6 days in Shillong

Armed with Anjum Hassan’s ‘Lunatic in my head’ and my significant other’s memories of growing up in Shillong, I went into the city, expecting Pink Floyd on everyone’s lips and rolling hills in quick succession. In our house, all good things are benchmarked against those in Shillong. This was my first visit to Shillong and these are my list of it's good things - 

 Umgot Lake – the National Geographic photos of the clear waters, and the boat appearing to be suspended in mid-air, have made this lake very popular. Heaps of tourists, a lot of them Bengalis, arrive here every day, exclaiming loudly about the water and its clarity. And heaps of Bengalis from the other side of the border, stand in a silent row, watching them with amazement and amusement. The India-Bangladesh border is menacingly divided by a stone on the beach saying ‘Do not cross Border’.  None of the Bangladeshis seem interested to. They have way too much fun watching the squawking tourists from their side.

Umgot - Um being 'water' in Khasi

2.       Mawphlang sacred grove – it’s a holy forest that has ancient trees which are revered. Hmm. That’s every forest everywhere – till the builders get there. But this one has Khasi Pines. Imagine that. Not the pines that we see on our hill stations – those were got here by the British. If this is not a cool enough reason to visit this, please note it has ancient prayer sites – where stones – or Maw as we say in Khasi, are placed and wishes are granted by the forest goddess.

Rocket flower shower in Mawphlang

3.       Khok –delightfully woven bamboo baskets, always conical but of sizes varying from a mug to a large gas cylinder, are ubiquitous in Shillong. They are used to carry, store all kinds of material. Now they are hung on roadsides as dustbins. No ugly plastic things or hideous penguins with open mouths saying ‘Use Me’. I loved how a local plant is being used so effectively.

Khok - on Living Roots Bridge

4.       Living Roots Bridge- you would have expected this one to be on any ‘Top things to do in Shillong’. It is. We went to the easier one in Nohwet. It is fascinating to see roots of ancient Rubber Ficus being woven together to form these sustainable structures.

5.       Mawlynnong – the cleanest village in Asia is certainly worth a stroll. It has placed benches all over the village, where you can sit and observe how, it doesn’t take much to make a place pretty. Just cleanliness and plants. And bright coloured orchids surely help.

Mawlynnong- even the loos are very pretty

6.       Tripura castle – we stayed here for 6 days and it’s perched on a hill, not far but sufficiently away from the madding crowd. The royalty still stays there, with his zillion dogs, who have no qualms about biting everyone. Don’t worry, they are not allowed into the hotel area. The property is exactly 100 years old. You get to see some interesting architecture elements, with a lot of use of local bamboo and the cherra stone from cherrapunji. We were lucky to catch Plum trees and Rhododendron in full bloom, in the gardens.

Tripura Castle

We didn’t get to experience Khasi drums and only got a little taste of Khasi Food. We also didn’t get to see waterfalls as it was not the season. But we had gone to see the place where spouse had spent the nicest 5 years of his life. And in those 5 years, none of the things we didn’t see, mattered. What did, were the long walks in the forest, as the sun set over the ‘rolling hills’. And today, we are more aware than ever, that that’s all that really ever matters.