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INDIA: Himalaya: Ladakh & Kashmir
Meghalaya Round Trip "The Scotland of India"
Little touched by tourism, the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya is an unknown and exotic destination for nature-loving individual travelers or small groups, who would like to get to know something new and travel off the beaten track.
Take a stroll through gently rolling hills, which are interspersed with granite boulders as big as houses, experience mysterious caves, dramatic gorges and gushing waterfalls, and marvel at steeply descending tropical mountain slopes, and the bizarre limestone formations on the plateau of Cherrapunjee, which is largely covered with grasses.
This high plateau, which is strikingly separated from the lowlands of Bangladesh by 1500 m of altitude, is located in a zone of our world, in which the most intense rainfalls are being measured - an explanation for the "steaming" plains of Bangladesh, which expand behind the Cherrapunjee plateau as far as the eye can see. It is uniquely spectacular to experience, how the humidity is piling up to clouds from the flat Meghalaya plateau above Bangladesh, and is then rushing down to discharge itself over the scenic countryside.
You meet the people of the Khasis, a matrilineal society, in which the youngest daughter inherits the family land, and high priestesses play an important role.
Take a stroll through sacred forests, which are rich in butterflies and orchids, through which meander crystal clear rivers; cross watercourses on living roots, which have been shaped to bridges during decades by the locals; recharge your batteries in the face of spectacular cascading waterfalls; if you like, you visit some of the largest caves in the world, and learn a lot about the people of the Khasis, the hinduistic Jaintias and the former head hunters, the people of the Garo.
This trip offers you ever fascinating and diverse highlights in an area of northeastern India, which is unjustly so not familiar.
Highlights
- Spectacular landscapes with rolling green hills, spectacular cliffs and waterfalls
- The towering clouds on the plateau of Cherrapunjee and the view of Bangladesh
- The root bridges - suspension bridges made from living roots
- The matrilineal society of the Khasis - it is completely in contrast to the rest of India
- Village visit in the jungle near the border with Bangladesh and night at a bamboo house
Travel Itinerary
Day 1 : Arrival at Guwahati Airport, Assam or in combination with Travel Module "Delhi", "Kolkata", "Assam", "Arunachal Pradesh" or "Nagaland" - Transfer to Shillong
Day 2 : Shillong - city tour
Day 3 : Shillong – Lake Umian / Sohpetbneng – Shillong
Day 4 : Shillong – Smit & Nongkrem – Mawphlang – Shillong
Day 5 : Shillong – Cherrapunjee / Sohra
Day 6 : Cherrapunjee / Sohra - Laitkynsew
Day 7 : Laitkynsew – Nongriat – Laitkynsew
Day 8 : Laitkynsew – Mawlynong
Day 9 : Mawlynong
Day 10 : Mawlynong, 780 m above sea level – Shillong, 1500 m above sea level
Day 11 : Shillong – Monolith Garden Nartiang – Shillong
Day 12 : Shillong –Guwahati Airport or further with Travel Module "Delhi", "Kolkata", "Assam", "Arunachal Pradesh" or "Nagaland"
Options
- Popular: Connect your trip with safaris at the Kaziranga National Park, or with our Travel Modules "Nagaland", "Assam", "Arunachal Pradesh" or other destinations.
- Hiking tour: Integrate a day hike on the historic "David Scot Trail" to Cherrapunjee.
- Adventurous: Visit with us the land of the Garos, a primitive people with headhunter past.
- Gigantic caves: Integrate a visit of one of the gigantic caves of Meghalaya under professional guidance.
Tags: north east india, meghalaya, khasis, cherrapunjee, shillong, city tour, living roots