Mist and magic of Meghalaya

Have you heard of a village called Mawlynnong? No? I hadn’t either. Not until it featured on the itinerary of our tour of North Eastern India. It is a village in the east Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, a three-hour drive from the capital city of Shillong.
The first structure one sees on entering Mawlynnong is a beautiful church that was built in 1902. A village of peaceful Khasis grew around it. The locals keep clean bamboo and thatch roofed homes with colorful flowers and fruiting trees planted around the houses. In 2002 Discovery Channel heard about this pretty village. They came to film it and gave it the sobriquet "The Cleanest Village in India.” The village is very proud of the epithet and puts in community effort to maintain cleanliness and the ambience. Every home is fronted by a beautiful garden with orchids, lilies and roses. There is a lush green growth of bamboo, pine and banana around and weaving through the village as though five star prices have been paid for the landscaping!
Many of the locals offer home hospitality stays. Others have signboards offering tea, cold drinks and food. Surprisingly, liquor is frowned upon, at least in public.

Arman with fruit vendors, Assam

The place we stayed in was a marvel in bamboo construction. There were two rooms with two beds in each, a dining area with bamboo tables, chairs and shelves overlooking the forest. Squeaky clean modern bathrooms with all the mod cons and running water made for a perfect combination of the rustic and the required!
Our meals were prepared in the hosting home but we could sit and chat with the owners and even help cut and chop the vegetables. For dinner we had a dish of jackfruit (very popular and plentiful in the area), along with potatoes, chicken and rice. The locals never eat chapattis. Breakfast the next morning was a bowl of steaming Maggi noodles and omelets.
We met a group of girl students from Shillong who were doing research work in the village. They arrive by bus every weekend to make a study of what makes Mawlynnong village so unique and to find ways and means to better the lives of the villagers. The main observation of the study group was that the village needed improvement in and extension of educational facilities. The local school is only up to Class VI. Anyone aspiring to further studies must leave the village.
The picturesque village of Mawlyn­nong offers many other interesting sights such as the Balancing Boulder Waterfall and the Living Root Bridge made out of the roots of the Ficus Elastica or rubber plant. The bridge is a marvel of nature’s engineering and takes 20 to 25 years to create. Freshly cut, luscious pineapples and a few village handicrafts are sold at the village center.
Bangladesh is very close to Mawlyn­nong and from an 85-foot tree-top lookout, made entirely of bamboo, one can see the twinkle of lights in that country at night. In the daytime it appears an extension of the dense, green forest. Our overnight stay in Mawlynnong will remain a happy memory for many, many years.
We were happily excited about our first time visit to North East India. What made it especially exciting was that three generations of our family — my husband and I, our son and grandson — were travelling together and spending bonding time with each other. We flew from Calcutta by Spice Jet, landing at the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoli International Airport in Gauhati. We stayed at the beautiful Wild Mahseer Resort on the Addabarie Tea Estate in Assam for three days and then drove on to experience the mist and magic of Meghalaya.
The best time to visit North Eastern India: October to April
How to get there: Direct flights from Delhi and Calcutta to Gauhati by Spice Jet, Indigo and Air India
All arrangements for our visit were made to our satisfaction by Piran Elavia who specializes in tours to this part of the country. He may be contacted by email at: piran@kipepeo.in