The Seven Sisters of Meghalaya

What is with the name Seven Sisters and the North-East? Sikkim has a famous waterfall by the same name and so does Meghalaya (ML).  

We had booked a cab from a tour operator in Guwahati for Rs 8000 for 2 days. Day 1 Shillong and Day 2 Cheraapunji. Day 3 plan of Dawki River was canceled due to landslide and road closure that had happened a day before. How unfortunate! 

Our driver had told us that tomorrow is a big day, with lots of places to see, the first place - the cave - opens at 9, so be ready at 8:00 a.m. We enjoyed the first rains of Cherrapunjee lashing at our windows and slept in great anticipation of what the next day would bring. 

We were ready at 8:00. He dropped us at the cave at 8:03! Turns out, it was just a 3-minute-drive from our homestay. We could have practically walked to the place. Urgh!

For breakfast, we were at the mercy of the only restaurant that was open at the time. 

The lady was so rude, that I thought one of the customers, who had come in a group of 5, would beat her up. He, however, decided to bite his tongue and eat his long-delayed roti quietly. 

Like most other helpless tourists, who were woken up early and mercilessly dropped off here, we too ordered the only two safe options available in this part of the country - Maggi and Bread omelet. We were scared to ask the lady to give us another omelet lest she scolds us for ordering repeatedly (yes, that is a legitimate feeling here) and not making up our minds the first time around. 

After a long wait, she decided to tell us the amount we had to pay. I mustered the courage to ask her what cost how much. She gave a death stare. That instantly shut me up, and we paid up without another word. 

Below is the pathway leading to the cave. 

The picture below shows the interior of the limestone cave with the lights on, which, according to me, made it look ugly, though, I guess it was necessary. 

Do the cave only if it hasn't rained the previous night, which is highly unlikely as this is Cherrapunji, the wettest place on earth and it practically rains here every day. In our case, it had rained all night (mid-May was supposedly peak summer) and the cave was flooded in places. With elderly people or small kids, it can be difficult to explore it due to the uneven footing, and the claustrophobic atmosphere.  

I was least excited about the cave. In fact, I wanted to do the Wei Sawdong Falls instead of the Cave. But our taxi driver refused to oblige saying the roads are not good for "small cars". We were in a Swift Dzire which he was driving at the speed of 40 km/hr.

We set off to the next item on our list. The Nohkalikai Falls which I have described in this post. 

Next up was the Seven Sisters, also called Mawsmai Falls or Nohsngithiang (if you can pronounce that. Now I get why they simply call it Seven Sisters. Easier on the tongue of the tourists). This is one of the tallest waterfalls in India with a height of 1000 feet. We were exploring the East Khasi Hills.

This is one of the rare waterfalls where we can actually stand and experience the place from where it begins and descends into the valley.  Most falls you view from a distance and can never actually approach the drop point of the falls. However, in this case, a bridge is built right over it so you get a really close view of the drop. 

The bridge of the Ecopark is visible from a distance.

The drop off point up close

The valley covered in mist

Cottages are being built in the Ecopark overlooking the falls. Scenic view from inside the rooms

The view of the falls from the main road. 

Day 2 of the tourist itinerary comprises the Mawsmai Cave, the Nohkalikai Falls, the Seven Sisters Falls, the Eco Park, and voila, you are done for the day. Time to return to Guwahati.

By 11:00 a.m, we had covered everything in the itinerary and the only thing left was to return to Guwahati. We realized that the Day 2 program was barely 3 hours! 

We insisted the driver take us to Wei Sawdong. Did he take us or did he continue to make excuses that the road is not good? 

In the next post.

Sikkim - Final

Despite the MMT fiasco, the Sikkim trip was worth the time and definitely worth the money. The overall cost actually worked out cheaper because of the package. We paid 37,000 to MMT and spent another 7,000 for food, entry fees, shopping, airport to residence taxis and other expenses like paying extra to the driver to take us to Zero Point and to the paragliding venue. If we include 3000 that we paid for paragliding, the 7 day trip cost us 47,000 in total, per person. 

This final post on Sikkim traces the tourist spots covered in the MMT itinerary.  

Visit the Namgyal Institute of Tibetology to trace the art, culture and religious practices of Tibet.  

Wear the traditional Sikkimese dress. For just Rs 50/-. They are available at all the places frequented by tourists. It's a nice, colorful, wrap-around dress. They even give you matching neck-chains and a hat to go with the dress so that your picture is 'complete'.
I remember doing this is Dehradun, in 2003. I had worn the Garhwali traditional costume with a big matka (pot) in hand. 

We don't have this very "touristy"  'try-the-local-dress-and-pose-for-photos' thing in any of the tourist locations in the South. I guess, a saree doesn't lend itself to such touristy gimmicks. 

This is the Seven Sisters Waterfall. There are seven distinct points at which the waterfall drops. You can see each one as you climb up the steep hill. You have stairs and little benches kept along the climb. We girls went up half the way, saw there wasn't much water (someone remarked "there are only 2 sisters, bhaiya"), got dizzy by the sight of the upward climb in the hot sun and got engrossed in the Sikkimese dress photo session, instead. 

The remarkable thing was the elderly couple from Delhi climbed right up, all the way! And they did this everywhere - whether it was the icy slopes or the hills or the 100+ steps climb! At every spot where the taxi stopped, the couple would rush right ahead, uncle clicking pics of his wife and the scenery.  We would huff and puff but not they. Naah! Age truly is just a number. We three 40ish women couldn't match the pace of the 60ish couple. 

This was a common sight in Sikkim, no matter where you went. The cold demands the drink. This tiny shop at least had a glass shelf. In most places, it would be nicely stacked on just a pushcart, hawker-style, an Old Monk standing cozily next to a Blenders Pride. Even the  smallest, hole-in-the-wall shop had an enviable stack of liquor. 

And I thought Goa was the only liquor paradise. 

This is something I found in a magazine in one of the shops - the 2012 tourist inflow statistics. A whopping 5 lakh Indian tourists visited Sikkim as compared to a very low turnout of just 23,000 foreigners. That's a huge and rather surprising gap between the domestic and international travelers to the state. 

And that shawl on Chiranjeevi. I too have it. It was gifted to me by one of my Assamese students. It is called a gamcha, I think. It's worn by both men and women in most North Eastern states. 




The statistics regarding the crime rate.  Sikkim is ranked the lowest at 30 in the crimes against women index with just 55 cases. Something for the other states to mull over and emulate. 







The sights that will stay with you long after you have left the state.

 

The Bhim Nala Waterfalls also called Amitabh Bachchan Falls because of its height! 

Another beautiful waterfall. 
 
The Seven Bowls. In Buddhism, each bowl stands for a particular aspect of prayer. The offering encourages the spirit of giving & water is the purest & the easiest material thing that we can give. 

The view from the Gangtok rope way. The rope way ride costs you Rs 200 and gets over in less than an hour. If you have been on more exciting rope way rides, in other states/countries, pass this up. But if it is your first time on a ropeway, lap it up because it provides you with a stunning view of the town and the hills surrounding it. And a new, unique experience.

We stopped at a memorial in the woods where there was an annual feast going on. The men were busy preparing for the festivities. It was an occasion to pay homage to their ancestors.
 (aside: isn't the chakli on that plate a typically South Indian snack?) 

The  stream, the mountain peaks and the breeze. Beautiful combo!

The sight of the snow - fresh and soft - is by itself worth the money spent on the trip, so says the woman who grew up in the hot and humid coastal belt of Karnataka.

 If you ever get a chance, to plan or be a part of a trip to Sikkim, don't think twice. Say yes!