Day 3: Monday - 10th December, 2012
Shillong-Mawkdok-Cherrapunji
Today we were supposed to head to Cherrapunji. Men was to arrive at 0830hrs to pick us up. We got ready with the breakfast and packing and then had a small photo-op at the Hill Top Chateau. Before departing, we presented our hosts with our group cap as a souvenir.
Men had arrived with a Scorpio to take us to Cherrapunji. He was to be with us for the entire Cherrapunji leg of the trip. The name of our driver was Gear, or so we were told. This meant 10 people in one Scorpio - Gear and Men in the front and the eight of us crammed in the middle and back rows. It was good though as it kept out the cold.
A word about the weather in Shillong - its chilly in December. The Hill Top Chateau being located on a hill away from the main city was a little more cold. And any breeze just bites you.
We made our way out of the Hill Top Chateau to our first halt of the day - the Shillong Peak. The Shillong Peak is located in the area used by the defence personnel as a radar station. The quality of roads here is much better than rest of the city. We reached the Shillong Peak by 0900hrs. The weather had been hazy for the past few days and hence we could not get a decent view of the city below or the Himalayas far north. We had a sip of coffee at the canteen there and then had our first brush with awesomeness on the trip - a basketball match!
After finishing our coffee we saw a few defence guys playing basketball on a nearby court. We walked over to see it and then suddenly we had a match on our hands - six of us against five of them. This was justified since out of the six only two had ever played basketball before. We had a round for about 15mins and absolutely thrashed the defence guys 3-1 and then went on to win the All Meghalaya Basketball Tournament! Well, actually the final scoreline was 4-1 in their favour. It was fun nevertheless!
We then headed to the Elephant Falls. The falls are spectacular. We could only imagine the view in the monsoons. The water hare falls in three stages. The bridges and viewpoints have been erected at strategic places so as to get the best view without a possibility of going in the falls. We actually wanted to get in the falls but the freezing water was a good demotivator. We wrapped up the Shillong leg of our trip with a little souvenir shopping at the falls.
After the Elephant Falls, we made our way out of Shillong towards Cherrapunji. We took a halt at the Duwan Singh Syiem Viewpoint near Mawkdok before continuing to Cherrapunji. The road from Shillong to Cherrapunji is good till the diversion for Cherrapunji at Mawkdok, just before the view point. After the diversion the road enters the Sohra district and the quality deteriorates.
The Duwan Singh Syiem Viewpoint overlooks a long valley and is located just after a beautiful cable-suspended bridge. We spent quite a bit of our time here with a photo-op and munching session. We had some black tea, Maggi and boiled eggs at this place. The Maggi and the eggs were just fabulous. It was almost 1430hrs by the time we left the place.
We continued right up to the Cherrapunji market, where Men had some work of his own. Cherrapunji is a small town; pretty slow and without much activity at least when we got there.
We proceeded to the Nohkalikai Falls thereafter. The legend of the falls is well known and I wont cover it here. The falls are absolutely beautiful. The water there is so clear, you can actually see the stones in the pool at the base of the fall. By the way, the fall is estimated to be more than 300m in height. That can give you an indication of the clarity in question here. We wanted to go to the base of the falls but were a bit cut short on time. It was already 1500hrs by then. We decided to turn back, lest we miss other places.
Before we visited anywhere else, we had to take our lunch. This we did at the Halari Restaurant. The food there is good. We tried the pork cutlet which we liked. The service there was slow and we could wrap up only after 1630hrs. This meant no further site-seeing for the day.
We then moved to our hotel - The Coniferous Resort. The hotel is again a bit away from the main town, almost at the fringe. The rooms are good and clean. Nothing to complain about. We checked in the rooms and went out for a stroll. Nothing there to write home about either. The dinner at the hotel was decent with a heavy taste of turmeric. The turmeric was going to omnipresent hereon.
We were off to bed and excited about tomorrows activity - the Living Root Bridges!
Originally posted on Indiamike.
All photos by Mayank Sharma.
- Kapil Pilankar
Shillong-Mawkdok-Cherrapunji
Today we were supposed to head to Cherrapunji. Men was to arrive at 0830hrs to pick us up. We got ready with the breakfast and packing and then had a small photo-op at the Hill Top Chateau. Before departing, we presented our hosts with our group cap as a souvenir.
Men had arrived with a Scorpio to take us to Cherrapunji. He was to be with us for the entire Cherrapunji leg of the trip. The name of our driver was Gear, or so we were told. This meant 10 people in one Scorpio - Gear and Men in the front and the eight of us crammed in the middle and back rows. It was good though as it kept out the cold.
A word about the weather in Shillong - its chilly in December. The Hill Top Chateau being located on a hill away from the main city was a little more cold. And any breeze just bites you.
We made our way out of the Hill Top Chateau to our first halt of the day - the Shillong Peak. The Shillong Peak is located in the area used by the defence personnel as a radar station. The quality of roads here is much better than rest of the city. We reached the Shillong Peak by 0900hrs. The weather had been hazy for the past few days and hence we could not get a decent view of the city below or the Himalayas far north. We had a sip of coffee at the canteen there and then had our first brush with awesomeness on the trip - a basketball match!
After finishing our coffee we saw a few defence guys playing basketball on a nearby court. We walked over to see it and then suddenly we had a match on our hands - six of us against five of them. This was justified since out of the six only two had ever played basketball before. We had a round for about 15mins and absolutely thrashed the defence guys 3-1 and then went on to win the All Meghalaya Basketball Tournament! Well, actually the final scoreline was 4-1 in their favour. It was fun nevertheless!
Kyrmen with Shillong City in the background - at the Shillong view point
We then headed to the Elephant Falls. The falls are spectacular. We could only imagine the view in the monsoons. The water hare falls in three stages. The bridges and viewpoints have been erected at strategic places so as to get the best view without a possibility of going in the falls. We actually wanted to get in the falls but the freezing water was a good demotivator. We wrapped up the Shillong leg of our trip with a little souvenir shopping at the falls.
The Elephant Falls - Kung-Fu Panda edition
The group at Elephant Falls
L-R: Mayank, Pradeep, Arun, Deepak, Ajay, Praful, Nandit, me
After the Elephant Falls, we made our way out of Shillong towards Cherrapunji. We took a halt at the Duwan Singh Syiem Viewpoint near Mawkdok before continuing to Cherrapunji. The road from Shillong to Cherrapunji is good till the diversion for Cherrapunji at Mawkdok, just before the view point. After the diversion the road enters the Sohra district and the quality deteriorates.
The Duwan Singh Syiem Viewpoint overlooks a long valley and is located just after a beautiful cable-suspended bridge. We spent quite a bit of our time here with a photo-op and munching session. We had some black tea, Maggi and boiled eggs at this place. The Maggi and the eggs were just fabulous. It was almost 1430hrs by the time we left the place.
Ajay at the Duwan Singh Syiem Bridge
With arms wide open - Dilwale to dulhania leke hi jaayenge!
Entering the Sohra (Cherrapunji) District - Tourist Map at Duwan Singh Syiem Bridge
We continued right up to the Cherrapunji market, where Men had some work of his own. Cherrapunji is a small town; pretty slow and without much activity at least when we got there.
Local transport near Cherrapunji Market - Note the balcony seats
We proceeded to the Nohkalikai Falls thereafter. The legend of the falls is well known and I wont cover it here. The falls are absolutely beautiful. The water there is so clear, you can actually see the stones in the pool at the base of the fall. By the way, the fall is estimated to be more than 300m in height. That can give you an indication of the clarity in question here. We wanted to go to the base of the falls but were a bit cut short on time. It was already 1500hrs by then. We decided to turn back, lest we miss other places.
Nohkalikai Falls - The fall of Li Kai
Before we visited anywhere else, we had to take our lunch. This we did at the Halari Restaurant. The food there is good. We tried the pork cutlet which we liked. The service there was slow and we could wrap up only after 1630hrs. This meant no further site-seeing for the day.
We then moved to our hotel - The Coniferous Resort. The hotel is again a bit away from the main town, almost at the fringe. The rooms are good and clean. Nothing to complain about. We checked in the rooms and went out for a stroll. Nothing there to write home about either. The dinner at the hotel was decent with a heavy taste of turmeric. The turmeric was going to omnipresent hereon.
Idle away by the roadside for some night photography
L-R: Mayank, me, Deepak, Ajay, Praful
Look Ma! Ten hands! - Dashabhuja Deepak!
We were off to bed and excited about tomorrows activity - the Living Root Bridges!
Originally posted on Indiamike.
All photos by Mayank Sharma.
- Kapil Pilankar
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