Day7: Friday - 14th December, 2012
Mawlynnong-Dawki-Shnongpdeng
We left Mawlynnong at 1000hrs for Dawki. The road from Mawlynnong to Dawki is not that great. The road runs parallel to the Bangladesh border and has a good presence of the defence personnel. We crossed the Dawki bridge by 1130hrs. We were instructed by the guards on the bridge not to take pictures and we obliged. The views from the bridge are amazing with the Umngot river up north and the Bangladesh plains down south.
Our actual destination was the campsite of Pioneer Adventure Tours (PAT hereon) a little upstream on the banks of the Umngot near Shnongpdeng village. The guys at PAT had arranged for the transport from Mawlynnong to Dawki and then on to Shillong on the next day. A little ahead of Dawki on the Jowai road we were joined by a local villagers, Jingmen, who assists at the campsite and was to guide us there. The road diverges at a point from the Dawki-Jowai highway and then deteriorates to a cart track. The only smooth sections are the three wooden bridges on the road. These bridges are surprisingly sturdy and did not even creak when our vehicle - a fully loaded Scorpio - passed over it.
A little ahead we passed through the Shnongpdeng village and reached a dead end. Jingmen said that this is it. The place was the end of the road with a path leading down to a makeshift jetty on the river. Jingmen said that we had to cross the river to reach the campsite.
We got our luggage and descended a few steps to take us to the jetty. Two local boats (long slim ones) were waiting for us. The luggage went in the middle and we were at the ends. The water of the Umngot river is crystal clear and the view of the valley from the river is simply superb. Just across the river and a little to the north is a small beach which doubles up as the PAT campsite.
This place is Heaven!!!
The campsite is located on the white sandy beach with tents for accommodation. A mountain stream met the river near the beach; this section was set as the camp kitchen. There was a separate dining shack at a little higher level of the bank and a permanent toilet with temporary walls was a little higher. During the monsoons the water level rose to the level of the toilets thus demolishing all temporary structures.
Dawki is supposed to be warmer than Shillong and Cherrapunji but somebody forgot to tell that to the cold wind which blew steadily from the north to chill the place. We had a cup of tea and biscuits (cheese cream is simply delicious) and set out for the activities.
PAT is managed by brothers Gary Jarman (the first individual from Meghalaya to scale Mt. Everest) and Jason Jarman (played Ranji Trophy for Assam) and their cousin David Ingty. Gary manages the operations of PAT in Goa (scuba diving et. al.) while Jason and David look after the Dawki campsite. David was present at the campsite when we arrived and Jason was to arrive there the next day.
We started off with zip-lining and completed two rounds before lunch. Zip-lining for the uninitiated is a method of valley crossing on a fixed sloping iron cable. The participant is strapped to a harness suspended from the cable by means of a wheel-like arrangement. A small push from one side takes a person zipping to the other bank in an instant. It is important to brake near the end as it can lead you to crash hard.
After lunch we went for a boat ride upstream. The valley gets better and better as we go upstream upto a point where you see a small waterfall. We did not go farther than that.
We returned to the other bank where there was a rocky outcrop which served as a base for activities like cliff diving, rock climbing and rappelling. We were to do cliff diving that day. We changed into our wetsuits so as to keep out the cold. There were three stages: 10ft. 20ft. and 30ft. All of us did the 10ft. dive while a few tried the 20ft. dive. It was almost sunset by the time we finished the activity.
We returned to the camp and after changing had a quick round of tea and settled by the campfire. Some took a break to catch a wink of sleep while others just lazed about. A local villager was brought in to give a massage. A fish, caught earlier in the day, was marinated and set up for the barbecue. A sumptuous dinner followed soon. Post dinner we had the entire beach to ourselves to do whatever we wanted. However, we tired folks preferred to sleep it off.
Day8: Saturday - 15th December, 2012
Shnonpdeng-Jowai-Shillong
Finally Jason arrived with the scuba gear and we proceeded to the rock face for rock-climbing, rappelling and scuba diving. The water near the rock face was deep and ideal for cliff diving and scuba diving. It took them a little while to set up the gear and in the meantime some of the guys got a few cliff-dives in.
Rappelling or abseiling involves climbing down a flat rock face by means of a rope, such that your feet touch the rock and your body is at right angles to the rock face and you face upwards. You move down by loosening the rope and hopping down one step at a time. The guys took turns rappelling and most of it was incident free. After first rounds of normal rappelling, some of the guys decided to do it commando style! Commando style is similar to normal style with an exception that you are facing down! Its an exhilarating experience.
For rock climbing, we had to scale the same rock face we rappelled down from. The challenge here is to find cracks and holds to fit your hands and feet and to hoist yourself up to the next grip. It takes a lot of effort and you are required to have a flexible enough body to swivel around if needed. Most of us skipped the rock climbing and those who did could not manage to reach the top.
Scuba diving involves diving deep inside the water with the help of supplemental air (carried on cylinders on your back). The depth of water here was a good 12m. David had explained the commands to be used during the dive. These commands are the only mode of communication under water and have to be adhered to strictly. Each dive lasted for about 15-20mins. The water temperature drastically decrease as one went deeper. By the time half of us finished David was shivering and had to take a small break. There was a sunken boat which was the landmark for the dive. A few pictures were taken there. A large school of fishes was spotted nearby.
We wrapped up the activities and headed for lunch after which we were to check out from there.
We left the campsite again in the local boats. We did the return boat ride in the fading light at 1630hrs. The trek up to the car with all the luggage was a real pain, but swiftly done none-the-less. After a quick loading and the customary cap presentation, all of us, including Jason and David, left for Shillong. This time we took the highway via Jowai. The road up to Jowai is in pretty good condition and the drive is a breeze.
We had a break for dinner at a small dhaba after Jowai, where after a simple meal we got our first taste of the local rice beer. The beer had proved to be quite elusive for us throughout the journey. We had asked almost everyone to arrange some for us but to no avail. Finally Jason was able to pull it off. The beer has a sweet taste and the one we had was a mild one; so far so good.
We reached the Hill Top Chateau in Shillong by 2130hrs and promptly drifted to sleep.
Originally posted in Indiamike.
All photos by Mayank Sharma.
- Kapil Pilankar
Mawlynnong-Dawki-Shnongpdeng
We left Mawlynnong at 1000hrs for Dawki. The road from Mawlynnong to Dawki is not that great. The road runs parallel to the Bangladesh border and has a good presence of the defence personnel. We crossed the Dawki bridge by 1130hrs. We were instructed by the guards on the bridge not to take pictures and we obliged. The views from the bridge are amazing with the Umngot river up north and the Bangladesh plains down south.
Our actual destination was the campsite of Pioneer Adventure Tours (PAT hereon) a little upstream on the banks of the Umngot near Shnongpdeng village. The guys at PAT had arranged for the transport from Mawlynnong to Dawki and then on to Shillong on the next day. A little ahead of Dawki on the Jowai road we were joined by a local villagers, Jingmen, who assists at the campsite and was to guide us there. The road diverges at a point from the Dawki-Jowai highway and then deteriorates to a cart track. The only smooth sections are the three wooden bridges on the road. These bridges are surprisingly sturdy and did not even creak when our vehicle - a fully loaded Scorpio - passed over it.
A little ahead we passed through the Shnongpdeng village and reached a dead end. Jingmen said that this is it. The place was the end of the road with a path leading down to a makeshift jetty on the river. Jingmen said that we had to cross the river to reach the campsite.
We got our luggage and descended a few steps to take us to the jetty. Two local boats (long slim ones) were waiting for us. The luggage went in the middle and we were at the ends. The water of the Umngot river is crystal clear and the view of the valley from the river is simply superb. Just across the river and a little to the north is a small beach which doubles up as the PAT campsite.
This place is Heaven!!!
The campsite across the river
Local boats
Loading up!
Southern side of the valley
Northern side of the valley
The campsite is located on the white sandy beach with tents for accommodation. A mountain stream met the river near the beach; this section was set as the camp kitchen. There was a separate dining shack at a little higher level of the bank and a permanent toilet with temporary walls was a little higher. During the monsoons the water level rose to the level of the toilets thus demolishing all temporary structures.
Dawki is supposed to be warmer than Shillong and Cherrapunji but somebody forgot to tell that to the cold wind which blew steadily from the north to chill the place. We had a cup of tea and biscuits (cheese cream is simply delicious) and set out for the activities.
PAT is managed by brothers Gary Jarman (the first individual from Meghalaya to scale Mt. Everest) and Jason Jarman (played Ranji Trophy for Assam) and their cousin David Ingty. Gary manages the operations of PAT in Goa (scuba diving et. al.) while Jason and David look after the Dawki campsite. David was present at the campsite when we arrived and Jason was to arrive there the next day.
We started off with zip-lining and completed two rounds before lunch. Zip-lining for the uninitiated is a method of valley crossing on a fixed sloping iron cable. The participant is strapped to a harness suspended from the cable by means of a wheel-like arrangement. A small push from one side takes a person zipping to the other bank in an instant. It is important to brake near the end as it can lead you to crash hard.
Zipline Setup
Zipline
The line
Boat ride - Ajay manning the oar
Boating through northern end of the valley
L-R: me, Deepak, Praful
Headed straight to the barbecue!
The diving spot
The correct dive
Ouch! Not so correct ...
We returned to the camp and after changing had a quick round of tea and settled by the campfire. Some took a break to catch a wink of sleep while others just lazed about. A local villager was brought in to give a massage. A fish, caught earlier in the day, was marinated and set up for the barbecue. A sumptuous dinner followed soon. Post dinner we had the entire beach to ourselves to do whatever we wanted. However, we tired folks preferred to sleep it off.
Day8: Saturday - 15th December, 2012
Shnonpdeng-Jowai-Shillong
Today most of us had decided to get up early to witness the sunrise. The morning views from the campsite were fabulous with the sun rising from the south-east corner of the valley. It was quite chilly due to the winds from the north but the view more than made up for the effort.
All of us were up and ready by 0800hrs and finished the breakfast. We had to wait till 1000hrs for the wind to subside before beginning with the water activities. Also Jason was a little delayed due to which rock climbing and rappelling could not be started.
We started with snorkeling by 1030hrs. Snorkeling involves wearing a snorkel (air-tight face mask with a pipe for breathing) and swimming just on the surface of the water. The underwater views were simply splendid. We could clearly see the fish, river bed and the patterns created by the ripples and the sun-rays. Some of the adventurous fish even swam up to our masks! We tried in vain to catch a few. We swam the entire width of the river from bank-to-bank.
All of us were up and ready by 0800hrs and finished the breakfast. We had to wait till 1000hrs for the wind to subside before beginning with the water activities. Also Jason was a little delayed due to which rock climbing and rappelling could not be started.
We started with snorkeling by 1030hrs. Snorkeling involves wearing a snorkel (air-tight face mask with a pipe for breathing) and swimming just on the surface of the water. The underwater views were simply splendid. We could clearly see the fish, river bed and the patterns created by the ripples and the sun-rays. Some of the adventurous fish even swam up to our masks! We tried in vain to catch a few. We swam the entire width of the river from bank-to-bank.
We be mummies?!
L-R: Deepak, Praful, Pradeep, Nandit, Arun
Searching for fishy!
Snorkeling
Finally Jason arrived with the scuba gear and we proceeded to the rock face for rock-climbing, rappelling and scuba diving. The water near the rock face was deep and ideal for cliff diving and scuba diving. It took them a little while to set up the gear and in the meantime some of the guys got a few cliff-dives in.
Here I comeeee!!!
Experimenting...
We were to start with rappelling and scuba diving together. David was managing the scuba diving while Jason managed the rappelling. We were to take turns to dive and rappel. The rappelling setup was on an almost flat rock wall of 60 odd ft. The scuba dive was from the same area with a rope anchored to the river bed for a controlled descent.
The diving spot, rappelling and rock climbing wall
Rappelling
For rock climbing, we had to scale the same rock face we rappelled down from. The challenge here is to find cracks and holds to fit your hands and feet and to hoist yourself up to the next grip. It takes a lot of effort and you are required to have a flexible enough body to swivel around if needed. Most of us skipped the rock climbing and those who did could not manage to reach the top.
Attempt at rock climbing
David in his scuba gear
Going up! - Scuba
Jesus poses!
We wrapped up the activities and headed for lunch after which we were to check out from there.
We left the campsite again in the local boats. We did the return boat ride in the fading light at 1630hrs. The trek up to the car with all the luggage was a real pain, but swiftly done none-the-less. After a quick loading and the customary cap presentation, all of us, including Jason and David, left for Shillong. This time we took the highway via Jowai. The road up to Jowai is in pretty good condition and the drive is a breeze.
L-R: David and Jason
We had a break for dinner at a small dhaba after Jowai, where after a simple meal we got our first taste of the local rice beer. The beer had proved to be quite elusive for us throughout the journey. We had asked almost everyone to arrange some for us but to no avail. Finally Jason was able to pull it off. The beer has a sweet taste and the one we had was a mild one; so far so good.
We reached the Hill Top Chateau in Shillong by 2130hrs and promptly drifted to sleep.
Originally posted in Indiamike.
All photos by Mayank Sharma.
- Kapil Pilankar
Brilliant write with good pictures, You could not have explained it better..
ReplyDeleteThank you Gary. Looking forward to meet you guys in the future. The Mawkdok zipline is super exciting!
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