Tropical rain hitting our faces, giant spiders hovering on our heads, slippery roads in a dense jungle and distant whistling sound of our guide to follow. No this is not from an Indiana Jones movie. This was our experience during the trek from Nongriat village to Nohkalikhai waterfalls. If this is not a good weekend stress buster then I am not sure what else could be.

We started our trip from New Delhi on a Friday evening and reached Guwahati at night. Spent the night relaxing in hotel and visiting a nearby pub. Next day morning we booked an Uber from Guwahati to Shillong (2.5 hours drive). It is considerably cheaper to book Uber than taking a local cab. Cherrapunji was further 2-3 hours drive from Shillong. Our Uber driver was pretty good and he agreed to take us all the way to Cherrapunji for INR 4K and also show us around Cherrapunji till 6 PM when he has to return back to Guwahati. There is not much to do in Shillong. The city has outgrown itself and traffic congestions are a daily routine. There is one place where tourists stop by for a quick pic and it is the Umian Lake (locally known as Barapani Lake). It is huge and a quick tea and snacks overlooking the lake is not a bad idea.

After the quick stop we resumed our journey to Cherrapunji and reached there by 2 PM. We quickly checked into our hotel, dumped our luggage, had lunch and attempted to get a sunset view of Nohkalikhai waterfalls from the view point. On the way we picked up an European couple who were also on their way to see the waterfalls. Unfortunately the weather was cruel on us. There was dense cloud inside the valley and we could hardly see anything. We could just hear the waterfalls. We waited for some time but then drove back to the city as the chances of the weather clearing up was very bleak. We got a good sunset view of the sky from our hotel. The landscape reminded us of our trip to the Scottish highlands and no wonder Cherrapunji is called the Scotland of the east.

Next day our goal was to rise and shine early on sunday morning and go for the famous downhill trek to the living root bridge. Rain was again creating a havoc and we finally started at 11 AM. The cab took us to the beginning of Tyrna village. From here we took around 3000 stairs to reach the Single Root bridge. This one was very peaceful and less crowded. We thoroughly enjoyed the view. We also met the European couple again and they were on their way to the Double Root bridge in Nongriat. That was another 20 mins walk. We had our lunch there. The plan was to further walk to the Rainbow falls, spend the night in the village, trek up to the Tyrna village in the morning and take another attempt at the Nohkalikhai and Seven Sisters waterfalls. The European couple was planning to do the rainbow falls and then climb up from another route which takes you till the Nohkalikhai falls. The plan was risky as well as tempting. It saves us a day and we can stay in a decent accommodation in Cherrapunji instead of the basic facilities in the village. We decided to carry our bags and after Rainbow falls we will take a call whether we want to go up or stay in the village.

The route to Rainbow falls was scenic and instead of stairs we were climbing through slippery stones. Its very common to find large beautiful spiders all through the route. Meghalaya also has a very large collection of butterfly species. The Double Root bridge was crowded and small in length. We moved out from their quickly. It is said that there is always a rainbow in the waterfalls and hence the name. But lady luck was still hiding from us. There was no sun and no rainbow. But the waterfall was majestic. It took us 1.5 hours to reach the waterfalls from the village. We started back from the waterfall at 4 PM. We reached an intersection at 5 where one way goes to Nohkalikhai and another to the village. We gave up and took the road to Nongriat. But we planned to take this route next day morning to reach Cherrapunji. The European couple decided to trek up and they had the required lights to trek at night. They were very fast trekkers. But it was not our cup of tea. The estimated walking time from there to the main road was 3 hours. On our way back we saw the village boys playing football in a small ground surrounded by mountains. It was a delight to sit and watch them play. We somehow managed to find a clean room at Nongriat Guesthouse with attached bathroom in the village. There was a water tank outside and you have to fill the buckets for your use. Food was very basic. We also asked for a guide to accompany us next morning to Nohkalikhai as the road sounded confusing.

Next day we started at 6 AM. Our guide was an expert and he was very fast in climbing the mountain. He kept whistling a very melodious and soothing tune so that we can follow his sound and don’t get lost. On the way he took some photos of us. It was raining and thankfully we had purchased raincoats the previous day. The track was very off beat and extremely narrow. We trekked at a very leisurely pace and managed to reach the same Nohkalikhai view point at noon. We couldn’t feel our legs by that time. It was still cloudy and the waterfall was still not visible. We decided to have a quick lunch there and head back towards Guwahati as we had to catch a flight at 7:45 PM. During lunch suddenly the weather cleared up and we got an amazing view of the famous Nohkalikhai water falls. It lasted for 10 minutes and we managed to get a good look and also take a few pics.

We started our journey to Shillong with few stops in between to take pictures. The route to Guwahati passes through the town and there was a huge congestion in Shillong. We were stuck there for 2 hours. Finally at 5 we got the next cab and managed to get out of the town. We were mentally prepared to miss the flight and were looking for alternate options. We requested the driver to move fast and help us in catching the flight. He assured us that it will be done and went into pro mode. The next 2 hours were crazy and he drove like a maniac. We did online check in and reached the airline counter at 7:20. The lady looked at our exhausting condition, took pity and opened the gates. Finally after security check in and getting seated we realised how much tired  our legs were. It was hard to move them. We dropped a note to the other couple to check if they reached safely. They reached the top at 7:30 PM the previous day, half running and half walking. We were glad that we gave up the other day.

We reached home late night with wonderful memories from the adventurous day and started planning for our office work after a long weekend. You need such a break to recharge yourself and get on with work. And you work so that you can take out time for a break. The cycle continues.