Living root bridges, the clearest river in India, and the wettest hills on earth
Meghalaya is the one trip on this site that does not start in Siliguri, and it is worth the different flight. The plateau is limestone, so the rain that falls on it goes straight down: waterfalls off every edge, caves underneath, and gorges that end in Bangladesh.
The living root bridges are the reason most people come. Khasi families train the aerial roots of rubber figs across streams over decades until they carry weight, and then keep training them. Some are well over a century old and still growing.
Add Dawki, where the Umngot river is so clear that boats appear to hang in the air, and Mawlynnong, which has spent twenty years being scrupulously the cleanest village in Asia, and you have six days that look like nowhere else in India.
This is the plan as we would run it. Days can be swapped, dropped or added — say what you want changed and we will rebuild it before you pay anything.
Day 1
Met at Guwahati airport and driven up onto the plateau, about three hours, stopping at Umiam Lake where the view opens out over the reservoir and the hills behind it. Shillong by afternoon. Police Bazar in the evening.
Day 2
Elephant Falls, Shillong Peak for the view over the whole plateau, the Don Bosco Museum for a genuinely good introduction to the seven states, and Ward Lake. In the afternoon, out to Laitlum Canyons, which is a grassland edge that simply stops, with the valley a thousand feet below.
Day 3
South to Sohra, still widely called Cherrapunji, about two hours on a road that runs along the escarpment with the plain of Bangladesh visible below. Nohkalikai Falls, which drops 340 m in a single plunge; the Seven Sisters falls; Mawsmai cave and Arwah cave; and the Eco Park on the edge.
Day 4
The long day. Down to Dawki on the Bangladesh border for the Umngot river, where in the dry months the water is so clear the boats look suspended. Then Mawlynnong: the cleanest village in Asia, its sky walk of bamboo up a tree, and the single-decker living root bridge at Riwai nearby, which is the accessible one. Back to Sohra in the evening.
The double-decker root bridge at Nongriat is roughly 3,000 steps down and 3,000 back up, a full and hard day on its own. If you want it we will rebuild the itinerary around it; it does not fit alongside Dawki.
Day 5
Wei Sawdong falls in the morning, a three-tier drop reached by a steep bamboo ladder, then Mawkdok viewpoint and the drive back up to Shillong. Afternoon free for the cafes and the Bara Bazar.
Day 6
Down off the plateau to Guwahati, three hours. Book flights after 2 pm to be comfortable.
Hotels are named on your written itinerary before you pay. The properties below are the ones we normally use in this band; if one is full on your dates we substitute a hotel of the same standard and tell you which, rather than leaving you to find out at check-in.
One private vehicle for the whole trip from Guwahati airport and back. Distances are modest; the roads are winding and the days are longer than the kilometres suggest.
Up to 4 travellers normally ride in a Wagon R, Swift Dzire or similar; 5 to 7 in an Innova, Xylo or Scorpio; 8 and above in a Tempo Traveller or a second vehicle. On the North Sikkim and Silk Route legs the vehicle is always a Bolero, Sumo or Scorpio, because that is what those roads take.
Your written confirmation carries the exact advance, the balance date and the cancellation schedule for your trip. Those numbers, not this page, are the ones that apply. Full terms are on the booking conditions page.
General questions: permits, seasons, packing and how to get here
Enquire
Fill this in and we will come back with a proper day-by-day itinerary for your dates, with named hotels and one all-in price. No payment is taken at this stage and nothing is confirmed until you say so.
You might also like
Rhino country and the cloud plateau, in one trip
Over Sela Pass at 4,170 m to the largest monastery in India
Dates, how many of you, and anywhere you have your heart set on — that is enough for us to start. You will get a day-by-day plan with named hotels and one all-in price, in writing, before you pay anything.
