of coffee!

Mylliem

It was a really beautiful stay at Mylliem lodge. The views were very lovely and the climate was crisp cold and it allowed highly enjoyable trekking to the nearby hills in the mornings through the lovely surroundings.

our lodge with its signatory shillong chimney

Bamboos everywhere...and it makes lovely sounds in wind.

My lodging at Mylliem.. A typical maruti taxi waiting for customers

Starting a morning walk..

Lovely morning scenes without anyone disturbing you!

Kms after Kms of nature just for you!

Sight from the nearby hill

Went for trekking in the nearby hills. The fresh air provided enough energy to reach the top without hassles.

A lovely cottage in the opposite side of the Hill.

Wow! it was remarkable feeling.. going to miss Mylleim for sure!

Cherrapunji (Sohra) Trip:

I had only 3 days for my trip and so on the second day, I decided to visit the famous Cherrapunji valleys. I asked a local driver and agreed to take me one whole day sightseeing for 2500 rupees.

So, on the second day, after having my morning walk in the nearby hills I had my bath, breakfast etc and headed for the main road where the driver agreed to meet me.

From my lodge I walked down to the main road and the plan was to board the taxi at sharp 10am. But, there was no sign of taxi. I went to a local mo-mo shop and had a tea and steam cooked mo-moos. It was delicious. I decided to call my taxi driver, he said, sir just arriving. please wait etc.. I waited and waited and finally a maruti 800 taxi appeared at the end of the road after a good 20 minutes of waiting.

During the long journey I talked to the driver about the cultures of Meghalaya. Fortunately my driver's father used to work at Kolkata and he knew fluent Hindi. So, I could follow most of his chatting. Here in Meghalaya, if a boy and a girl once fell in love can directly start living together without any harassment from the society. The only restriction is you cant marry outside one's tribe. There are two main tribes, viz: The Garo and Khasi. And in Meghalaya, it is the woman who inherits all wealth and is the head of the family.

A breath taking valley on the way to Sohra(Chirapungi)

Few shops selling food and traditional artifacts near the valley

A valley and gorge on the way to Sohra.. felt fantastic!

A monument signifying a view point on the way to Sohra

Yet another gorge near Sohra!

Mawsmai Cave System:

This cave system formed by the flow of rain water during rainy season through the mountains near Chirapunjee. We can go very deep inside the caves in summer and come out from another opening. But, the cave path become so narrow, it is challenge to complete the entire path. I am being wide bodied had to turn back after the initial 30% of the system covered.

Views from Chirapunjee Viewpoint:

It is very nice feeling to enjoy the views from the view points below. I missed the rainy season heavily here, as many of the breathtaking waterfalls got dried up when I visited on February. Only advantage may be, the treacherous roads prone to avalanches during the rainy season was very much safe in summer. There is a traditional restaurant near the viewpoint and I had a very delicious and special rice and chicken curry from the hotel. The chicken was so yummy and taste so good it even beat the best Kerala traditional chicken curries I had in recent years!

Agriculture of Mylleim

Once I reached back from Chirapunji, I started exploring Mylleim further. I started noticing the local village life more closely. Aloo, Rice, Cauliflower is grown by the local people. Also we can buy bamboo based artifacts and food like "bamboo pickle" in the shops. By the way, I now enjoy the bamboo pickle with my lunch everyday and it becomes such an important item in the side dish!

Most of the hill tops are converted into vegetable growing fields like the above.

Aloo and Rice fields

It was so enjoyable to walk among the fields in the morning!

A narrow foot road to the top of a hill

View of Mylliem from another hill top

The main road to Sohra which passed through Mylleim

Umiam Lake

On the last day, I visited this destination. It is a very beautiful, naturally rich, quiet, serene location to go with your loved ones. No one to disturb you with its long walk ways and sight seeing platforms. There is also few resorts if you want to spend few nights in this calm and soothing environment.