I woke up to the memory of the laughter, the night before. The three Aussies at Serenity, George, Luke and Drew regaled us with pictures of their cats and dogs. One of the funniest was Luke’s cat Cfor. As in, Cfor cat. And how hes a happy cat who is so large that you can’t…
Christmas in Nongriat
We soon got used to the rhythm of the guesthouse. Here are some facts: Byron sings like an angel. He is besotted with his wife and sings to her. He has written all this literature about the origin of Khasi people, the story of the villages, local lores, etc. He has five kids, and he…
Down the mines of Moria
We knew that we’d come back to Sohra late. So, we had asked the Sa-I-Mika folks to keep a room for us. That was room 1 at Ken and Twill Cottages, next door to good old Sai-I-Mika – owned by the same people, but operate under different names. We met this young man in charge,…
The eye of Mordor. Or is that sunset?
That’s how the day ended. The day started with… That’s just the view from the loo. The thing about all of Meghalaya that we experienced: best hygiene of anywhere in this country! The campsite loo had a lock that latches snug, the loo was as clean as the one at home, and stayed that way…
Rivendell
We slept like logs, after our long climbing adventure. The next step in our journey was to head to a river, and camp on the riverside and enjoy some water sports. The place to do this was Pioneer Adventure Tour, run by friends of Reena’s friend from Shillong. After bidding adieu to the adorable Pyriam…
Living roots bridges
The plan for today was to go to the Living Roots Bridge. The guys in the know made some noise about us passing really close to another spot we were scheduled to visit later during our trip. I didn’t listen to much of it, because I was worried about me making it down the few…
To the market we go
Morning dawned with dew and pearly-sunshine at Sa-I-Mika Park. Sa-I-Mika Park? What’s with the name? It’s not a Shillong thing, in case you were wondering. In the grand tradition of naming your business after your children… Liji Electricals (Lissy and Jijo, see?), PooMa (pooja and Manjushri, maybe) Mining etc. (not real companies, so don’t Google…
Sighting the abode of the clouds
5 people, 5 large backpacks, 5-ish small-ish backpacks and 2 cardboard boxed cycles left Cooke Town one early December morning. Long lines at 6am. Check. Dumb airport jokes (“What’s the worst things to say at the airport?” delivered at loud volumes). Check. Food falling into bag, leading to evacuation of contents. Check. Blow drying said…
Shillong-ward bound
It’s 1.05am. In less than 3 hours I’m to rouse myself and make my way to that flight. I’m going with 5 others. For 2 weeks. This is something I haven’t done in the last close to 15 years: travel anywhere in a group. There is none of the tension that shy, panicky-me-feels at the…
There and back again 