Rishikesh - Not your regular holy city.

PROLOGUE

For me, how well a trip would go, highly depends not just on the place that you are going to but also on the company you have. It's so important to have people who match your frequency and are willing to go that extra mile to explore that place and be adventurous!
I was venturing to a trip with a group of 6 unknown people.
Would the trip go how I had thought it should go?

CHAPTER 1: THE START OF THE JOURNEY

2 lone souls walking in the dark of the night on a deserted road. There is a cabbie waiting outside the colony gate. He sees us and opens the door. And so we start to catch our traveler that is waiting for us at IFFCO Chowk, wondering all this while what kind of company are our co-travelers going to be?
Just as we board our cab I realise we have forgotten our power bank at home. No worries, it's too late to go back anyway, Sachin tells me.

We approach the traveler and spot it from a few meters away. See the only 2 faces that we knew from before and wave furiously at them.

We pay our cabbie and board the traveler. We see a few faces that we knew by name but haven't met before. We say hi to everyone and take our seats nervously, all the while thinking whether we have made the right decision to go on a trip with unknown people.

As it would happen, everyone in the group knew each other and so started chatting right away. Sachin and I kept staring at each other, smiling at each other, acknowledging silently that we knew what the other was thinking.

Just then somebody opened a box that had chilled bottles of Coke. And everyone excitedly grabbed one.

And so it came to be proven that drinks can make friends out of strangers. Once that elixir was in, it did not really matter who knew whom. Everyone was part of that group bound by that black bottle.

Bound by Coke

CHAPTER 2: REACHING THE DESTINATION

We started at 2 in the night from Gurgaon.
Nobody slept.

At 5 am we were at a God-forsaken Dhaba in Muzaffarnagar to do our daily business and have some breakfast/tea/coffee. We had Tandoori Aloo Paratha here which was delicious but the less I say about the tea and coffee the better it is. Let's just say that sugar water would taste better than  this.
The washrooms were surprisingly clean which I did not expect it to be.

With the tummies full to our heart's content, we started again.

Stop 1: Har Ki Paudi (Haridwar)

We reached Har Ki Paudi at around 9 am. Clean toilets here again!

I have been here twice before and everytime this place shows me how deeply religious we are. Just as I enter the Bridge, I see hoards of people lining the Ghats and offering something to the Gods - whether it be their prayer, flowers, a bath or any thing else. Whether you believe in a God or not, if you stayed here for long enough, you would definitely start to believe in one! The entire environment here just captures you in its blanket.

There is a famous Poori Sabzi wala named Mohanji Puri Wale at the end of the Ghats where people line to buy breakfast like ants line up to take that piece of sugar home. I felt like one of the ants! 

Hoards of people a Mohan jo puri wale

We stood on the road and had the Poori Sabzi with Lassi. The food was good but it's the experience of standing on the road and having it with a group of friends that made it great. Be sure to look this place up when you are here.

We moved on to find a quiet corner of a ghat (which at that time felt impossible to find). We did manage to find one and immediately removed our shoes to step into the water.

Haridwar - Har ki paudi

And oh what a feeling it was! One step into the water and a sense of relief traveled up my body. I could not help but give out a loud sigh! The feeling was almost orgasmic in nature.
Naturally, I didn't want to come out of the water after that.
The river spreads far and wide and no matter where you see, you will only see people, people and more people. I am not a fan of place with too many people there and so I am not sure if I could spend a lot of time here even if I wanted to.

And so we left, more so because the real adventure was awaiting us somewhere else.

CHAPTER 3: RISHIKESH

Our way to Rishikesh was exciting. Our path went through thin lanes of curvaceous hills. It was almost like I am sitting on a roller coaster and the ride is going up and up slowly and steadily and is going to take a sudden drop with all of us screaming "Wheeeeeee....!!!"

We had reservations at a campsite next to a stream. The campsite had all the arrangements for our food.
The moment we reached the camp all of us got into our tents, changed into our shorts and jumped into the water straight away.

Our camp site in Rishikesh

Water can turn the most grown up of adults into a child! The singing, the fighting, the competition of who could stay underwater for the maximum time - everything took me back to my childhood. 10 grown ups splashing in the water like children - can you imagine what a scene it might have been? It didn't matter who was watching, it didn't matter that we didn't know anyone. Water was our binding force there. That is where we really dropped all of our inhibitions.

Evening was reserved for the bonfire and dancing and playing badminton and volleyball and football - anything that you liked to do.
Once the lights were off and everyone went inside their tents, that is when the true beauty of the night sky came out. You could see each and every star under the sky. Once we saw what a beautiful scene it was, we came out of our tents and just kept gazing at the night sky. What a serene experience it was. Nobody said anything for a while. It was only me nestled among the huge mountain and the night sky. With the excitement of the day, the night gave us the time to reflect on our experiences so far and feel content.

Bonfire at the campsite in the night

Day 2: Rafting

This is the day that I am never going to forget ever in my life.

We got up pretty early in the morning to leave for the rafting site. By 8:00 am we were all packed up and ready to go. The camp site made sure to serve us breakfast early in the morning. And boy was it needed! We had a really hard day's work ahead of us, we just didn't know how much back then.

So we boarded the traveler and up we went. I am not going to talk about the journey of reaching the campsite because I want to dedicate this to the real adventure that is rafting. No amount of words can do justice to it but I will try and do my best.

Our group before the start of rafting

Before we boarded the raft, the guide gave us a good amount of instructions. Listening to him made me realize  that it's not go to be as easy as I had thought it to be. In all honesty, after listening to the instructions, I was scared for my life!

There were 16 rapids that we had to go through. In the first two rapids, I kept falling off my seat into the raft. But by the third one I got a hang of it and that is when the adrenaline kicked in! I just cannot tell you the feeling it was to maneuver through the currents. To tell you the truth, our instructor had a major role to play in building the excitement. He was a great story teller and did not leave any stone unturned in projecting this as a dangerous sport. And I am sure that that is a good thing too because had he not warned us, we probably would have been a little casual about it.
Anyhow, there were 2 major currents that had me really worried purely because of the story that our instructor had built around it. One was named Roller coaster an the second one was Golf Course. The story goes that Roller coaster has a record of turning 15 rafts consecutively in 2010 (Or was it 2012?). Can't say how true the story is as I couldn't find it in the Google search result. But it did add to the excitement. The momentum building up as we approached the roller coaster - are we going to make it? Is it going to turn the raft, throwing us into the water? What if we fall down? Where will the instructor catch us; or would he even?

The important thing with rafting is how you work together as a team. Everyone has to row together. That feeling of being surrounded by water, holding on to dear life - not knowing what's around you, it's something that gives you a kick and yet gives you the scare. And trust me, if you haven't done rafting before, you really would think that you are going to die - atleast in the initial moments!

I used all my might to row and row and row. When we were trying to get ourselves out of the currents all that I could think of is that this is it! But we made out of it successfully (or else I would not be writing here right now).

The instructor got us off into the water just to float for quite a couple of times. And when you're floating in the water in that huge wide river that looks like it is going to eat you up anytime, you have to look around and feel the might of the nature. It's serene and yet makes you humble at the same time.

Cliff jumping

When we were nearing the end of the rafting, the instructor stopped at a cliff about 15 m high.

We were taken up and asked to jump in the water - just like that! Sheetal in our group just went up and jumped and I stood there looking with my mouth open.

I jumped (read 'was made to') at the third attempt.

I am in the air for a fraction of a second and the time stops. It feels as if I am never going to hit the water.  This is how a free fall feels - the wind hitting beneath you, nothing to hold on to, and you don't know whether you're going to hit the water. Or not.
It is scary and yet one of the most liberating feelings I have ever experienced.

When you have felt such a high, nothing after that matters.

THE END

EPILOGUE

So the people in our group that I was scared about, turned out to be one of the most fun people I have met. I have really fond memories of them and whenever I think of this trip, it will never be complete without thinking of them.

Here's to good people - keep traveling!

Meghalaya - you picturesque beauty!

Meghalaya is an adventure junkie’s paradise. There is so much to explore, so much to treat your eyes to. From the quaint little places that give you serenity to exploring places that give you an adrenaline rush – Meghalaya has something to offer to everyone. Needless to say, I enjoyed the tranquility as well as the rush!

First stop – Shillong

We chose a homestay 5-6 kms outside the main city. And thank goodness we did! That feeling of waking upto beautiful scenery, while you are still lying in your bamboo bed is something that can only be experienced and can’t be put into words. Our home stay was called Sha-Ri-Lohm and was beautifully managed by its owner Fareeda who didn’t live there but made her presence felt by being a most hospitable host.

If you are a person who enjoys peace and tranquility more than the hustle and bustle of the city, then this place is for you.

When you get up in the morning, the boys who manage the place serve you an awesome cup of tea which you can enjoy by taking a seat outside the homestay; relax and watch the sun go higher and higher.

Ditch the road and hit the hills

Once you finish your cup of tea, enjoy the trek that the beautiful surroundings offer. Ditch the road and trek among the hills, find your own route, explore the village nearby. Be careful to not get lost though! The end of our trek landed us right behind our homestay which was amazing since we didn’t know our way.

We wanted to trek in the night as well but, as it turned out, that is strictly not advisable. Shillong gets pretty dark at the snap of your fingers. We were scared a lot since we had ventured quite afar from our homestay and there were no street lights. Just tall trees to cover the sky and even filter out whatever little light the moon could pass.

During the day we explored the city. We went to Police Bazar which didn’t attract us much. It is a great place for locals since it offers everything from A to Z. But there was nothing for us to explore as tourists. Shillong is located in the Khasi hills and we did manage to find a restaurant called Red Hat that offered local Khasi food. If you are a vegetarian, your options to try the local Khasi food would be limited. We did try a couple of dishes at the restaurant but that didn’t impress us much. Don’t get me wrong – the food was nice but was a bit too simple for our taste.

However, I specifically enjoyed the Khasi Pulao that was prepared by the boys at the homestay. (I keep referring to them as boys as they are all young chaps and all too eager to serve the guests).

Shillong View Point

After that we visited the Shillong Point which was remarkably beautiful. I mean, when you can see the entire city of Shillong nestled among the hills- how that could not be beautiful! Do try the tea that they make here! It is out of this world and unlike any that I have tried at any other place. I still remember the taste and don’t think I am going to forget it for quite some time to come.

1 Km from this place is ‘Lum Shyllong’. It is an open area from where you can see far and wide. The city’s name is derived from this place and it is believed to be the place where their deity resides.

The final step of the falls

Next stop was The Elephant Falls. The Khasi people called it ‘The Three step falls’ because, as the name suggests, the fall breaks down in 3 steps - the first being the highest and the last being the one where you can actually enjoy the water running down the falls. It’s a short walk down the steps to reach the final fall. It was, however, renamed the Elephant falls by the British because of a rock that looked like an elephant. That rock, no longer exists as it was destroyed in an earthquake.

As like most tourist places, there is a small market outside the falls that sell local souvenir kind of items. I bought a bell for my home and it currently hangs at the entrance of my kitchen. J

Second stop – the Umiam Lake

Oh, what a beauty you are Umiam! As far as the eyes can see there is just sparkling water in sight and there is no telling how far and wide it runs. Umiam is a Khasi word which when translated to Hindi means ‘Bada Pani’.

View from the island at Umiam

There is a small island in the middle that also has a boat house! Do spend a night here if you get a chance – we couldn’t as it was already booked for the next few days. Can you imagine waking up to serene water with the boat rocking gently back and forth? Imagine what a feeling that would be!

For the adventure enthusiasts, there is Jet Skiing available. We tried that and what an amazing rush that was! You would not be able to help yourself from screaming “Woooohooooo!!!” as the jet goes full speed. There are other boating options available as well.  These boats also drop you to the island mentioned above and you can take a tour and explore the island in as low as ten rupees per person. At the front, the island seems small, but the moment you take a turn you realize how enormous it is! You can sit by the lake, relax and the boat will come and pick you up when you’re ready to leave. All you have to do is give them a call. The jet charges you 400 rupees for this and every penny is worth it.

Third stop – Double Decker

This is my favorite stop so far! Double Decker gets its name from a bridge that is formed by a tree’s roots entwining with each other to form a bridge. And this bridge is in 2 levels, one on top of another. Ofcourse the bridge didn’t get created on its own, the roots entwined but the locals tied it together with bamboo sticks.

And don’t bother taking your cell phone here, you won’t get any network. Why, you ask? You’ll come to know in a bit.

Double decker is situated at the bottom of a hill. You start your trek from the top of the hill and walk down 3500 steps to reach the bottom – yes 3500 steps! Along the way you will find the plants of many spices such as – bay leaf, black peppercorn etc growing freely. There is one plant that we found which really excited me. I never knew that such a thing even exists and was fascinated when I saw it. The plant was that of – hold your breath- broom! It was so funny to see it growing so freely and I couldn’t imagine that our household broom grows like that in the wilderness!

The Double Decker Roots Bridge

Along the way you will also find a river at two places, maneuvering her way among the huge rocks, running freely with water so blue that would make you think you were looking at the sky. To cross that river, there is a thin bridge made of thick iron wires and held together in places with bamboo sticks which I think only one person can cross at once – it atleast felt like that! As you walk across looking down at the pristine river, you feel a rush and you wouldn’t want to move ahead for a few minutes. Once you do cross the two rivers, the descend ends and now the effort of climbing up starts, albeit on stairs. A short walk after the climb, you will start to see settlements. Once you cross the settlement, you will see the roots bridge. J

The pond at the end of the trek

But the real prize is not this. There is a small entry gate to this place where they collect the entry fees (a mere ten rupees). Soon as you cross the gate, what do you see? Not just the bridge but also a beautiful little pond with water falling on 2 levels. And I cannot explain what a feeling that is! Just when you think you are so tired that you just want to fall asleep (just to remind we had walked 3500 steps), you see the water which is so inviting that you want to jump in it straight away. And jump we did! The water is so cold that it takes all of your tiredness away. You could stand in it for hours with little fishes that try to nibble at your feet. It was like you are dead and have landed in heaven.

We stayed here for about an hour and then started our way back. Coming down was comparatively easier but going back up was a real task. And what a task it was! At every step it felt that my legs will give away. But it is in these moments of weakness that you find your real strength. I still don’t know how I managed it but I did it!

You would walk and walk and walk and there will come a time when you would feel that you can’t make it any more. And as soon as you think you are giving up, you will see the start of the hill and trust me nothing will make your day like it! J

Double decker, for me, was as much about finding my inner strength as it was about enjoying the trek and the prize of that little pond that comes with it.

Fourth stop - Cherapunjee

Nokalikai Falls

If there is beauty, it is in Cherapunjee! Such beautiful visuals along the way that you don’t even need to make a stop anywhere. You can just keep on admiring the beauty along the way. But there a few wonders that I have to mention – Mowsmai caves that will make you feel like Indiana Jones once you go in, the beautiful seven sisters fall that has a total of 7 falls aligned next to each other, the Nohkalikai falls that is a single fall but stands tall on its own! The story goes that it is on the name of a woman named Likai who committed suicide because her second husband murdered her daughter and fed it to her. She is said to have committed suicide by jumping to her death from this fall – hence the name ‘The fall of Likai’. It is sad but seems to be a big part of the legend here. The fall is visible from the top of a hill and you could trek down the hill to go near the water where it falls. We didn’t since we didn’t have a lot of time on our hands.

We also did Zip Lining at Cherapunjee – a first for me. The thrill you get as you go whizzing on that wire looking down at the deep valley and a small waterfall by the side is something out of this world! It’s like you’re hanging on nothingness. It goes so fast that you won’t even notice that you have reached the end and may forget to pull the breaks (which happened with me by the way and I ended up kicking the trainer and my husband really hard. I still remember their faces “OMG she is coming at us! OMG she is not pulling the breaks! OMG she is going to hit ussssss”. And Bang!).

I wish we could stay for long in Cherapunjee but we had to reach our next stop – the Bangladesh Border J

Fifth stop- Dawkee and the Bangladesh Border

Hoard of trucks lined our way which had stones full to the brim. Our cabbie told us that these are going to Bangladesh (our cabbie was half a guide for us).

Once we reached the border, what a thrill it was. You could see our BSF people and theirs too. Never have I been this close to another country. It was as if you only need to take one leap and you will land in Bangladesh. Their people took photos of our side, our people took theirs. I wonder whether borders with Pakistan would ever be like that – so open. There was a huge board that said ‘Welcome to India’ on our side. Theirs read ‘Welcome to Bangladesh’. Nothing really was different at all – people looked the same, the land looked the same, the excitement at both sides looked the same. Our cabbie told us that till a few days back you could even go to the other side and shake hands with the Bangladeshi police. But people were now being restricted since a few were caught throwing bags of fake currency to this side at night. It didn’t matter really. Visiting the border was really about experiencing the same level of excitement that the other side had. How does it feel to look at another country standing on your own land, knowing they are so different but not so different at all, knowing that even though you could just walk to other side but you can’t? Well, now I know.

Dawkee

Next we visited the Dawkee Lake. It is a lake with water so clear that you could see the bottom of it - huge and small rocks, fish swimming freely. Take a boat ride here to experience the calm. As you go towards the inner part of lake, it gets so quiet that you could hear your heart and soul humming. No need for anyone to say anything. Just sit and experience the quiet environment with huge rocks lining the sides. When you look up at these rocks from your tiny little boats you feel like a dwarf. It’s like looking up at a giant. I somewhat felt like I am a hobbit who is looking at the Ents from The Lord of the rings and these rocks will pick me up and give me a ride on their shoulders.

Back from the fantasy land! Time for our next and final stop- Mawlynnong!

Final stop- Mawlynnong

Mawlynnong

Ah what do I say about this place. Yes it is Asia’s cleanest village but that is not its only highlight. We spent 3 nights here and we still couldn’t get enough of this place.

First up, there is no dearth of a place if you need to stay here. Almost every home offers a homestay and so the options are plenty. Though please be careful and keep in mind that these are locals who are opening up their homes to you. So take every effort to keep the room tidy and leave the house as you received it. Though these are not professional hotels but the hospitality can beat even the 5 stars. I guess the locals realise the importance of good hospitality since it is such a big part of their business.

You may want to try the Bamboo house. This is the only homestay in Mawlynnong listed on AirBnb and is advertised by a gentleman named Sachin. (For people who know me, he is not my husband).

Once you arrive in this village you will not feel that you are in a village at all. I felt like I was in a well maintained park in Delhi. Heck, even the well maintained parks can’t compete with this village. Well cemented and well lit roads (IDFC bank runs a CSR project of solar street lighting here and they have done a commendable job).

Way to the Bangladesh view point

The first day was spent exploring the village. There is a parking area where the cabs drop you and it has 2-3 different restaurant run in homes that offer you good quality food. Once you think you have had a good breakfast of Maggi, you can walk upto the Bangladesh view point. The view point is atop a really tall bamboo platform which you have to climb without the help of stairs. The way up is made of bamboo sticks attached together and in a slanting position, just like you would have your stairs. The climb upstairs was fun but once you were up there all that you could experience was calm and quiet. You could see far and wide with thick trees lining each other.

Stalls selling souvenirs in Mawlynnong

In the parking area, there are various stalls owned by the locals that sell souvenirs- things like a replica of the Khasi musical instruments (which hangs in my hallway), endless kinds of bamboo products (think of a product and the locals would have made it with bamboo and all colourful too!)

Plant of the broom drying in the sun

If you are the adventurous sorts, you may want to trek a bit and explore the village beyond Mawlynnong. We walked and landed in Nongetniang. This village is not yet open to tourists but will be in 2018 and so different kinds of construction was going on- like a bench on view points. We walked a bit here and met a beautiful girl who ran a tea shop. Her tea shop is the most beautiful that I have seen- small hut with wooden benches. Cafes and restaurants in Delhi make structures like that to make it fancy. And the tea here cost only five rupees. Outside the tea shop were several homes that had the plant of the broom drying in the sun. And that my friend is how the broom gets its brown colour. The plant is green to start with but is dried extensively to give it the colour that you see.

Day 2 was reserved for trekking for about 3 kms to The Living Roots Bridge in the village Rewari. It is the same kind of bridge we saw in Double Decker only that it was single story. The best part about it was the river that ran beneath it. Since there wasn’t much water in it, we walked towards the inner side of the river, jumping from one rock to another. We stopped only when we felt the water was now getting deeper and one slip would be fatal. Nobody would have been able to save us since nobody could hear us scream (we had ventured so far off). And so we turned back.

View from the Nohwet view point

A few kms ahead of it was the Nohwet view point and it is the most beautiful view point of all those that we had seen in Meghalaya. There is a bamboo balcony on the edge of a mountain with deep valley under it. Infront is a series of mountains with a river running beneath it. Do you remember the sketches we made as kids when asked to draw a scenery? Almost all of us drew a set of 3 mountains with the sun peeking out from behind them. The river ran below and there was grass and trees and ‘V’ shaped birds flying in the sky. The scene infront of me looked exactly like that. It was a scene so magnificent that everything looked so tiny infront of it. There was even an echo point. But you had to scream strategically at one position from the balcony for the voice to echo back.

Once we were done, we started our trek back to Mawlynnong.

And so our trip ended and early next morning we left for the Guwahati airport which is the nearest available airport in case you want to catch a flight.

I know this has been really long but trust me no amount of words can do justice to Meghalaya. It has to be in your list of must visit places. And this post would be incomplete if I did not give credit to my wonderful husband for planning this trip single handedly. Each second spent here has been worth it.

So till we meet next- keep traveling!