Meghalaya

Meghalaya “Adobe of clouds” located on the North East corner of India bordering Assam on the East and Bangladesh on the West invites the tourists with open arms to explore its scenic beauty, sparkling waterfalls, glorious mountains, pure mountain streams, lush green parks, lakes and many more. As wettest planet on earth it’s a must go for all the rain lovers. It’s a prefect blend of tradition with modern lifestyle. It has three dominating tribes the Khasis (of Mon-Khmer ancestry), the Jaintias (mainly from South East Asia) and the Garos (the Tibeto Burmon origin). All these tribes have there own culture and customs but have a common trait of taking family linage from the mothers family. The languages spoken here are Khasi, Pnar, Garo and English.

Being the most picturesque state, Meghalaya attracts many tourists all over the world. Meghalaya has everything that any tourist wants starting from beautiful temples, churches, gurudwaras to lush green gardens, lakes, water falls, Hot springs and adventure sports.

Shillong, the Scotland of East, is the capital of the state. The highest point, Shillong peak has mesmerizing scenic beauty and is a popular tourist destination. The combination of zoo, Deer Park and stretch of best bred of beautiful roses in The Lady Hydri Park is another attraction for tourists. The golf course of Shillong has 18 holes and is one of the best in the world and a delight for all the golf lovers. Other attractions include Wards lake, the man made lake of Shillong , water falls like Elephant fall,sweet fall etc. Shillong has many museums as well.

50km away from Shillong, Cheerapinjee receives the maximum rain fall and is called the wettest city in world. Nohsngithiang Falls in Cheerapunjee is center of tourist attraction and very beautiful water fall. A beautiful natural Double Decker living root bridge is one of the most amazing attractions of cheerapunjee. Then we have the Eco Park where many orchids are grown in green house and the Nokrek National Park, one of the famous national park having wild Elephant, Pythons, Hollock and Leopard Cat.

Located at an elevation of 1409 meters Nongstoin is headquarter of West Khasi Hills. Few of the main attractions here are the Nongkhnum Island which is also the second largest island in Asia. Then we have a very unique gift of nature, Embroidery Stone, which is a natural stone formation that has an embroidered design on it. Langshiang falls and Weinia falls are also popular tourist places.

Meghalaya has many impressive caves to explore like Krem Mawmluh, Krem Dam, Krem Lymput, Mawsmai Cave and Krem Mawjymbuin. Being in hills trekking is one of the adventurous activities along with golf, archery, boating, yachting, and river canyoning.

Its interesting to know that every tribe in Meghalaya has its own distinct taste and cuisine. The famous dishes of Khasis and Jaintias Jadoh, Ki Kpu, Tung-rymbai but there staple food is rice, spicy meat and fish where as the Garos have minil songa(sticky rice prepared by steaming), sakkin gata. Meghalaya brews rice beer which is served to everyone in any kind of celebration.

Meghalaya is an all time tourist attraction even in Monsoon you would find many people going there to enjoy the fresh beauty of the state but as suggested the best time to visit here is from March to July.