This is Days 0, 1 and 2 of the amazing non-cliched Meghalayan Tour
Day 0 - To Shillong
We all landed in Guwahati airport even though Shillong airport would have been a better option (because one of our friends was from IIT Guwahati). Decided to skip the idea of Kaziranga It would consume a lot of time. It was a bit difficult to get taxis to Shillong because it was election week in Meghalaya which reminded that travel in Meghalaya would be seemingly difficult (In fact, it turned out to be a tad costlier). Suddenly, another idea came up that we take train to Siliguri in West Bengal to go to Sikkim (which was also another considered destination). The entire plan had to be remade which was a mammoth task itself. But, finally we decided to proceed with our Meghalayan plan itself. We took a Sumo to Shillong which was jam-packed with 11 people including driver. We started playing and singing malayalam songs loudly until we irritated the driver. We reached Shillong by 2230. We landed in Police Bazaar where we set out to find hotels. They were all pricey and unclean. Only after 3 days we found out it is actually cheaper and better to stay a little far from the town centre. I forgot about all the good restaurants that I had read about in blogs. We ended up eating from the street. We even made a deal with a Taxi driver to take us to the planned places.
Stay @ Hotel Bluemount (I wouldn’t recommend this).
Day 1 - Mawsynram and Jakrem
Shillong has a lot of sumos, Maruti 800s, and Eecos for tourist travel. Maruti 800s are the normal commute mode as there are very few public transportation options. Usually Maruti 800s can take you to places at 150-300Rs per person. We took an Enjoy for 4.5k that was comfortable for 6 people. We set out to visit Mawsynram cave and Jakrem hot spring. Mawsynram cave seemed like a cliche tourist visit but we went a little ahead and explored the near dark and cold cave. It took us almost an hour to go around the cave carefully and strenuously. The first day wasn’t that bad. Then we set out to Jakrem to bath in the hot spring. But, what awaited us there was completely disappointing. The community built a pool and bathroom around the hot spring and charged 100 for a shower. It turned off all of us and we left the place to roam around the river side close-by. We returned to Shillong by 7. We stayed in Hotel Bluemount this night as well.
Jakrem
Day 2 - The David Scott trail
We left Hotel Bluemount paying Rs.6800 for two days for two rooms. We set out for the David Scott trail which starts from Mawphlang which is around 30 minutes from Police Bazaar and walk through the Sacred Forest. We hired a guide for Rs. 1200. He was a friendly person and explain myths and stories about the forest and the hills with much passion. The stories are a bit off-beat but interesting and engaging for a walk along the otherwise straining jungle path. They remind us about the typical eccentric myths [Thallukal in malayalam] that float around in a usual under-modernised society. Then we told the guide about some myths about Kerala too which he found funny too. (At least he realised that we realised that the stories were funny and wierd). We took bath in a freezing cold river towards reaching Lad Mawhplang. The water was so clear, we couldn’t resist a jump in the water. We reached Lad Mawphlang (which is in Shillong-Cherrapunjee route) after the trail walk and headed to Shillong (took 45 minutes). We wanted to stay in lakeside resort in Umaim lake. But the charges were a bit high (9k) so we found a good place a bit far from Police Bazaar, in Dhankethi.
Stay @ Hotel Pumpkinrooms [OYO] @ Dhankethi (Great place for a budget travel)
Starting the David Scott trail, Mawphlang village
Mawphlang falls, David Scott Trail
Sacred forest
David Scott trail
Khasi Village
Rice and Beef balls @ Mylliem
Click here to continue reading: Skyblue Waterfalls and crystal clear lakes: Laitlum, KrangShuri and Dawki
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