My family and I were in Sohra (erstwhile Cherrapunji) as part of a 5-day family trip to the north-eastern state of Meghalaya in India. This post is about the interesting sights around Sohra.

There are many attractions to be seen in and around Sohra, especially the number of waterfalls that you can visit. But I will only cover the ones that we managed to visit. And I think we had chosen well 😀 . So read on.

Umshiang Double Decker Living Root Bridge

This is definitely the most famous one. It was one of the main sights that we wanted to visit. Here is a picture I took of the bridge itself:

This should be on everyone’s list if even one is not reasonably fit. The picture itself does not do justice to the experience of getting to it. We had completed an unforgettable hike to it the previous day. You can read all about it here.

Seven Sister Waterfalls

Also known as Nohsngithiang Falls, it gets its name as the waterfall has seven segments. It is considered as the fourth highest waterfall in India. This waterfall is one of the most famous ones and is on the itinerary of almost all tourists. It is definitely worth watching, especially after the rains. It is also easy to access as one can drive all the way to viewing point. If you are visiting it near or in the rainy season, then there is a high chance of the falls obscured by mist. But then since it is a rain fed waterfall, it will be flowing with all its might in the rainy season.

Well, we were visiting at the end of rainy season. So when we reached it in the morning; it was covered by the mist. We were initially disappointed. However, we decided to wait there for some time, exploring the area near the viewpoint. Ten minutes into the wait and I hear my wife shouting “Come quickly, it is clearing”. And lo and behold, the mist separated for around 5 minutes to reveal just the waterfalls. Here is a picture I managed to click during this period.

Soon the mist rolled back in and once again obscured the view. Look at the video included towards the end of this post, to see the mist rolling back in to cover the waterfalls. We had indeed been lucky 🙂 .

Nohkalikai Falls

Another very popular waterfall that is visited by most tourists. Again easy access to the viewpoint of the waterfall is a big plus. There is a folklore on how it got its name. To read about it, click here. Another plus is that you will drive through some beautiful landscape before reaching it.

It is considered the highest plunge waterfall in India and 4th highest in the world. So definitely not to be missed. Again this is a rain fed waterfall. So visiting it in the rains will allow one to see it in full glory. But there is risk of it being covered by mist. We had visited towards end of the monsoon. So it was entirely covered by mist when we visited it. Again based on our experience at Seven Sisters Falls, we decided to wait. Once more, mother earth favoured us; 15-20 minutes into the wait, the mist clear around the waterfall for a very short period. Here is a picture of it I quickly managed to take.

And just as quickly as it appeared, it also disappeared.

Watch the video at the end of this post for some good views of it.

There is also a heritage hut in the local style that one can visit enroute. Here is a picture of it:

Mawsmai Caves

Meghalaya probably has the largest number of caves in India. Of the ten longest caves in India, nine are found in Meghalaya. So trying to experience one when visiting Meghalaya is certainly one to be encouraged. There are several options that are around Cherrapunji; Arwah, Krem Mawmluh and Mawsmai. Each of these are of different difficulty. Mawsmai Caves is the most “developed”; easy to reach and most tourist friendly.

We chose to visit Mawsmai Caves since it was close to Seven Sisters Falls; we were short on time in the day. Once the visitor fee is paid, one has to climb some steps to reach the cave entrance.

As we walked into the cave, we could see that we would have to wade through water. We decided to not go further into the cave as we had not mentally prepared for it. Moreover we did not want to try anything physically demanding as we had just done the hike to the Double Decker Living Root Bridge the previous day. So our muscles were sore. We also felt it was not going to be too different an experience from what we had experienced when visiting Belum Caves down in South India. Here are some pictures of the formations that we saw near the entrance:

Some general advice if you do decide to visits any of caves; please be prepared to bend in many places. There can be some water that one may have to wade through. Also anyone with claustrophobia is advised to rethink before visiting.

Garden of Caves

The Garden of Caves, also known as Ka Bri Ki Synrang by the locals, is situated near the Laitmawsiang village. This is serene place providing plenty of small waterfalls and good amount nature all around. It also offers several natural formations that are in different shapes. Sadly we reached there only towards dusk. So we could not spend as much time as we would have liked. However we did get to see some of the main attractions. Here are some pictures that we took from our visit.

  • Baby in Womb
  • Heart Shaped

Try and spend more time here to explore it patiently and in more details. We could not though owing to paucity of time and light.

Mawkdok Dympep Valley

This valley offers fantastic views; with clouds and without clouds. It is definitely not to be missed. We fell in love with it. Again the viewpoints are easibly accessible from the main highway. You can read more about it in my other post here.

Other Waterfalls

There are a couple of other waterfalls that were on our list of places of interest; Dainthlen Falls and Kynerm Falls. However owing to lack of time, we could not visit them. You might want to try them out also if you have time.

Video

Here is a short video that I put together of the places we visited. Definitely watch it.

My next post is on travel to and around Mawlynnong, the village that had been awarded as the cleanest village in Asia by a magazine. You can read about it here.