(This story is part of my North-East travel series. For travel itinerary & tips, Meghalaya guide is coming soon.)
Since we were 8 people, we booked two cars to roam around Shillong. But it turned out that hiring one Tata Sumo for Cherrapunji and Dawki trips would be more economical than taking two cars, and we could travel together as well. Raju, one of our drivers in Shillong, was very cordial with us and we negotiated a steal deal with him for the next two days at 20% lesser the standard price.
The Tale of Changed Itinerary
We planned to go to Cherrapunji on Day 2 and Mawlynnong and Dawki the next day. But since we slept late, we woke up only at 6, and by the time we left, it was well past 7. It turned out that the Tata Sumo was also having some tyre problem, hence we asked Raju to get it repaired and had breakfast till then. We then decided to go to Mawlynnong and Dawki instead, since it has a shorter itinerary and can be covered easily even if we leave at 8.
The view throughout was amazing. The spiral roads, the valleys hundreds of metres below, the rivers coming out of nowhere, and the clouds, everything looked just heavenly. We stopped in between at a place, from where we could see all of these things together. After 3 hours of journey, we were about to reach Mawlynnong. Just before reaching there, we could see a beautiful small stream flowing across the road. We stopped there as well, and chilled out for some time.
The Tale of a Clean Village
The first major stop right before Mawlynnong was the single decker living root bridge (the more famous double decker one being in Cherrapunji). Roots of two living trees across the river join together to make root bridges across the river. They are very strong and durable, since they are part of living being. As long as the trees are alive, one need not worry about the bridge. The bridge and the place around was beautiful. We stayed there for about an hour or so, since we thought we had a lot of time that day.
We left from the root bridge at around 12.30 for Mawlynnong, known as the cleanliest village of Asia. We roamed around the village, but there was nothing to see there. I personally felt that the place is too commercialized and publicized, but there’s nothing much to experience. Yes, the village was quite clean, but the whole place is built in such a way as if the whole village is dependent only on the income from tourists, as the culture and lifestyle was nothing different from the other villages of Meghalaya and Assam that I’ve seen. I however liked the food in Mawlynnong. The vegetarian thali that we took had mashed potato, plain dal without tadka and a couple of other vegetables. After lunch, at around 2, we left for Dawki.
The Tale of an Epic Boat Ride
Dawki, situated at Indo-Bangladesh border, is famous for its clear waters. On a sunny day, the water usually is so clear that the shadow of the boat falls on the riverbed and not on the surface of the water. This gives an illusion of the boats floating in the air, and has been a natural wonder. We were going along the Indo-Bangladesh border, and the driver told us that some of the trees to our right belonged to India and some others to Bangladesh. There was no hard border, except the river in Dawki. If someone successfully crosses the river without detection, which as Raju told us many often do, they can easily come into India. That’s why illegal immigration is a huge issue in Meghalaya and bordering Assam.
We could see a couple of huge waterfalls on our way as well. However, till then we got used to seeing so many waterfalls in Meghalaya, I guess. We reached the riverfront at around 3.30. They were asking for Rs.500 for one boat ride for about 40 minutes. It seemed that all the boatmen had a syndicate, and they refused to bargain the price. The whole March of 2017 had been a rainy month in the North-East. It usually doesn’t rain at that time but depends on the luck of the visitor. Since it had been raining for a couple of days, we didn’t see crystal clear water in Dawki as we saw on the internet. The water was very green but not transparent, and therefore the reflections came on the water surface, not on the bottom of the river.
However, the boat ride was quite nice, and we went near the other side of the river, i.e. Bangladesh, even though the boatman refused to let us go to the bank and step on Bangladesh. By the time we came back, it was past 4.30. Like the previous day (and many days thereafter), the weather was very cloudy and we could rarely see the sun. Therefore, it was darker than it should have been at 4.30.
We got to know about another place named Shnongpdeng, which is 10 km further away from Dawki, whose water was supposed to be clearer and there supposedly were some water sports as well. But due to bad weather we had to cancel that place. We left from Dawki at 5 and reached Shillong by 8, while chilling around and taking pictures on the way. We didn’t do much afterwards, roamed around Police Bazar again, had dinner at a Bengali restaurant, and went to sleep earlier than the previous day, learning our lessons. The next day was supposed to be a very hectic one.
How Much Did I Spend?
Here’s the rough estimate for the day:
Stay Rs.500 (Room on twin sharing)
Commute Rs.400 (Rs.3200 for a car for 8 people)
Sightseeing Rs.150
Food & Drinks Rs.250
Total Rs.1300
(For our trek to the mesmerizing Double Decker Root Bridge and an epic road trip, please click here for the next story.)