Rainy Morning
We had a good night’s sleep and got up a bit early as it was going to be one of the longer days. The plan was to visit Nohkalikai Falls and then leave for Guwahati. As we looked out of our windows, we could see glimpses of drenched earth (as could be expected from one of the wettest places on earth). With all our rain gear in place, we pulled out of the hotel.
Way to the falls
Our hotel was aptly called “Hilltop Castle”, as it was indeed on the top of a hill which also meant that it was quite a way till we reached the town square. We quickly navigated through Sohra town and saw a signboard stating another 4.8 km to the falls.
As we moved ahead on the road, we saw the local Doordarshan station and a Ramakrishna Mission.
After crossing the main area of the town, we then entered Nohkalikai village. There was very less activity or movement of people as it was raining at that time or rather the population itself is not much.
We then crossed the village and its few houses and were soon in the wilderness. As we inched closer to the falls, the fog situation began to get worse as well. We could barely see beyond a few metres on the road, so we decided to keep it slow and steady. To make matters worse, the road condition also deteriorated.
Nohkalikai Falls
One of the most iconic images of Meghalaya is that of these falls. The falls have a ghastly story behind them (we would reserve that for a different read). We were excited to have got the opportunity. There is an entry fee of INR 50 which we duly paid and entered the gate.
After parking the scooter at the parking lot, headed on foot towards the viewpoint. There is a board having interesting statistics on Cherapunji and provided the best place for a click.
Shops were selling all kinds of spices like cinnamon and other souvenirs.
It was foggy at the viewpoint and found a few tourists expressing their bad luck with the weather. We were kind of depressed as after having come so far, the visual delight of the icon waterfall eluded us. The roar seemed like a teaser for us. There is a path that goes down the steep wall of the cliff and probably offered a better view of the waterfall than the one above. However, as the weather was completely foggy, we did not venture down and kept exploring the surroundings.
After coming so far, we thought of spending some more time even though our main purpose was not getting met. Then out of the blue, the veil of fog started to lift and the falls started to reveal itself. It was one of the most amazing sights we had experienced when it comes to natural wonders. It is the tallest plunge waterfall in India with a height of 340 m. We kept gazing at it and took photos and videos as a memento.
After satisfying our visual appetite, headed straight to the hotel for checkout and our long journey back to Guwahati. We took some final pictures from our beautiful place of stay.
Back to Guwahati and end of day
As we descended from the hills, extreme heat and humidity welcomed us with smiling face. The distance was just around 150 Km but it seemed a lot. Being on a scooter did not help as we could feel the pain of every kilometre passing by and we wished there was a faster vehicle. We had to take multiple stops to rest our sore backs (we had been in the saddle for almost two weeks).
The day was also Dashami when idol submerging takes place the streets were crowded with processions and all shops barring a few in the entire city remained closed.
Without searching for the accommodation again, we headed straight to our trusted one – River View Guest House and crashed onto the bed, tired from the journey. The guest house was a kind of oasis for us as we felt at home there. The remainder of the day was spent resting at the hotel.
