Our penultimate day in Shillong was spent walking, sunning, inhaling the fresh mountainous air, drinking soulwarming beverages, and appreciating the company of good people. Now, that’s a great way to send off a holiday.

Reena woke up all excited to take us to all the places she enjoyed the day before. So, as she and I walked and walked, we came across…

Now, since our first day at Sohra, when we chanced across aloo chops, the guys were all hunting it for it everywhere. Mostly, locals gave us the “What are you talking about” face. Not here. Here, they said,

“Shadap and take these aloo chops.”

Okay, sorry, bad joke.

Next stop: Rajasthani aloo paranthas. Really. At this little restaurant that was just waking up, we sat down to some puris and chole. Ath caught up with us and we all drank a few drams of tea and set off again. This time, we walked to the centre of town, and stopped at Cafe Dylan. The girl who runs this place has apparently done time at an online brand, and had lived in Bangalore. She got excited to see us and invited us to drink coffee, because hey, south Indians. Ath and I drank the first cup of coffee in days.

I got my customary mulled apple cider. Customary because I drink one at the close of every year and sing auld lang syne. Sure enough, walking to Dylan’s i kept singing it over and over. And suddenly, in an answer to an unsaid prayer, my preferred seasonal drink made an appearance.

Next stop: Barra Bazar. We were greeted by this busking man.

We went nuts! Reena made quick darts in and out of shops, trailing cool things and gifts for folks back home. We all bought all sorts of things, then, using Reena’s travel expertise, we went to the Post Office, and couriered the packed stuff home! What style! By now, the other two travellers, Arvind & Madiha caught us up, after having spent their afternoon in some cool cafe run by well-travelled locals and had enjoyed lasagna and such like. They ambled over to a dessert place, where Arvind paid respects to his favourite food group. All sated, we all met again at Lorina’s house for another dinner. This time, we were met by another friend of her dad’s, who declared “the younger generation” (read, me. Poor man didnt realise I was certain to be older than he was) as mostly useless because we stare at our phones for so long.

Some more time with the dogs, and another set of goodbyes later, we left for our final night in Shillong. Some more playlist fun, and everyone called it a night!