Arriving in the dark, to the biting cold of Shillong was a – well – chilling experience. Our new friend in high places, Mrs. Phanboh of Sa-I-Mika invited us to stay at her resort/ guest house/ cottage in Shillong town. It’s called Ken & Twill Cottage (named after her parents) So, we booked it, and off we went.  The house was charming, with dark wooden wainscoting, antique looking fireplace tools, and an honest-to-god bellows.

At 6 degrees in the night, it was justified, that we spent hours stuck to the fireplace. We were hesitant to even move 6 feet to go and get dinner. In fact, those of us who got second helpings for others were hailed as heroes 🙂

Morning dawned chilly and crackling. The 2 guys were invited for a 15k “Chidambi Run” organised by a running group called Run Meghalaya. They came back with stories of 50 year old people who said, “Oh I’m a very new and inexperienced runner. The maximum I’ve run is 70km in 8 hours” and 17 year old kids who could run like the wind. They had had a great time and were ready for a shower and a nap!

Not to be outdone, Reena set off on a run of her own (to prepare for the cycle ride coming up next), ended up in the market, and while there, most altruistically scoped out the food scene in town for us.

For Madiha and me, it was breakfast, sunny times with Finisha the kid and Maow the kitten, and some conversation while sun drying hair. We headed to Police Bazar for some industrial level shopping.

Lunch was at Trattoria. Lovely amazing food. For a place that has an Italian name, the food was fully local. I am going to miss all this lovely, flavourful, simple food which tastes like something made at home, not at a commercial establishment.

That night, we were invited to dinner at R and A’s friends Lorina and Vishal’s house. The only person who did not look like they were plucked out of the International Urchins Conclave was Madiha. From her backback, out came clean jeans and a fancy sweater, and she looked like a local, style-wise. The rest of us were all in thermals and tshirts and jackets. Our hosts for the evening didnt seem to mind it, though. Phew!

Lorina’s dad is a storyteller. He bonded away with Reena as soon as he found out she’s Kodava. “We are all martial tribals. We know what it is all about”, he said, and started talking about guns and shooting with her. They are all charming. They have 5 dogs. We were introduced to all of them, one by one. It was very cute.

We ate some more even yummier than normal food.

We hung around there till 1ish and came back to Ken & Twill, and crawled into bed. Our holiday’s coming to an end soon! Waillls!!!