Day 2: Sunday - 9th December, 2012
Shillong-Thadlaskein-Nartiang-Shillong
The plan for the day was to start off early and check out Thadlaskein and Nartiang in the eastern third of Meghalaya and then top it up with a little archery in Shillong. It is rare for such trips, but we all were up and ready by 0730hrs for the breakfast. By 0830hrs we crammed ourselves in the hosts Eeco - a grand total of nine in a care made for six - and set out for Thadlaskein. Mr. Dean was to accompany us as a driver cum guide for the trip.
It seemed to take us forever to get out of Shillong on those narrow winding roads. The route from Shillong to Thadlaskein goes on further to connect to other North-Eastern states and sees quite a bit of heavy traffic owing to the mines in the Jaintia Hills. Good for us, the road condition was good for most part.
We reached Thadlaskein Lake by 1000hrs. I must say that we were a bit disappointed by it. The lake has a legend that it was dug by the local tribe warriors using their bow-heads. The effort that the task must have taken is truly of mammoth proportions, but, speaking from a tourists point of view it can be avoided. Today being a Sunday, activities at the lake were closed, but the lake gates were open. We had a little snack break at the dhaba opposite to the lake and a bit of fun at the jetty on the lake with a round of skipping-stones. We decided to proceed to Nartiang without further ado.
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The road to Nartiang is off from the main road and the quality is pretty poor. The road however goes through a lot of orange plantations, with delicious, ripe oranges ready to be plucked. We proceeded first to the Durga Temple. This again wasn't up to our expectations. The temple is pretty old and reportedly built by people who had traveled out from Maharashtra in the early 16th century. The temple had a history of human sacrifice rituals which were later replaced by animal sacrifice under the British rule. We spent a little time speaking to the caretaker and then left for the monoliths.
The monolith park at Nartiang, Mr. Dean said, used to be a former market. The size of the monolith corresponds to the wealth of its owner. The monolith park brought out the kid within all of us a we hurried for a photo-op at some of the larger erections. The scale of some of the monoliths is truly huge and one can imagine the effort taken to place it there. After spending a good part of an hour there we decided to head back to Shillong.
On the way back we decided to stop for oranges at a small cluster of roadside stalls. The oranges were too expensive, but we helped ourselves to a few yams, sweet-potatoes and acorns. The platter was delicious. We paid for it and headed back to Shillong. Most of us dosed off during the return ride.
On the way back, we got a call from Kyrmen (henceforth mentioned as Men i.e. his nickname) from the Meghalaya Adventure Tours. He wanted to get our measurements for the caving gear. We decided to meet him after lunch.
We had planned to take our lunch at the City Hut Dhaba near PB as recommended by Mr. Dean. The place was quite beautiful with a stunning decor. It turned out that it was full and would take us atleast 45mins to get a table. We then decided to look for other options. Mr. Dean had returned home by then for his lunch. He had a stomach issue and was not permitted to eat away. So, we were on our own in Shillong for some time.
The nearest open restaurant we found was the Assembly. We decided to eat there. It was already 1430hrs by then and the archery was to begin at 1530hrs. We had our lunch and left the place. The Assembly is one of the 'strictly nor recommended' places in Shillong, a fact which most of us were unaware at that moment.
We met Men outside the Assembly. He was to be our companion and guide for the next four days at Cherrapunji. We decided on a pickup time of 0830hrs for the next day's departure to Cherrapunji and gave the required details for the gear. We also wanted to cover a few other spots along the way, to which Men did not mind.
After our meeting with Men, we moved on to the archery grounds. Mr. Dean had arrived to pick us up. On reaching the grounds we were told that there is no archery on Sunday. By the way, forgot to mention that Shillong really shuts down on a Sunday. Meghalaya has 80% Christian community and they really stick to their Sundays. The markets were going to be closed for the next two days as well on account of a protest against self-immolation in Tibet. Due to this a few shops in PB remained open today.
We then decided to move to the nearby Ward's Lake for a stroll as we had nothing else to do. The place is beautiful with walking/jogging tracks, boating area, well maintained lawns and restrooms. It is a good place to just take a stroll in.
We moved from the lake to the PB area for some mindless wondering through the markets. The first place we saw was the Delhi Mishtaan Bhandaar. We had heard about the place and decided to check it out. There was a fresh round of jalebis being made and we ordered some. Hot jalebis on a cool evening are just awesome! We took two packets as fuel for our stroll. We did not find anything interesting, but it was fun nonetheless.
We all returned to the Hill Top Chateau by 1930hrs. The non-vegetarians had ordered a bit of pork for dinner. We wanted to try some home-made stuff before trying it someplace else. Ms. Aishwarya's cooking was very good. We packed our luggage for the next day's ride to Cherrapunji before dozing off.
Shillong-Thadlaskein-Nartiang-Shillong
The plan for the day was to start off early and check out Thadlaskein and Nartiang in the eastern third of Meghalaya and then top it up with a little archery in Shillong. It is rare for such trips, but we all were up and ready by 0730hrs for the breakfast. By 0830hrs we crammed ourselves in the hosts Eeco - a grand total of nine in a care made for six - and set out for Thadlaskein. Mr. Dean was to accompany us as a driver cum guide for the trip.
The Hill Top Chateau - and somebody else in the pic
Handmade wall-clock at the Hill Top Chateau
Mr. Dean in the Hill Top Chateau living room
Most articles here are hand-made
Shillong in daytime from the Hill Top Chateau
All set to go!
L-R Front: Nandit, Deepak, Mayank (on a stool)
L-R Back: Praful, Arun, Pradeep, Ajay
It seemed to take us forever to get out of Shillong on those narrow winding roads. The route from Shillong to Thadlaskein goes on further to connect to other North-Eastern states and sees quite a bit of heavy traffic owing to the mines in the Jaintia Hills. Good for us, the road condition was good for most part.
We reached Thadlaskein Lake by 1000hrs. I must say that we were a bit disappointed by it. The lake has a legend that it was dug by the local tribe warriors using their bow-heads. The effort that the task must have taken is truly of mammoth proportions, but, speaking from a tourists point of view it can be avoided. Today being a Sunday, activities at the lake were closed, but the lake gates were open. We had a little snack break at the dhaba opposite to the lake and a bit of fun at the jetty on the lake with a round of skipping-stones. We decided to proceed to Nartiang without further ado.
Thadlaskein Lake
Fun(?) at Thadlaskein Lake
L-R: Me, Praful, Ajay, Pradeep, Arun, Deepak, Nandit
The road to Nartiang is off from the main road and the quality is pretty poor. The road however goes through a lot of orange plantations, with delicious, ripe oranges ready to be plucked. We proceeded first to the Durga Temple. This again wasn't up to our expectations. The temple is pretty old and reportedly built by people who had traveled out from Maharashtra in the early 16th century. The temple had a history of human sacrifice rituals which were later replaced by animal sacrifice under the British rule. We spent a little time speaking to the caretaker and then left for the monoliths.
The monolith park at Nartiang, Mr. Dean said, used to be a former market. The size of the monolith corresponds to the wealth of its owner. The monolith park brought out the kid within all of us a we hurried for a photo-op at some of the larger erections. The scale of some of the monoliths is truly huge and one can imagine the effort taken to place it there. After spending a good part of an hour there we decided to head back to Shillong.
Monoliths at Nartiang
L-R: Mayank, Deepak, Pradeep, me, Ajay, Praful, Arun
Praful vs. the monolith!
On the way back, we got a call from Kyrmen (henceforth mentioned as Men i.e. his nickname) from the Meghalaya Adventure Tours. He wanted to get our measurements for the caving gear. We decided to meet him after lunch.
We had planned to take our lunch at the City Hut Dhaba near PB as recommended by Mr. Dean. The place was quite beautiful with a stunning decor. It turned out that it was full and would take us atleast 45mins to get a table. We then decided to look for other options. Mr. Dean had returned home by then for his lunch. He had a stomach issue and was not permitted to eat away. So, we were on our own in Shillong for some time.
The nearest open restaurant we found was the Assembly. We decided to eat there. It was already 1430hrs by then and the archery was to begin at 1530hrs. We had our lunch and left the place. The Assembly is one of the 'strictly nor recommended' places in Shillong, a fact which most of us were unaware at that moment.
We met Men outside the Assembly. He was to be our companion and guide for the next four days at Cherrapunji. We decided on a pickup time of 0830hrs for the next day's departure to Cherrapunji and gave the required details for the gear. We also wanted to cover a few other spots along the way, to which Men did not mind.
After our meeting with Men, we moved on to the archery grounds. Mr. Dean had arrived to pick us up. On reaching the grounds we were told that there is no archery on Sunday. By the way, forgot to mention that Shillong really shuts down on a Sunday. Meghalaya has 80% Christian community and they really stick to their Sundays. The markets were going to be closed for the next two days as well on account of a protest against self-immolation in Tibet. Due to this a few shops in PB remained open today.
We then decided to move to the nearby Ward's Lake for a stroll as we had nothing else to do. The place is beautiful with walking/jogging tracks, boating area, well maintained lawns and restrooms. It is a good place to just take a stroll in.
Wards Lake
L-R: Deepak, Praful, me
We all returned to the Hill Top Chateau by 1930hrs. The non-vegetarians had ordered a bit of pork for dinner. We wanted to try some home-made stuff before trying it someplace else. Ms. Aishwarya's cooking was very good. We packed our luggage for the next day's ride to Cherrapunji before dozing off.
Someone else at Hilltop Chateau? Its me!
ReplyDeleteWell i blame it on nothing but the picture quality ;) .. u get the drift don't you ...
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