☁️ In the House of Clouds

🌅 Day 1: Arrival in Guwahati and Umiam Lake

So last year, a funny thing happened. My friend and I decided to go on a group trip with another team called Thrillophia. This is a trip agency with multiple destinations in their bucket. I had previously traveled with them as well.

I was ready to go, but my parents didn’t want me to go solo. So I had to bribe my friends a lot, but finally, one friend agreed to come to Meghalaya for just one place in the entire catalog — The Kamakhya Temple.

Without giving anyone else another thought, I booked the slots, flights, packed my bag (and made my friend do it too). Within no time, I was on a flight with my friend and three girls (who were strangers at the time). We boarded Indigo from Bangalore airport to Guwahati super early in the morning. We reached, waited for the cab, and once everyone landed, we were picked up in a TT.

Having no clue how early it gets in Guwahati, we went to have a super late lunch. Beside our seat was a girl — cute, with a bundle of stuff. My first impression was, “This girl won’t talk to us, she’s too fashionable.” But then she spoke in Kannada, and instantly we connected. She said she hadn’t had breakfast, so we shared our Thepla with her.

After a hearty lunch, we reached Umiam Lake, aka Borapani, but by the time we got there, it was almost pitch dark. We could only see 2–3 minutes of sunset. Tired, we went to our hotel rooms, had food, and slept, unaware of how early Meghalaya has its sunrise.

🐘 Day 2: Elephant Falls, Caves, and Nohkalikai Falls

Next day, we were ready by 9–9:30, which is late by Meghalaya standards, had breakfast, and left for Elephant Falls. But as the team’s pace was slow, we missed Mawkdok Dympep on the way — something we covered in the last two days somehow.

We went straight to Mawsmai and Arwah Caves after a really good meal at Orange Roots, a pure veg restaurant where we waited an hour for food — but it was totally worth it. Mawsmai and Arwah Caves are beautiful, containing all kinds of fossils. We walked about 2 km to reach the caves, but the scenery was stunning. We explored, read the boards, and raced on the way, but never clicked pictures. I often forget to capture photos because I get lost in the view, storing memories in my brain instead.

Once everyone was back, as we neared sunset, we were only able to go to Nohkalikai Falls, not the Seven Sisters. Nohkalikai Falls has a dark history. The name "Nohkalikai" means “Jump of Ka Likai” in Khasi. A woman named Ka Likai remarried after her first husband died. Her new husband, jealous of her attention to her daughter, killed the child, cooked her flesh, and fed it to Likai. When she discovered the truth, she ran to the top of the cliff and jumped to her death. The waterfall was named after her. They say people sometimes see her looking down from the bridge.

After hearing this horrifying story, we stayed until sunset. I can still remember the exact sunset, sitting on the rocks. Some shopped a bit, and by late evening, we headed to our hotel.

Observing the team’s pace, I told everyone on the way back: “Please be ready on time because I came for this one trek.” We reached our beautiful homestay, freshened up, enjoyed a campfire until curfew. Thankfully, the next day everyone was on time.

Day 3 also deserves its own limelight — we went to Rainbow Falls! I’ll cover it in another blog.

🚤 Day 4: Dawki and Mawlynnong

Feeling every bone and muscle from the previous day, I somehow dragged myself out of bed just to see the sunrise, as it was our last day in Cherrapunjee. We got ready the next day and set off to Dawki, where we had an exciting boat ride on a crystal-clear river. I tell you, this river was mesmerizing — so clean, so beautiful, so well-maintained. Crossing to the other side, we were super excited to show off our “Art of Stone Balancing.” On the boat and on the shore, we clicked hundreds of pictures, capturing every moment.

Once back on the shore, we realized we were only 20 steps away from the Bangladesh border — how cool is that! After grabbing some junk food and snacks from local eateries, we started towards Asia’s Cleanest Village – Mawlynnong. There, we met a Padma Shri awardee and had a little chat before indulging in shopping, momos, and pakoras. The entire team did a huge shopping spree, which, along with the travel time, made us miss the sunset at Laitlum Canyons.

By the time we returned, we were utterly exhausted from the long day of traffic, travel, and exploration. We ended the day earlier than expected, but it was packed with experiences that would stay in our memory forever.

🪂 Day 5: Krang Suri Waterfalls and Police Bazar

I woke up excited because today we had ziplining to Krang Suri Waterfalls. We got ready and traveled to the base point of the waterfall. Paying around ₹200 per person, we zip-lined down to Krang Suri. From there, others went kayaking, while my friend picked up pencils to sketch, and I lay down soaking in the sunlight.

After spending some time there, when we started moving back toward the base point, we realized that we had taken the wrong exit road. You should have seen the look on my friend’s face — I could only see betrayal and fury! We climbed down toward the waterfall, found the correct exit, and finally reached the top. Exhausted, we immediately dived into food — mangoes, juices, and Maggi.

Once refreshed, we stopped on a peak overlooking Meghalaya. The view was stunning: lush greenery, adventure sports happening below, Maggi shops, and a sense of life all around.

Later, as we had some time, one team member suggested Police Bazar for shopping. I literally saw theft, crowd rush, and the chaos of selling all at one place — for the first time, I was a bit scared seeing people. Shopping took about two hours. The funnier part was how all eight of us fit into an Alto. The way Doctor Saab, who suggested Police Bazar, bargained with the driver was hilarious. We laughed so much during the ride, and the receptionist’s look when we all climbed out of the car was priceless — it felt like a scene from Dhamaal.

We had our last meal of the day by 7 PM, completely exhausted but happy with the day’s adventures.

🙏 Day 6: Kamakhya Temple – The Reason My Friend Came

Day 6 was a powerful part of the entire trip. We got up early, took head baths in the cold water, packed our luggage, and waited for everyone to finish breakfast. Our first stop was the park where the Shillong Cherry Blossom Festival happens every year. For the first time in my life, I truly liked the color pink! We roamed around, clicked pictures, laughed endlessly, and enjoyed the morning.

After that, it was time to head to Kamakhya Temple — the only reason my friend had come on this trip. The Kamakhya Temple is a historic Shakti Peetha on Nilachal Hill in Guwahati, Assam, dedicated to the goddess of desire and fertility. It’s a major center for Tantric worship and unique because it doesn’t have an idol; instead, devotees worship a yoni-shaped stone representing the goddess's creative power. The Ambubachi Mela festival celebrates the goddess's menstruation annually.

My friend and I decided to fast until we had the darshan, so we didn’t eat anything beforehand. Once we reached the temple, we split into two teams: those with early flights went for Mukh Darshan immediately, and the rest of us waited for Sparsh Darshan. At that time, we said goodbye to half of the team who had early flights and needed to leave.

We faced multiple small challenges: two people before us bought out the day’s tickets, the normal darshan queue was extremely long, and we had to struggle to find a Pandit from whom we bought VIP darshan tickets — paying more than double the amount. But nothing could stop us; we were determined to see the goddess.

We were first shifted to a waiting room, where we sat for about two hours. Then we moved through multiple lines before finally entering the inner sanctum. Around 4 PM, we had our darshan. Doctor Saab, whom I mentioned earlier, brilliantly navigated the queue, and we just followed his lead.

Whenever I visit temples, my brain usually goes blank. No matter how much I prepare to pray, I end up just thanking God for everything. Inside the inner ring, which was pitch dark except for a single powerful glowing deepa, I followed the instructions: bend down, touch the water, and apply it on my forehead. That’s all I could do. After coming out, it took me a while to get back into normal talking mode.

We then traveled over an hour to Guwahati Airport, breaking our fast with the Prasad, and later enjoying aloo pakodas, samosas, and other namkeens. The airport journey was challenging as I reflected on everything that had happened on the trip.

Just as we were about to board, I realized I had left all our important belongings — AirPods, ID proofs, wallets, Kindle — in the cab. Nightmare! We tried contacting the cab and helpline without success. Finally, we spotted the cab near the exit — what luck! By then, it was already 7 PM, and we had to move fast.

We cleared security, answering questions like, “Why are there so many Karnataka people in Meghalaya? Any festivals?” Then came the cabin bag issues. Finally, about an hour before the flight, we reached the terminal — only to find it had been changed and delayed. Thanking our luck and God, we grabbed some juices and Dominos. I could only calm myself once we were on the flight.

This day, and particularly the Kamakhya darshan, was the most spiritual and powerful part of the trip. It left a lasting impression — the kind of experience that stays in your memory forever.

It was a great trip. Meghalaya is beautiful, and I’ll return for the toughest trek. This trip taught me to think more, have more patience and mostly importantly not to panic ✨😇.

That’s it for this week —

See you soon with another one.

Cheerios! 💛