Cherrapunji is now my favorite place. Fog, drizzles, clouds and way too many waterfalls.
As I said in the
earlier post on Shillong, we visited many places on the way to Cherrapunji.
You will know when you are in Cherrapunji. The weather gets quite cold. You can't see anything on the foggy roads. Greenery. Waterfalls all the way. Clouds at and below your level. Houses on top of hills or in the middle of seemingly nowhere. It was b-e-a-utiful.
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| Cherrapunji |
Day 2.5: Arwah Caves, Nohkhalikai falls, Mawsmai Caves, 7 sister falls, Eco Park
Day 2.5 went something like this - Wow, this is the best place so far. Goes to next place - nope, this is even better. And next place - this is the best-est. And so on at every place.
Arwah Caves:
Our first stop was Arwah Caves. We just walked through
fog not knowing where the entrance was - there was a
small bridge which we crossed and then we could see the ticket counter.
Below you can see my husband trying to pull off the Main Hoon Na out-of-fog scene(wearing my handbag).
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| Arwah entrance |
Arwah had this beautiful long
path to walk to the caves. There was another path which was a
rugged one. You can listen to the
sounds made by insects all through the way. We
could also hear a
waterfall sound but we couldn't see because of fog.
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| Path to the Arwah Caves |
After walking for a while, you will come across a spot where you can see the view(again we couldn't because of the fog) - here there was a swing and couple of benches to sit.
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| Arwah View |
Once you reach the cave entrance, you need to take steps to descend. From this point, it's mostly
dark even with the occasional lights.
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| Arwah Cave Entrance |
You would need to stoop low and walk at some spots and squeeze in through narrow spaces.
This cave has lot of
fossils.
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| Fossils and Deposits |
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| Arwah Caves |
Entry fee: 20 per person + 50 for camera.
Nohkalikai waterfalls:
Tallest waterfalls in India fed by rainwater- 340 metres height.
This was beyond beautiful. When we reached there, I was just looking at the
clouds below me with awe. When I turned my head and noticed the waterfalls, it looked as if it's heaven. My eyes and brain couldn't process so much suddenly.
It's a mesmerizing view that reminds you of many movies - Bahubali for example.
We were lucky to arrive just before the clouds blocked the waterfalls view.
You can find some
shopping stalls also here - souvenirs and spices.
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| Nohkalikai Waterfalls |
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| Close up of Nohkalikai Waterfalls |
Mawsmai Caves:
Entry fee: 20 per person and 20 for camera.
This was the second caves we were visiting. This had that odd smell of a place that hasn't seen light in ages. Also there's water all around - which I think was dark :-| at some places. It was weird all around - like ugly weird. It will remind you of bats - bat cave. This is no Awrah. It's a little bit difficult. You gotta climb, walk through water, squeeze in through crazy narrowest places. We left our footwear outside like everyone else and that was a good decision. At some points, I felt claustrophobic when I was in narrow tunnels. I was scared that I can't breathe in such spaces, but it turned out okay.
There's one more cave, which is for professional cave climbers only.
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| Mawsmai Caves |
Seven sister waterfalls:
Our driver dropped us at hotel instead of taking us to 7 sister falls. I protested and he looked at me as if I was crazy. He pointed to the other side of the road. Our hotel was in front of 7 sister falls and had a stream running in the back - which you could hear all the time. We roamed around and saw the falls - not as magnanimous as the Nohkalikai but still beautiful with seven waterfalls lined up one after the other. Our driver wasn't impressed though and told us it's way more beautiful when there's rainfall and more water.
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| Seven sister waterfalls |
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| Stream view in front of the hotel room |
Eco Park:
As it was still early in the evening, we were taken to Eco Park where you get to be on top of 7 sister falls. It's a very vast area with some paths not walked since so many days. We could see the waterfall edge(top) and it seems like the edge of the world. There was also Missing Waterfalls - which just plunged in the middle of the ground.
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| Top Edge of waterfalls |
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| Eco Park |
Tips:
- Floaters are best for caves as there's water inside.
- You would need your phone flash light.
- Wear comfortable clothes.
~
PS: I will write more about hotel and other Cherrapunji exclusive stuff in next post.
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