Shillong the Youngistan

Shillong Is the beautiful capital of beautiful state Meghalaya. Surrounded by hills from all sides, it provides picture perfect location for hill station.

   One has to travel around 90 Kms from Guwahati on NH44 to reach Shillong. The road from Guwahati to Shillong is very scenic & you won't realize when the 2:30 hrs of travelling are over.

   One amazing thing about Shilllong is the crowd of this town. You will really be amazed by the young & stylish crowd around you.

   Very important thing I noticed is how liberal this region is, when it comes to females completely contradicting to other regions of India, especially north India.

   One can see plenty of groups of young student wearing funky clothes, jacket, shoes & maintaining latest haircuts enjoying on roads of Police bazaar, which is prominent marketplace in the town.

   If you roam around police bazaar for a while, one more thing worth noticing is shoe shops in the town. I guess every third shop in this market sales shoes & still all shops are crowded.

   There are many restaurants & malls in police bazaar that's another reason why the area is always full of people.



   Places of Interest:

      Police bazaar: I guess I have written enough about it above, but just to add one point if you want to purchase artifacts of Khasi or Naga style, this is a place.

      Bada Bazaar:   Another shopping destination, this is bigger market, but not as happening as PB. (note: both bazaars are closed on sunday)

      Shillong Church: Very beautiful church at the heart of the town.

      Shillong Peak: It's a hill top very close to the town. Vehicle goes till the final point. The view of Shillong from this point is wonderful.

      Airforce Museum: Few kilometers ahead of Shillong peak, here you can see many miniature aircraft models, & know many things about Indian Airforce.

      Elephant falls:  3 stage falls few kms away from Shillong. Till 1897, shape of rocks in this falls was resembling to elephant hence called elephant falls, but the rock structure vanished in earthquake &
now the elephant is gone only falls exist, but its pleasant spot & its on the way to Cherrapunji.

      Wards Lake: Its very picture perfect lake.. Very close to Shillong town. It's a small lake & garden is built around it. The overall set of lake, garden & small wooden bridge over it looks pretty.

      Badapani: It's a huge dam 20 kms before Shillong on Guwahati - Shillong road. Looks fabulous in the morning & its really huge in size. There are few small Island in this lake. Orchid resort built besides the
lake is very good place to stay if you want to relax with your family / partner. One can also opt for Boat house in Badapani.

     
     Places to be covered along with Shillong:

      Cherrapunji, Mawsmai caves, Dainthen hills, Thadlaskein lake, Cherrapunji waterfalls, Living root bridge, Dawki, Jaren..

Mawsmai Caves

     So what are you waiting for? Pack your bag & head to youngistan of Hindustan.
 
     One more important note just before ending the post.

    There is a helicopter service from Shillong to Guwahati & its very cost effective 1000 Rs. Per person. The helipad is at Airforce base near Shillong.

Kaziranga wildlife sanctury - Assam

   North east India is blessed with wealthy wild life & one can find variety of species of animals, birds, plants etc. in North east India. Kaziranga is a huge forest covering area of 730 Sq. Kms. The forest is around 140 Kms from Guwahati. Capital of Assam state & nearest Airport is jorhat at 80 kms.

   The main attraction of Kaziranga is ample quantity of single horned Rhino & elephants. But there are many interesting things about Kaziranga other than Rhino. There are various plants grow in this forest but most
amazing is elephant grass. If you are lucky enough you can also see Tiger, Indian Bison, dears, Gadwall duck, Wigeon duck, blue winged duck, white winged wood duck, leopard, clouded leopard and the list will go on
& on.

   You have  to stay near Kaziranga if you want to enjoy the safari. There are two type of safaris available elephant safari & jeep safari.

  Elephant Safari:
    It is normally in the morning time & elephants enter the forest in groups. The first safari starts at 5:00 am. & continues till 6:15 or 6:30 am. The probability of locating Rhino is very high in this safari & as the day progresses this probability reduces. The reason is, with first batch of elephants entering the forest most of the animals get distracted & move away from the usual track of elephants. So try to book first safari. No need to worry about darkness.. by the time you enter forest, there is sufficient light. Biggest advantage of elephant safari is you can see rhino from 20-30 feet distance which is amazing.



  Jeep safari:
    It starts in the afternoon. The probability of locating animals is very less & even if you see them you can't go as closer to rhino as you can in elephant safari. The only advantage of this safari is you cover more forest landscape as jeep covers around 30-40 kms of periphery in the safari whereas elephant covers merely 2 kms. I guess those who want to see more kaziranga forest should opt for jeep safari.


   As of 18/11/2009 Elephant safari costs Rs. 325 per person & 4 ppl sit on every elephant. Jeep safari is bit expensive around Rs. 900.



   Things you should know before visiting Kaziranga:

1>     There are around 40 resorts to accommodate you near Kaziranga but none of them is inside forest. So if somebody says stay inside Kaziranga he/she is giving false info.

2>     Kaziranga is not a zoo. Nobody can guarantee whether you will see any animals & how many of them you will get to see.

3>     Safari is not a usual picnic where you can go sing songs, chat loudly & enjoy as you wish. You need to keep pin drop silence, if not the animals get distracted & run away. Finally you as well as other tourists will land up seeing no animals. So please follow the law of forests.

4>     Again, its not zoo, don't mischief with the animals. They are open & your mistake can land you in big trouble.

5>     Carry your camera, there is a lot of matter to shoot / click. But video camera charges are Rs. 500. Still camera Rs. 50 as of 2009. 

6>     There is a big river flows through Kaziranga, try fresh water fish from this river.


   Visiting Kaziranga was great experience & I am sure even you will enjoy it.. but I felt very bad to see, negligence of government towards the forest. 

  They can create a small gallery/ museum showing photographs of different animals found, their info.,  store skins / hornes / skulls of dead animals / show map of forest etc.

   You can contact Mr. Shanku Sharma 09957166630.

Majouli River Island - Asssam

    We have heard or seen many beautiful islands around the world, then what so special about this one??

    Usually when we visualize island, its in sea, but Majouli is a biggest river island in the world. Its surrounded by mighty Brahmaputra river from all sides. So its very different experience to visit this scenic island.

    The island is in Assam state. One can travel till Jorhat town which also has airport. If you are travelling by road,  on NH37 & if you are travelling from guwahati - dibrugarh you can see diversion for place called Nimati Ghat to your left. Nimatighat is 10 kms away from high way. From here you have to catch a ferry for Kamalabari.

    Your vehicle is also transported using ferry but be careful.. There is place for only 3 cars in each boat so if there is huge rush.. it may be a problem.. Ferry service starts @ 7:00 am in the morning & last ferry is @ 4:00 pm. Ferry takes around 90 minutes to cross mighty Brahmaputra & its great experience to see such a huge river.

 

   Once you reach the Majouli, road till Kamalabari & bamboo huts on will give hints of amazing things awaiting for  you. These are tribal villages on Majouli. After reaching Kamalabari you can head straight to
the village Garmur. There are many bamboo cottages built by locals for tourists. There are two beautiful cottages constructed by French & British person. If you are lucky you can get chance to stay in one of
those.. & trust me its wonderful experience to spend time in bamboo cottage. You can also enjoy local thali here. Contact Manjit 09957186356, & he can arrange food, accommodation & guide for you.
 
   Places of Interest:

     Majouli is spread across 700 Sq. Kms of area & has many small villages spread across the Island.

     If you are visiting Majouli in winter you can enjoy bird watching in various plains on the island, as many birds migrate here from all over the world.

    In mid November, you can also visit annual festivals of Satras.

    There are 17 Satras spread across the Majouli.. No need to see all, guide can show you selected few near Kamalabari. Satra means temples of Vaishnav's. Vaishnav's are people in Hindu religion who are devotees of
lord Vishnu. These Satra's are not just temple building but they have community centers, library, museum & quarters for Vaishnav people. If you have visited or read Bali, you will find many similarities in rituals carried out in Bali & Majouli.

     There is a big mask making industry & pottery making industry on this island but you jave to travel 20 Kms from Kamalabari to visit these places. These masks are mostly used in mythological dramas by local
artists of Satras.

     You can also visit Tribal villages near Kamlabari.. visiting their bamboo houses is fun.
 
   For coming back again you have to do ferry exercise.. load the vehicle in ferry & come back...

   From me they took Rs. 600 for tata Sumo & they take 400 for small car. I guess me being visitor rate was bit high.


   Most amazing thing in Majouli is people on the Island.. if you visit the island don't leave a single chance to interact with them.. Every year Brahmaputra washes their homes... no facilities of commute provided
by government but still you can easily notice smiles on their face & their welcoming nature...
 
   If you are planning to visit Assam don't miss Majouli.

Trip to India's unexplored paradise

This November I got opportunity to visit the unexplored paradise in of India..
our own North east A. K. A. 7 sisters.. but due to lesser time I could meet only 2 of these 7 beautiful sisters..

I was there for 9 days starting from 14th Nov to 23rd Nov.
Instead of writing a huge travelogue I am segregating the info in multiple posts...

This first post is just to share travel plan & places I covered in 9 days...
 
If anybody planning to visit it will be useful.. I guess J
 
Travellers : Kaustubh Khare, Prajakta Khare, Sachin Parab, Sheetal Parab

Duration: 14th Nov 2009 to 23rd Nov 2009
 
States covered: Assam & Meghalaya.
 
Day to day Itinerary:
14th Nov:
     Travelled from Mumbai to Shibsagar via Dibrugarh. Caught Indigo plane at 7:50 am from Mumbai to Kolkata. Connected flight Kolkata to Dibrugarh @ 12:30 pm.
     Travelled from Dibrugarh to Shibsagar via bus & stayed in hotel Aryan. (Sky chef is best choice but was full).
 
15th Nov:
      Visited a temple & Rong ghar built by Ahom kings in Shibsagar which took 2-3 hours. At 1:00 pm. Started for Jorhat town.. had lunch in jorhat town & headed to Nimati Ghat
       Next plan was to visit Majouli Island, for reaching there one has to catch ferry till Kamlabari.
 They also load your car in the ferry.. & each time only 3 cars can be accommodated on ferry.
 Rush was too high & the person with whom we had done ferry booking was absconding so had to wait till 6:00pm.
       At 6 pm our ferry started from Nimatighat to Kamalabari which is on Majouli Island, it takes 90 minutes to cross huge Brahmaputra river.
       After reaching Kamalabari we proceeded to Garmur which is another village in Majouli island.
 We met a person called Manjit  who arranged accommodation in Bamboo cottages for us & also Assami dinner. After dinner we called the day off in our beautiful & elegant bamboo cottage. Just 600 rs. Per day.
 
16th Nov:
      Had our tea & breakfast in the morning & started for Majouli site seeing at 9: am
      There are 17 Satra's on Majouli Island. Satra means temple of lord Vishnu where Vaishnav's on the island perform prayers & cultural activities.
      We visited 2 major Satra's on the Island, If you have visited or read about Bali, you will find similar rituals & plays performed in Satras. 
       (I am not aware of their connection with south east Asia but many things are very similar).
       Stopped for a while on planes of Majouli to do bird watching.. many birds migrate to this beautiful island in the winter & bird lovers should definitely visit this Island.
       Further proceeded to visit tribal village near Kamalabari.. Its beautiful village situated near Brahmaputra & you can meet tribal people visit their houses made up of Bamboo
       After sightseeing came the most tricky part.. secure place for our tata sumo in ferry boat... each time they took 600 Rs. For car & driver is complementary.. I don't know how much they take from others??? But one local guy had to pay only 30 Rs. For bike...
       After returning to nimati ghat, we returned to jorhat & headed straight to Kaziranga which is 80 Kms from jorhat.
       Stayed in Green reed resort 3 kms from kaziranga. Cottage was 1000 Rs. There are around 40 resorts here but if somebody claims the resort is within Kaziranga forest then its false claim.
 
17th Nov:
      Had early morning appointment with King of kaziranga yes the mighty single horned Rhino...             Elephant safari started at 5:15 am in the morning & was till 6:40 am. Saw 10-12 Rhinos, Bisons, dears  & different birds..
      After elephant safari rested in our resort for 2 hours & then started our journey to Badapani which is a huge lake in Meghalaya 20 kms before Shillong..
      One can see many tea garden en route.. One can also drink / buy fresh tea from some of these gardens..
      Reached badapani @ 7:00pm, checked in into Orchid resort which is very close to badapani lake & very good place to stay.
      Delux room was 1800 rs. Standard room was 1300 rs.

18th Nov:
      Started from Badapani in the morning, visited shillong peak, elephant falls & headed to cherapunjee.
      Visited Mawsmai caves, eco park & then headed to Cherapunjee holiday resort run by Mr. & mrs. Rayen. Just 3 kms before Mawsmai caves you can see diversion for mr. Rayen's resort.
( You can see Restaurant called hilbari to your left. Owner of this restaurant (I forgot name) is great travel enthusiast & will be happy to guide you. )
      Visited mawsmai caves & then went to Cherapunjee Holiday resort.
      Enjoyed camp fire, music program in the resort & ended the day after dinner. Room 1200 Rs.
 
19th Nov: Our guide Peter was ready to take us to Living root bridge trek. Had our breakfast, took some food along and started trek at 8 am.
        Had to descend 2000 steps when we reached at single decker Living root bridge.
        Further walked for another km. to reach double decker living root bridge...
        Further walked for another km. to reach natural swimming pool...
        Enjoyed at the swimming pool for an hour had lunch there & headed back to resort..
        Total time duration is 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. i.e. 8 hours.. The bridges are best example of bio-engineering & if you can descend & climb back 2500 steps you should do this.
        Took rest in resort for remaining day.

20th Nov. Visited second highest fall in India near Cherapunjee market. & then headed to Dawki, If you have one more day you can visit Dainthen hills & caves with unique rock formations.
           For visiting Dawki one has to come back till 20 kms before Shilong... There is a diversion for dawki. From diversion Dawki is another 50 Kms.
           En route one can visit cleanest village in Aisa which is near Pongtung village. One has to take right turn after Pongtung & travel 18 kms to reach here. Reached Dawki at 2 pm. Visited Bangladesh border &
headed further to Jowai..
          Around 20 kms before jowai, you will see village called JAREN, stop here.. On left hand side, just before entering the village you will see small hill.. We climbed it & you can see many Pitcher plants on this hill.. These are unique plants having Pitcher shaped flowers.. remember 8th std. science book???After this we headed to Shillong via jowai.. If time permits one can visit Thadlaskein lake.
           Returned to Shillong roam in shilling market for a while, had our dinner & returned to badapani for stay.

21st Nov. Visited Shillong Church, Ward's lake then stopped at Police bazaar for shopping..
        Had our lunch, did some shopping for 3-4 hours  & then headed to Guwahati.
        Distance between Shillong & Guwahati is around 100 kms & takes 3 hours to reach Guwahati..
        Reached Guwahati at 8:00 pm. Checked into hotel rajmahal near Guwahati railway station. Per room 3500 rs. There are cheaper options available on A.t. road, or near stadium.
 
22nd Nov. Guwahati sightseeing.. Visited Kamakhya temple, Balaji temple & Kalakshetra..
         I didn't find Guwahati worth spending time Instead one can spend more time in Meghalaya & catch helicopter from shilling to Guwahati 1000 per seat..
        Also did some shopping, but few shops were open as it was Sunday..

23rd Nov.  Again did some shopping, visited emporium & few shops at PNB
road, near reserve bank. Checked out from hotel at 12:40 pm. To catch flight.
        Caught flight from guwahati @ 3:20 pm. To Mumbai via Kolkata..
         Reached Mumbai at 8:20 pm. 

Total expenses for two: 52K including airfare & all expense if 4 people are travelling..

Travel in group of four is advisable as tourism is not developed very well in some part so you have to run around managing few things.

Transportation cost very high: Indica          1000Rs per day + diesel + driver's allowance
                                        Sumo AC          1300Rs per day + diesel + driver's allowance
 
Must visit: Majouli Island, Kaziranga, Shillong, Mawsmai caves, Jaren,
Living root bridge

Can be skipped: guwahati, Shibsagar..

If planning to skip Shibsagar, catch flight till Jorhat instead of
Dibrugarh..

Can cover more: Dainthen Hills, Tawang if u have 3 days,