Meghalaya lives up to its name – “A abode of clouds”. The cloudy and rainy weather was a big relief as we had travelled from one of the hottest cities – Chennai. The easiest and the most recommended way to reach Shillong is to take a flight to Guwahati and then hire a cab to Shillong so that you get to enjoy a three-hour road trip as the distance is less than 100 kms. Meghalaya trip should be planned during the initial rainy seasons so that you get to enjoy the waterfalls and lakes at their full bloom. If you take the cab then you have the option to stop and enjoy at a few tourist getaways before reaching the Shillong city, plus there are multiple eateries along the way for trying the local cuisine including a few good veg restaurants.

DAY 1: Shillong

After taking the cab from the airport, we made the first stop at a Veg restaurant on the way:

Umiam Lake: You can easily guess the first popular tourist attraction of the Meghalaya trips would be Umiam lake when you see the crowd around the area. This man-made lake could be one of the longer layovers of the trip in case you plan to try water sports and boating options provided here.

Shillong Golf course: Next, you can go for a walk across the golf course which is situated at a valley with Khasi hills surrounding the area. The entire area is surrounded with forestation but don’t try to have a picnic in this place as you will be moved away by the care takers soon.

Lady Hydari Park: This is one of the popular picnic spots in the city for family with kids as it has a mini zoo and a small aviary inside the park. Apart from the animals, there is a large lake in the middle and a forest museum which will keep you engaged as you take a walk through this park. Entry ticket of the park is around Rs. 20 which covers all the itinerary but the park closes during evening so you can plan accordingly.

Cathedral church and Don Bosco Museum: It is one of the most beautiful churches in Shillong where the chapel is on the ground floor and the cathedral is on the top. Don Bosco museum will give you a view of the north eastern art and artefacts but the museum has fixed entry timings unlike the cathedral so you can plan the visit in advance.

Ward’s Lake: Another one of the botanical gardens in Shillong which is perfect for family picnic and a walk across the wooden bridge over the Ward’s Lake.

Shillong view point: You can check with your local driver and stop on the way at this view point where you can get the full over view of the Shillong city.

Khasi Hills: The view can give you a good idea why this state has the highest rainfall and how the entire area is covered with beautiful greenery all year round

DAY 2: Cherrapunji/ Sohra

The drive from Shillong to Cherrapunji encompasses several waterfalls on the way so in case you go during rainy season and if you are lucky to not encounter too cloudy weather then you will be able to enjoy these waterfalls in their full glory.

Elephant Falls: These are one of the most famous waterfalls in Shillong but not very accessible for tourists. There are three stages of these waterfalls and you can come closest to the waterfall only at the last third layer. You can view the remaining two waterfalls only from a distance. It takes a considerable hiking to reach the last stage but the natural beauty that you get to witness is worth the effort.

Laitsohpliah Tyngam Masi view point: A panoramic view of Meghalaya is better from this point where elevated view points have been created for tourists to enjoy the natural greenery as well as an artificial waterfall and a small pond adds to the charm making it a perfect short layover on your way to Cherrapunji.

Seven sisters falls/ Noh-Sngithiang falls: As soon as you enter Cherrapunji, you will get see multiple waterfalls along the way. Seven sister waterfalls are one of the tallest of them with more than a thousand feet high. Since they are mostly rain fed, you can enjoy the waterfalls better in monsoon season. Although you can view the waterfalls from multiple tourist view points but you need visit them at the starting point of the waterfall to appreciate the effect of these gigantic seven segmented falls.

Mawsmai Cave: Apart from the waterfalls, Cherrapunji or Sohra (the local name) is also home to numerous caves and Mawsmai is one of the popular caves that tourists love to explore. The path to these caves is accessible by walking but the cave inside is multiple narrow walkways where you need to crawl to get through. These caves also get filled with the rain water making the crawling a bit more difficult but leads to an exciting cave exploration experience. You can try to spot fossils on the walls and limestone formations as you explore the two caves in Mawsmai.

Noh-Kalikai Falls: Another one of tallest waterfalls of Cherrapunji is Noh-Kalikai Falls that flows right through a forested cover and falls into a clear pool. The monsoon season is ideal for visiting the falls but in case the weather gets too foggy then you cannot get the full view.

Arwah cave: You can end the day by visiting these caves and enjoy the natural walkway to it through the forests. There are small souvenir shops outside but make sure you are good in bargaining.

DAY 3:

Double Decker Root Bridge Trek: In case you want to try this trek, plan it in the morning as it easily takes 5 to 7 hours for completing the entire journey. This natural bridge is located in Nongriat village and requires you to walk through forested cover, a few bridges across the rivers flowing through the village and most importantly you need to climb almost 3500 steep steps to reach this bridge. In case you manage to complete this hike, you can decide to go ahead for another hike further in the village to the Rainbow waterfalls which could take another two hours to cover. The whole trekking can easily take more than half a day and it is not advisable to do this in dark so best time to start it would be in morning. The trek can be physically exhausting but when you reach the double decker root bridge and the natural pool that it encompasses then you would feel the effort worth it. However, the journey back is a whole other story. There are a few shops on the way that sell water, basic snacks and drinks so try to carry very less baggage with you on this trek.

Police Bazar: It is the main market of Shillong so in case you are looking to buy some local memoirs or try the Shillong delicacies then this is the ideal place to visit.

ML05 café: This funky looking café is one of the best places to hangout after the exhausting double decker trek and trip back to Shillong. The café might be difficult to locate as it is not on the main road.

The Meghalaya trip can be planned for 3 to 4 days, preferably around July to September, so as to enjoy the waterfalls better in the monsoon season. In case you don’t want to go for the full day trekking on your trip then Meghalaya also has a few more places that are popular with tourists:

Dawki: In case you want to witness clear water river which almost looks like seeing through a mirror then plan a visit to Dawki. Unlike Cherrapunji, this place should be visited in non-monsoon season as Dawki river gets muddy during the rains and you cannot enjoy the clean clear view of the river. This town is very close to Bangladesh border so along the Dawki river, you will meet many tourists from the other side.

Mawlynnong Village: It is popular as one of cleanest village in Asia and is hardly a three-hour driver from Shillong so you can plan it along with Dawki.