Girl Trip To Meghalaya: Journey From Sohra to Dawki & Stay at Mawlynnong village

Dear Friends, this is the last and the concluding part of my blog about the Meghalaya trip. It’s the 4 th
day of our trip to Meghalaya. Sohra has stories hidden all over. It’s Rivers, waterfalls, Hill-tops, tells
us about the beauty of that place. The Terrains comes alive during monsoons while the drier months
are all about blue skies, and scenic hikes and treks. There are wide range of homestays in Sohra that
allows a traveller to soak into local vibes.

Before we proceed further, in case you are interested in visiting Meghalaya, then you can book a trip with Bayberry adventures, an initiative by armed forces vetrans bu clicking HERE.

After an adios to our Lantana Home stay in Sohra, we headed towards Dawki. Dawki is a town in the
West Jaintia hills, of Meghalaya. Umngot River or Dawki River flows through this little town, and is
one of the cleanest rivers in India. During the period between September to November the water of
the river remains so clean that you can see through the crystal-clear water to the bottom of the
river. The journey from Sohra to Dawki was very pleasing. It was raining all through the way with
flashes of lightning. The clouds were floating towards us, and it felt as if they were hugging us and
welcoming us into their own land. No wonder that Meghalaya means Land of clouds. We saw a
beautiful water fall on the way, and stopped our car to have a glance of that torrent waterfall. There
were small shops nearby who were selling the most popular local fruit and one of my favourites, the
Pineapple. We headed to one of these small shops to taste the fruit and were left impressed by the
the young girl running the shop. She very artistically cut the whole pineapple into small slices in no
time and dug into the sweet, super juicy, aromatic fruit and finished off two fruits in no time.  Having
satiated our hunger pangs, we started our drive towards Dawki. There were betelnut trees all along
the way. During this road trip we also saw some wired fencing and soon realized that the fence
demarcates the Indo-Bangladesh border. The Indo- Bangladesh border has a border post in Dawki,
called the Friendship Gate, which is also an important trading post between the two neighboring
countries. We visited the border post where a group of young boys on the other side were singing a
folk song in their local language, which is very similar to my native tongue- Bangla. We also met a
family at the border post, who had come from Bangladesh to visit Shillong. After spending quality
time there and chatting with the BSF soldiers manning the post, we had a simple breakfast of Puri-
sabzi. Breakfast over, it was time to get back into our adventure mode. We soon took a boat for
boating on the clear water of Dawki river. I was quite surprised by the fluent English spoken by all
the boatmen here. Only four persons including the boatman can sit on the small wooden boat. Our
boat slowly started to float on the calm and clear water of the Umngot river. It was quite sunny by
ten in the morning. But our boatmen were rowing the boat along the shadows of the hills and the
breeze was very pleasant. We passed under the 90-year-old Dawki bridge which was constructed in
1932 to the two hills over the Dawki river. Many small waterfalls flow from the mountain to the
Dawki river and the whole view was just heavenly. While we were on the boat our boatman took us
under two small waterfalls and we loved the splash of cold water on our face. I must say our
boatman was quite a prodigy and throughout our boat ride he entertained by whistling old
Bollywood songs melodiously.
After the memorable boat ride, we proceeded towards Mawlynnong village, which is said to be the
cleanest village in Asia. We stayed there overnight in a homestay. The walls of rooms were made up
of bamboo and it had a traditional ceiling. There were two small windows, which opened to views of
vast green jungles beyond the village. We could also hear the thundering sound of the waterfall,
which was flowing nearby. This not being a touristy place, please do not expect multiple eateries to
cater to your palate. There are only 2 eateries, which close by 7 in the evening. In the evening we
took a stroll on the winding paths of the Mawlynnong village. There were a group of teenagers who
were playing together in the football field, one of my co-companions on this trip, Preeti, who is an
avid sportswoman and a decorated sports coach and the first woman referee to officiate a Sepak
Takraw competition during the 2014 Asian games, joined in the football game. She even taught the
basics of Sepak Takraw, which is basically Kick Volleyball, to the young boys and girls. Impressed by

their quick learning of the game, she donated the Sepak Takraw ball, she had been carrying with her
from Delhi, to her new students. The beauty of the village lies in all the various colorful orchids
dotting the village. But be beware, some of the plants in the village are the insectivorous pitcher
plants, which attract insects and then gobble them up by trapping them in their flowers. There is a
church in that village which was built in 1902. Considering the fact that this village is referred to as
one of the cleanest villages in Asia, carrying of plastic bottles into the village by tourists should be
banned. The villagers believe in monotheism, in oneness of God, and here nature and everything in
it is their God. When we stayed, in that bamboo room, we strongly felt that we were on the lap of
Mother nature who is governing everything.
Cock-A-Doodle-Doo – We woke up to the roosting of the village roosters and got ready for the next
leg of our journey, to Guwahati. In Guwahati we visited Kamakhya Devi temple and were blessed
with the delicious prasad which includes khichadi, mix veg, kheer and papad.
In the evening after having a cup of hot and flavored tandoori kulhad chai near the bank of the river
Brahmaputra, our friend and tour guide Aslam who is also the owner of the one and only cruises that
operates on the Brahmaputra, offered us an evening cruise ride. His cruise company called Alfresco
Grand ,offers river cruises on the Brahmaputra river flowing through Guwahati. When we were
sailing on the cruise, we sat on the open deck. The open blue sky and the calm but slight turbulent
water of the river Brahmaputra, along with the mesmerizing view of sunset was very romantic and
tranquil. It was a perfect way to end our Journey to the beautiful state of Meghalaya and the mighty
Brahmaputra river.
There are direct flights to Guwahati from all the major cities of India. From Guwahati you can reach
Cherrapunji (Sohra) by road which is around 6 hours drive. There are many home stays all around
Meghalaya where you can plan your stay to get the local vibe. It is best to take the services of a local
tour agency to ensure smooth travel across the North Eastern states.