Lets clear your doubts first - you need to update your geography fundas if you thought Cherrapunjee still holds the crown of world's highest rainfall - the crown now belongs to Mousinram these days a few miles away from Cherrapunjee. However Cherrapunjee remains one of the biggest attractions in Meghalaya and whoever comes to Shillong goes for a day's outing in Cherrapunjee ('Sohra' in local dialect). We booked our seat in the MTDC (Meghalaya Tourism Development Corporations) bus. Freddie was our guide for the tour. He started off with a little introduction about the tribes and their culture. You might know that Khasis follow matrilineal inheritance like many other tribes in the Northeast. Freddie explained that the youngest girl in the family gets all the properties - you can guess that the Khasi guys always eye for the youngest girl of the family. The tourists got interested and started asking about all combination of relations and the possiblity of getting the properties!
I didnt have the idea that Cherrapunjee, having one of the highest rainfalls in the world, doesnt boost agriculture. Freddie explained that actually due to the excessive rain, and the hard rock, agriculture is not possible here. But the land here is having coals in it. While going to Cherrapunjee, we found quite a number of small coal fields.
If you are a true believer of the theory that the journey is more interesting than the destination, Cherrapunjee is the place to go. I was awestruck to see the beauty. It was a little chilly - the woolens and the jacket were helpful in keeping us warm. I was trying to capture the roads - however after some time I stopped clicking as I found it was impossible to capture my feelings in a 4x6 piece of paper. The greens, the vastness, the serpentine roads with sudden turns and curves, the cold breeze, the small hamlets out of nowhere, the warmth of the child waving to you from his window, the old lady looking up at the bus holding the English daily in the remotest part of the world, the crosses - how could you capture so many things in a small digital instrument?
Our first stop was at the bridge over Mawkdok valley. It has a nice viewpoint.
- One of the futile attempts to bring you the feeling
Next on list was the Nohkalikai falls. There is some gory story about a lass - but forget the tragic stories. The view of the falls amidst a range of green mountains doesn't call for such a gory introduction to be very frank.
We were at the Eco Park - there is some model of a falls, a dam, and so many things. But I was struck with the view. You could see Bangladesh away from us by a couple of mountains only. Freddie assured we would go even closer.
I didnt have the idea that Cherrapunjee, having one of the highest rainfalls in the world, doesnt boost agriculture. Freddie explained that actually due to the excessive rain, and the hard rock, agriculture is not possible here. But the land here is having coals in it. While going to Cherrapunjee, we found quite a number of small coal fields.
If you are a true believer of the theory that the journey is more interesting than the destination, Cherrapunjee is the place to go. I was awestruck to see the beauty. It was a little chilly - the woolens and the jacket were helpful in keeping us warm. I was trying to capture the roads - however after some time I stopped clicking as I found it was impossible to capture my feelings in a 4x6 piece of paper. The greens, the vastness, the serpentine roads with sudden turns and curves, the cold breeze, the small hamlets out of nowhere, the warmth of the child waving to you from his window, the old lady looking up at the bus holding the English daily in the remotest part of the world, the crosses - how could you capture so many things in a small digital instrument?
Our first stop was at the bridge over Mawkdok valley. It has a nice viewpoint.
- One of the futile attempts to bring you the feeling
Next on list was the Nohkalikai falls. There is some gory story about a lass - but forget the tragic stories. The view of the falls amidst a range of green mountains doesn't call for such a gory introduction to be very frank.
We were at the Eco Park - there is some model of a falls, a dam, and so many things. But I was struck with the view. You could see Bangladesh away from us by a couple of mountains only. Freddie assured we would go even closer.
- On our way to Cherrapunjee
- Taken somewhere at Cherrapunjee, inspired by Bridge on the Madison County.
Giant Rock - you can get the best view of Bangladesh from here, the nearest being the Sunamgunj district. India gets a huge geographical advantage during the monsoon - the entire rainwater gets drained to Bangladesh thanks to the almost vertical rocks of the Cherrapunjee.
- Ramakrishna Mission, Cherrapunjee. They have a higher secondary school as well. The ambience is bound to thaw you. It is one of the oldest institutions in the state. Camera is not allowed inside - but I still have the frames somewhere in my mind. Now I know where to head when I sell my Ferrari.
We were to a few more spots - Thangkharang park (having Pitcher plants you have read about in your botany books), Seven sisters falls (well its not that there are 7 streams, its named after the 7 sister states of Northeast - thats Freddie's explanation btw), Mawsmai cave (Stalaktite cave where we tried our fitness quotient - but like typical software engineers, we had overestimated our capability and had to make a retreat quickly.)
We had our lunch near the Mawsmai cave - they have a few foodjoints, where surprisingly Chinese dish takes longer to serve than Paratha & Butter Paneer.
We had our lunch near the Mawsmai cave - they have a few foodjoints, where surprisingly Chinese dish takes longer to serve than Paratha & Butter Paneer.
Our day is getting over - and the clouds have started gathering over the hills. Its time to come back to the hustle bustle of Shillong Police Bajar and do some shopping before we go back to Guwahati tomorrow.
4th April - Shillong to Guwahati
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Guwahati is getting into the headlines for all the wrong reasons. With the impending election, there are news coming from all over Assam about increased violence. We were a little tensed obviously.
- Shillong to Guwahati
Epilogue
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After seeing a couple of photographs of Cherrapunjee in orkut, someone commented - 'Its Heaven'. Well thankfully I am yet to see Heaven, but I have seen parts of Northeast India, images of which are not captured in any earthly medium, but in my mind - which keeps getting polluted everyday with inflow of juggleries of mundane things.
The search for the Heaven continues.
Charoibeti, Charoibeti.
Just came back from Cherrapunjee, and yes, it was heaven (if there's anything called heaven). So long the Scottish Highlands was my favourite place, and now I won't think twice before adding Cherrapunjee to that list.
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