Part#4–Unleashing Northeast India–Land Of Lama, Rains, Rhinos and Momos by Abhimanyu

Abode of clouds - Meghalaya!

Please excuse me for writing the final part of this journey after a gap of more than a month. Was caught up in adjusting with the “new normal” way of life and remote working.

There were struggles to get the groceries and seamless internet connectivity initially but now it’s all sorted. Meanwhile, I drove down to Raipur from Pune. 1000 kms in 20 hours with a co-driver. It was good fun. 

Reading part#4 directly might not be good idea so please click on the below links to read prequels

After spending 2 days in Assam, relishing local delicacies and meeting Rhinos it was time to hit the road again. Simanta was at hotel lobby with his innova, all neat and clean.

This time for a change, we started late. After lunch around 1:00 pm.

Day#7 –

  • Kaziranga national park to Cherrapunji
  • Travel time – 8.5 hours 
  • Road Condition – Smooth and well consructed
  • Stay – Saimika Resort, Cherrapunji

Lunch served to us @Bonhabi was full of taste and spices. Exactly the way we wanted.

The drive was pretty smooth, and we enjoyed the journey through the small villages, finally reaching the mountains from the plains. We stopped at Jiva Pure Veg to refill our tummies and this place is one of a kind. Very hygienic and full of taste. We ordered momos, noodles and some biryani. Reached at Saimika, resort by 10 pm. It seemed to be a deserted place wherein there was a security guard who led us to our twin-cottages (joined from inside).

Entering the cottages, our excitement reached next level. We had a fireplace inside the cottage. I have stayed in many resorts across India, but this was the first time I had this pretty thing inside the room. We asked the security to lit it up for us. Glasses clanged again with malt on the rocks. It was good fun and very relaxing. Woke up fresh next morning and opened the door of our cottage to be mesmerized by the beauty of this resort which seemed deserted yesterday. Resort is built on a cliff in acres of land, all construction is done using rocks which gives an ancient Roman feel to this place. Looked inspired by Harry Porter movie to a fair extend.

We had some quick sandwiches at the restaurant and left the resort to reach the entry-point of trek to famous “living Root Bridges.”

Day#8

  • living Root Bridges
  • Travel time – Full day trek 
  • Trek level – Moderate to difficult
  • Stay – Saimika Resort, Cherrapunji

At the entry point of the trek, you will meet local boys renting Bamboos and claiming to be guides.

My suggestion – Take Bamboos and not the guide. Because our guide named, Risk DID NOT guide us at all. He just kept walking ahead of us creating un-necessary pressure on us to trek down faster. Guide could be useful for getting some pictures clicked for sure.        

Single root bridge

Started off the hike and reached the,” single decker root bridge” after 1500 steps down hill.

It was tiring but we had some juice left in us so after some rest we moved ahead to the prime attraction of today’s hike – the double decker living root bridge. Another 2000 steps down hill, crossing a river, a few villages, lots of sweating and knee breaking efforts we reached the architectural brilliance, man-made, double decker living root bridge.  

There is a stream flowing underneath it and thousands of fishes are waiting to welcome you from a small pond of fresh, crystal clear water.

Fishes waiting to give you a natural pedicure

We spend time relaxing by the pond side and eating the packed food that we carried from Saimika. Pranthas that were packed had lost the taste completely and I suggest to better order Maggie from small shops around the root bridge.

Some wiki gyan for youA living root bridge is a type of simple suspension bridge formed of living plant roots by tree shaping. They are common in the southern part of the Northeast Indian state of Meghalaya. They are handmade from the aerial roots of rubber fig trees (Ficus elastica[1][2]) by the Khasi and Jaintia[3] peoples of the mountainous terrain along the southern part of the Shillong Plateau. Most of the bridges grow on steep slopes of subtropical moist broadleaf forest between 50m and 1150m above sea level.[4] As long as the tree from which it is formed remains healthy, the roots in the bridge can naturally grow thick and strengthen. New roots can grow throughout the tree’s life and must be pruned or manipulated to strengthen the bridge. Without active care, many bridges have decayed or grown wild, becoming unusable. *

*Source – Wikipedia

We had to trek upstairs again. Although none of us wanted to but we did as we had to.

Knees, thighs and back hurted bad but we kept walking and motivating each other. 

I will write another post on does and don’t while you take this tiring trek of Living Root Bridges. Finally reached the car parking after 7~8 hours to meet ever smiling Simanta.

Had maggie and tea and ditched all plans to see some waterfalls to reach Saimika resort so that we can enjoy this beautiful stay a little more. 

Evening was set with a lovely bon fire outside our cottages where we enjoyed endless chats under the sky full of stars, zillions of them twinkling all night long.

Next morning was a lazy one, got up late and enjoyed our pre-ordered breakfast at the gothic Sai-mika. After quick check-out Simanta took us for some sightseeing around Cherrapunji and Dawki river. The water has no colour and odour is true in the transparent river which flows from India to Bangladesh and merges in Bay of Bengal via Sundarbans. Boating is a must here and if you are enthusiastic like us the do take a dip in the freeazing crystal clear water. Left Cherrapunji by 4 pm for our next destination which was just a night halt for us.

Day#9

  • Cherrapunji to Umsning, Meghalaya
  • Travel time – 4 hours
  • Road condition – Very good and scenic
  • Stay – The Sanctuary Song Resort, Umsning, Meghalaya

All is well when it ends well. Reaching this serene resort, we thought to ourselves, what a showstopper trip end planned by the curator. Nested in nature’s lap within a forest, small stream flowing besides the resort and NO MOBILE NETWORK available. What else does a metro lad need!!

Final Night Celebration

Some local strawberry wine was bought from the reception, bon fire was lit and the night went on and on till 1 am. Crashed in our cosy beds and woke up with chirps of birds, Trisha was the 1st one to wake up and got outside to greet the birds singing in a foggy cold morning.

Day#10 was finally here when we had to board our flight back to Mumbai from Guwahati airport, which is around 3.5 hours smooth drive from the heavenly stay on earth called The Sanctuary Song Resort. I leave you with some pictures here as we end this epic journey of a lifetime with a promise to come back again soon.

Reach out to us for any queries about this trip and for planning and booking yours.

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Meet the star – Simanta – The ever smiling Mawa Man

See you soon again!

Cheers!

Abhimanyu @yatripandit

YP Original || Dholkal – A Life Changing Trek by Akash

Back in Aug 2017, a fantastic Monsoon Saturday. It had been almost a year since I started my professional stint after completing my Chartered Accountancy studies and for obvious reasons I wanted to go somewhere. Did not know where but I wanted to spend some quality time with myself. Three days back I came to know about a travel company called “Unexplored Bastar” who plan trips to Bastar, a tribal district in state of Chhattisgarh. Since, then I could not think anything else but to go and explore my state. The biggest hurdle for me was to convince my mother that I will be safe in the wild trek and can take care of myself. Yeah, I was 25 but my mom thought I was still a kid who still needs her to be around him.

It was 4:30 PM on 12.08.2017 and suddenly from nowhere I decided that I wanted to go. I informed my boss that I need a day off and handed over my work. Bought a new pair of shoes from a nearby shop and reached home at round 7:30 PM. Phew !! my mother was all set to spoil my this plan like every other plan, but this time I was rigid and convinced her with all emotional blackmail and all possible tricks which I learnt during my entire life. Finally, my friend and myself boarded the bus at 10:00 pm to Jagdalpur. My friend felt asleep as soon as he hit that “sticky ragzine’s seat” and I started to enjoy my first solo trip.

We reached Jagdalpur at 5:00 in the morning and immediately went to the office of Unexplored Bastar. At the office Dheeraj introduced me to Mr. Jeet Singh Arya, Founder of “Unexplored Bastar” and some other team members. After this formal meet and greet all guests/travellers along with team of unexplored bastar departed for Farspal village, a small village in Dantewada District.

We pitched our tents in beautiful valley of Dholkal and greeted by hand made bouquets and some local delicacies.

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Once done with the food we all geared up for experiencing this thrilling trek. We were a team of around 25 travellers accompanied by around 15 members from Unexplored Bastar. These members were from farspal village only and they had thorough knowledge about the trek and terrain. They told us that there are 10K varieties of butterflies in this forest. We had to trek 8 kms uphill to reach “DholKal Ganesha” . Initially it seems like a cakewalk but at the end trek becomes a bit tricky.

There were many small problems while trekking including sudden rainfall and within seconds’ sun was at its full throttle but in the end, we made it to the peak. After trekking for around for another 45-50 mins we finally reached the Ganesha Idol and believe me people this was one of the best moment of my life. It took me some time to breath the fresh air and realise that I was there, completing the trek.

The Ganesha Idol was around 3ft in height, 3000 ft. above ground level and it is said that it was built around 11th century during the period of Nagvanshi Dynasty. Idol has many serpents covering the body of Ganesha.

We spend some time at the hilltop, worshipped Lord Ganesha , decorated him with flowers and offered prasadi, lived that moment completely and then went ahead for our next destination i.e. Surya Temple. Surya Temple consist of a flat rock and it is said that first light of after dawn falls on this rock. We were told by our tour guide that when light falls on this flat rock , it is reflected on the idol of Lord Ganesha and a magnified view of shadow can be seen on the mountain behind. Due to bad weather, we were unable to experience this unique natural phenomenon.

We came back to the base camp at around 4pm and were served with evening snacks, which were very good and tasty. At around 6:30 we all gathered around for campfire and enjoyed local folk song.

During a casual chat Jeet Bhai, told us that there is immense potential in CG to develop as a tourist state but due to negligence of Govt. and also we as a people of CG never ever thought to travel our own state. He (Jeet) and his team not only developing a fan base for state of CG but also providing employment and training opportunities to local tribal people. Generally, it is assumed that CG is a state of tribes and is dominated by Naxalites but it definitely a lot more than that. After this trip, I promised to myself that I would take measures to travel often and explore CG and India more and more. Unknowingly Dheeraj and Jeet bhai created a difference in my life, thanks to them.

Love !!

Akash Sharma

NoteWe have some fantastic stories on Chhattisgarh Tourism, check the by clicking the links below :-

  1. Barnawapara – A not so famous Wildlife Sanctuary
  2. Naya(New) Raipur – A Smart City in Making

Story By

Akash

Edited By

Abhimanyu

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