Days 29, 30 and 31 - Meghalaya (Shillong and Cherrapunjee)

So I have fallen a couple of days behind on the blog. We arrived in Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya on Wednesday. It's a very pleasant town, with a lot more amenities than anywhere else we have been so far on this trip - widely available internet, cafes, bars, restaurants and a wide selection of hotels. Despite this there are few Western tourists. The vibe is very relaxed and friendly. We spent a lazy half day, eating well, drinking real coffee and generally taking it easy. Then we hopped in a shared jeep and were on our way to Cherrapunjee, the wettest place on the planet - well a little lodge outside Cherrapunjee, where we met Dennis, the manager, who was very friendly and a mine of useful information about the region and things to do there. After dinner we sat around the fire outside the lodge and chatted.

Yesterday morning we got up early and set out for the living root bridges. After a gentle downhill walk for about an hour we hit the steps. The steps are very steep and there are about 2,500 in the main stretch of them. At the bottom ours legs felt like jelly. After a few more twists and turns we came across our first root bridge. The tree's roots have been teased and trained to cross the river and attach to the opposite side by the "War Khasis". The gaps are then filled in with stones and pieces of wood. It is estimated to take about 15 years for it to be of use, but they can last up to 600 years. These bridges are about 120 to 150 years old and are growing in strength by the day. It was an incredible feat of patience and ingenuity. We passed a couple more before seeing the supreme achievemenet, a double decker root bridge, with 2 bridges on top of each other, both made from the roots of the same tree. Tolkien couldn't have imagined anything better! The steps were quite a different propostion on the way back up, and with each turn we prayed for an end in sight that never seemed to come. It was a tough day's walking but easily worth it. The Khasi people we met en route were amongst the most friendly, inquisitive and helpful of any we have met.

Yesterday evening Rahul left for Shillong and after a helicopter ride to Guwahati this morning flew on to Delhi, so I will do the rest of the trip in the North East by myself. This morning I did an easier walk to another root bridge on the other side of the lodge. It was tough enough all the same as my legs were still suffering from the previous days walking. after lunch I got a taxi back to Shillong, stopping at various waterfalls and viewpoints along the way, allowing me to appreciate the variety and beauty of Meghalaya. The fantastic thing about this trip has been its variety and Meghalaya has been no disappointment, also being completey different from Arunachal Pradesh and Assam. My friendly taxi driver spoke pretty good English (unlike AP and Assam, more people speak English in Meghalaya then do Hindi), and explained about the places we visited, and the election in the State whose results were announced today, as was evident by the numerous celebrations, people dancing in the streets and various party flags waving from most vehicles. We got stuck in a massive jam a few kilometres outside Shillong where a huge number of people and vehicles were gathered outside the house of the winning Congress candidate. Impressively the turnout in the election was over 89% but the full Statewide results will not be known until tomorrow morning, though it seems Congress have done well.

- Dave