Land of Clouds & Waterfalls

Meghalaya (ML) binds you in a spell. It mesmerizes you. It truly is the abode of clouds. 

Unexplored and unexploited, as yet, it is a beautiful state. 

Looking at the crowds thronging ML, the rooms being full or running to full capacity, and every location with loads of vehicles and scores of tourists, I hope and pray ML does not end up being the victim of our greed for beautiful locations. Human beings can spoil everything they touch. Like we say in Kannada, there is no grass that a goat does not eat. There is no place a man will go to and leave it unspoiled as before. 

One of the most beautiful waterfalls we went to in ML was the Nohkalikai Falls. 

I must add here that in ML, every road, every mountain, holds in his womb, many a waterfall. Everywhere you go, you will find a lovely stream making its way down and if you are a thorough city-bred person, you will want to capture the picture of every fall you see as you traverse the landscape. It will be an irresistible feast to your eye and it will take super-human effort to not stop the vehicle you are traveling in everywhere and anywhere. In fact, some of the exquisite streams and falls can only be enjoyed in passing as the onward coming traffic will make it impossible for you to stop and click pictures. 

There is one other thing: when you see the biggest or most majestic of all waterfalls, then the streams will look like regular fare. This is something you will experience a day or two into your travel in the region and you will learn to let go. 

The drive to Nohkalikai is easy as the roads are good and the view itself is picturesque.

Green and white are the two dominant colors in Meghalaya. Large, green fields and the countryside below and misty, white clouds overhead.

When we reached the location, the clouds had engulfed the entire mountain range and it was hard to tell what was beneath those clouds. Except for the roar of the falls, one could never have guessed that there was such a majestic sight behind the spread of white. 

Nohkalikai made us wait. We waited in the tea shop nearby and even as we took the last sip of our tea, the clouds started clearing. 

Like the regal, colored screens in single screen theaters of yesteryears, that went up slowly and then the movie began, the clouds parted way gently to reveal the sight of our lifetime. 

10 minutes apart and the scene changed completely. 

Steps and railings have been made and you can go right to the bottom of the falls to see the plunge pool beneath. 

But it is a lot of steps and if you are not physically fit or have kids with you, it is not advisable to go all the way down. The climb up will tire you or your kids and it would be time-consuming too. 

Nohkalikai is the tallest plunge waterfall in India. It falls from a height of 340 meters. 

Once you have had your fill of the falls, stroll around and enjoy the scenic beauty. Relish the happy 'I-am-in-a-faraway-place' feeling while it lasts. The vast expanse of greenery, very few people around, and the sound in the background of the plunge of water are the only companions to your thoughts. This is the kind of place where you will love spending time doing nothing.

This beautiful waterfall is a part of the tourist itinerary. So it is highly unlikely that you will miss this place.

As you can see on the right, the Cherrapunji schedule on day 2 of a 3-day tour of Meghalaya has Nohkalikai falls. The only thing you need to hope for would be for the rain gods to be kind to you when you reach there. 

Mist and rain are spoilers and enemies of the tourist. They don't care how far you have come from and how much you have spent to reach one of the remotest places in the North-Eastern part of India. 

Like tiger sightings in most wildlife sanctuaries and national parks, the visibility of most attractions in ML is a matter of luck. Pure chance. A blessing. We ourselves realized this when we visited Laitlum Canyon two days later. 

More on Laitlum Canyon in the next post of the Meghalaya series.