Start of Phase 2
Hope you have stayed with us thus far and enjoyed reading about our experiences on phase 1 of this tour i.e., Arunachal Pradesh. At the end of Day 6, we reached Guwahati and exchanged our Royal Enfield motorcycle for a Honda Activa. The reason for going for a lighter vehicle was due to a less demanding destination.
Our Phase 2 entailed exploring the beautiful state of Meghalaya and we had roughly 3 days with us to make it happen. It was going to be a tight schedule as the number of days and the places to see were a clear mismatch. So, we made an exhaustive list of places to see with a list of must-visit places specifically marked within.
What actually happened was a different story altogether, keep reading for that.
Start to the day
The plan for the day was to reach Shillong (a distance of 100 km) from Guwahati and spend the evening exploring the police bazaar and other main areas. Since the total distance to be covered was not much, we decided on a leisurely start.
Our place of stay in Guwahati (Riverview Guest House) was so good that we did not feel like leaving it but then the checkout time was nearing. We kept our luggage at the front desk and went for breakfast, the time was already 11.30 AM. We had South Indian food for breakfast from one of the nearby restaurants.
Entering Meghalaya
A closer look at the map of Guwahati would reveal that it touches Meghalaya on its outskirts. Our way out of the city was through Dispur, the capital of Assam and other commercial areas with some heavy traffic.
And just like that we were in Meghalaya, it was hard to believe but that is how close the entry point is to the city of Guwahati. Upon entering Meghalaya, the scenery changed completely and the road moved through a hilly terrain. The dense tropical vegetation, banana trees and huts atop bamboo structures resembled South-East Asia.
The landscape was in stark contrast to Arunachal which featured steep mountains with high elevations and different ethnicities. The rolling hills are what we had expected, which is why hiring a scooter at a lower cost made more sense. True to its name of being an abode of clouds, we could sense rain waiting for us on the horizon.
The no-lunch show
En route, looking for a place to have lunch proved to be a challenge. There was a Sher-e-Punjab Dhaba on the highway and was the only one we remember having some good ambience and drawing crowds. But it was prohibitively expensive for us and the waiting time also seemed to be on the higher side. We decided against it and consumed cold milk and chips at an adjoining shack. So, plan accordingly before you start from Guwahati or be ready to spend a fortune on food. There were also quite a few shacks selling fruits, so if you are a fruit person, you are in luck travelling that route.
Umiam Lake
Before the climb begins for Shillong, there is a beautiful lake alongside the highway called Umiam Lake. It is roughly 18 km before Shillong on the Guwahati – Shillong NH 6. Did we mention that the road throughout is extremely well maintained and riding on it is pure delight?
The lake makes for a good stopover as it is very scenic. It seemed like a laid-back place without any glitz and glamour. There were some boating activities and some locals were on the shore fishing. Anyways, the place seemed to be a popular halt for clicking pictures and we complied and did the honours. The time was 3 PM by then.
Reaching Shillong
After staying for about 30 minutes at the lake, we proceeded towards Shillong. The road from the lake to Shillong was broken at many places which made the progress a bit slow.
After about an hour, we were greeted with a welcome sign to the city of Shillong. As we entered the city, there was not much traffic which was a pleasant surprise contrary to what we had seen in various videos.
The traffic was well-regulated and quite disciplined. Due to the Durga puja celebrations, there were few diversions. We went straight to the police bazaar to look for accommodation.
Hotel nightmare continues
Our mood was very upbeat when we approached the main square of the town. There was an uncomfortable amount of traffic leading to the place but we were ok with it and continued with the flow. Little did we know what was about to follow.
There was a carnival-like atmosphere at the main square and we had already started dreaming of spending our evening there. We took a left turn to the road where many hotels are concentrated and that was when reality bit us very hard.
All the hotels in the area were sold out (yes, you read that right!). It was already difficult riding on a scooter with our luggage and now this constant mounting/dismounting from the scooter to search for a hotel was taking a toll on our energy and patience. We gave up after a while and decided to move out to a different area.
It was already dark when we moved out of the main police bazaar area. We shifted our search to the interiors of Shillong. There was no luck anywhere, all the good places were sold out and the remaining ones which were not worthy of staying were quoting absurd amounts of money.
Desperate situations…
It was a gloom and doom kind of situation without a light at the end of our tunnel. At that time, we even thought of returning to Guwahati and cancelling our Meghalaya tour (that would have been a heartbreak). The funny or depressing thing was that even Guwahati was not faring any better in terms of hotel availability.
All this rush was due to the Durga Puja celebrations/holidays which are big in this part of the country. So, an honest opinion upfront is not to plan anything in these parts during Durga Puja (Sep/Oct) or if that is the only time you have available for vacation or if visiting only to enjoy the festival there, plan well in advance.
A place to stay and end of day
Just when we were about to give up, we got lucky to get accommodation at an extremely out-of-budget deal, just to spend the night. Our check-in was at 9 pm at the hotel! The hotel, though booked on the phone without any clue as to what was on offer, turned out to be quite nice and extremely clean but at the same time, it was super expensive and hit our travel budget hard.
Anyways with god’s grace, we did not have to abandon the Meghalaya trip altogether due to room unavailability.
After having a simple dinner, which was also the only good meal that day, with the usual menu, we crashed hard into our beds, excited and terrified at the same time about what the next day had in store for us.
