Mesmerizing Meghalaya… where I left my heart at!

“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller” – Ibn Battuta, Maghrebi explorer.

Just like the quote, I must say I have the same experience to share when I think of my recent trip to the mesmerizing Meghalaya, a North-east state in India. The 5 days/6 nights journey in Meghalaya surrounded by beautiful nature, amazing people, tons of stories that unfolded – all of which formed a wonderful array of memories for me and has left me speechless, in a way that it feels like I have left my heart there.

Every trip planning for me starts with – ‘Should I do this?’ or ‘Should I not?’ kind of dilemma. For me travelling must be one level up each year. If I tried a small getaway last year, this year I wanted to do big and that is how I found this trip package that my close friend suggested (and jumped along as well) to be exciting and adventurous and one level up for me for the location, for the itinerary and for the fun. After much thought and discussion with my friend and my elder brother who said, ‘it is a beautiful place, you should go for it’, I gave in to what turned out to be one of the best affirmative decisions of my life.

Choosing this trip came at ease for me as I chose one of the leading travel communities of India – Wanderon. An amazing travel community I must say that gave their best to organizing the trip with good itinerary, good accommodations, good vendor partners – all of which focussed on customer care and satisfaction ensuring that each traveller returned to their homes with suitcase full of memories (just like their itinerary mentions for the last day). Right from ensuring smooth bookings to the travellers reaching the required locations, to having a very helpful tour captain to guide the tour to providing good accommodations (hotels/resorts/camps) to choosing the right destinations each day that gave us wonderful exposure and at the same time allowed us to enjoy every bit of Meghalaya.

I am thrilled to share this entire beautiful experience of the journey in special ways that have stolen my heart for good –

Charming Scenic beauty of nature – I lost my heart to Meghalaya’s beautiful sceneries comprising of

• High end mountains touching the skies and standing with pride in the rains that played hide and seek every time.
• Dense landscapes (Laitlum Canyons) filled with greenery and clouds floating beautifully like it is in the heavens. One could feel the cool fog kiss your face and instantly cheer you up.
• The Z shaped lanes between Guwahati and Meghalaya that made us swing along happily through the journey with full of enthusiasm and awe.
• The root bridges (single root and double root bridges), they are known to be the only living root bridges in the entire world, hand woven and still strong from centuries. The path leading to these root bridges tested our strength and endurance and made me realize that the beauty definitely lies deep at heart.
• The lakes and rivers (Umiam lake and Dawky river) that are longitudinal in nature where captivating leaving us eye candied as we felt welcomed with open arms and love.
• The deep end Mawsmai caves gave us a good flexibility workout session with the tiny openings, sharp edges of magnesium popping out, caves creeping abruptly and then leading us to an opening whose light filled our soul.
• The beautiful white fascinating waterfalls like the Seven sisters, Nohkalikai Waterfalls, Lyngkshiar waterfalls were each magnificent having a story of their own. There was a different peace to watch these waterfalls from a distance, as if they were hinting on how being selfless and letting go is a sign of standing strong in your own majestic ways.
• Mawlynnong village, which is Asia’s cleanest village by Discovery magazine since 2003 was very welcoming with curvy lanes, filled with cute cottage homes, long trees, happy children galloping around and shops that sold the cultural souvenirs of Meghalaya.
• Shnongpdeng camp site by the beautiful Dawky river gave us a raw feel to the camp adventure that we enjoyed with the vast sky view.

‘Out of the ordinary’ culture – Culture plays a very important role in shaping the personality and attitude of a human being. Compared to other parts of India, Meghalaya boasted of a different culture where women rule. Women earn for their families while men handle home in majority cases. I am a strong believer of women power where I believe a woman can do just anything – so many examples of pilots, mountaineers, marathon runners, those juggling home and work etc – these are not easy jobs. There is never a holiday for women, when we see our mothers in that place.

Another funny yet strong aspect of marriage I found amusing but amazing was the fact that when a woman is married off, she brings the man home, versus the culture in India where the guy brings the girl home after marriage. I found this interesting in a way that it depicted a sign of true women strength. For someone, who has seen and undergone the pains of a patriarchal society, this type of culture broadened my mindset for good.

On one of the days, I passed by a 6-year-old girl using the hammer with ease to break the small pebbles within a cone making them in powder form and filling up the sack. She did it with full power,without fretting or getting tired. Hats off! I found myself proud seeing her in terms of the strength she displayed but at the same time I realized how we take our lives for granted where we have everything, and we still fret on focusing on the things we do not have.

The hilly areas are homes to thousands and people prefer to walk up and down if they must fetch anything, go to work/schools – an amazing way to stay fit I feel. Totally loved it.

Bonds/connections of a lifetime – My heart is full as I made friends and acquaintances with the wonderful kind hearted group of 21 people who travelled with me on this journey – each one was unique and different in their own ways – coming from different backgrounds, different stories of struggles, successful in their own ways, chasing different goals in life etc. We bonded over food, music, laughter, jokes, common interests, life stories, current affair topics, photos, medicines (this one was too detailed) etc. Some of the heart felt conversations, interactions, and fun times stuck to me for good.

The vibrant personalities I came across taught me lessons that I will remember and follow for life –

• A 24-year-old girl Scuba diving expert, Carnatic singer and a passionate architect with beautiful stories of her travel journeys.
• A 31-year-old guy whose inspiring life and struggles felt like were a mirror of my own but came across strong and selfless with great respect for women.
• A 33-year-old tough on the outside, soft at heart girl with stories of her fun banters and mischiefs during her college and earlier trips that kept her lively throughout.
• Our 29-year-old captain with a passion for travelling and adventure sports, caring and helpful at heart with his life struggle stories that have put him on a different pedestal.
• A 23-year-old guy still figuring out his corporate life goal and partnering goals with our experiences that we shared late nights chattering up and hilariously laughing out.
• My bestie who was in this trip with me came out victorious in the most difficult trek of the root bridge. Was very happy to see her make it with her strength and the captain’s motivation and help.
• Another traveller was a pro in striking conversations. I was surprised how easily she did it and i found her very understanding and she connected with each one instantly.

Travel is magical in its own ways that it connects people like destiny had planned it all and even after our trip ends and we leave, on the other side of our world, we feel those connections strong enough to cherish. Each one of them have touched my heart strings in small and big ways and would love to keep in touch with them for life.

Humanity, Faith and Trust – Unfortunately, on this beautiful trip I met with a mishap where I injured my right foot and big toe after I slipped between stones while trying to get out of the waterfalls. The pain was unbearable and this happened at the root bridge, whose pathways to reach there and return where the thousands of steps that I had to cross to return. At the same time, I had dehydration and because of fear of pain and water I began to feel restless, breathless, and giddy at the same time. It was a tough time for me , I remember the incident a bit vague but the people who were around became heroes for me – right from the captain who supported me throughout with his guidance, talks, care and concern to each one around me being my walking stick holding my hand, lending a shoulder so I could walk slowly, putting less weight on my injured foot and not causing more pain. I was given glucose, watered on my head so I do not faint. The place was so humid, the steps steep, the way back so difficult that at one point the captain instructed I take the stretcher. I was afraid but I had to oblige as it was not easy to take me back to the base. I had another friend who stayed with my stretcher ensuring I was taken up safely but the speed was crazy that to match it he turned breathless. I was taken to the medical centre, medications provided – I was still shivering. What followed were a few more days of pain and limping and fear that built in my head unnecessarily.

This incident brought to me the best of humanitarian values I saw among every traveller with me, including the driver and helper. Each one whom I’d known only for a few days, with no deep connections but each one helped me with everything and very respectfully – they cheered me up, took me to the washroom around 2.30 am odd time, ensured I ate proper, took rest, got good sleep, didn’t miss the medicines, kept myself hydrated, sat comfortably in the van with my leg having right support, stepped down my injured leg carefully, ensured I did not walk and strain unnecessarily – just everything. At once I did feel I was being a burden to all of them and that irritation sucks. I had some FOMOs of my own of missing some fun activities, but their concern and my safety took priority, and I am grateful for it.

Some conversations around this tough time for me were pathways of wisdom – I learnt the values of faith in the Almighty, Trust on self and your relationships, the care and love of each person, giving the fear in my head less power, being head strong during this time, focussing on the good and your passions and especially the power of my surname (Abdulla – Prophet (SAW)’s father who was a warrior). These learnings were so precious that these will stay with me forever.

Meghalaya as a place is immensely mesmerizing and just the way it has beauty in the mountains, roads, waterfalls and caves – it added its own charm and beauty in my experiences of the travel comprising of companions, routes, food, bonding and incidences.

The whole trip summed up beautifully for me with eternal experiences, connections worth a lifetime, lessons that will help me throughout life’s situations and bonds that tucked my heartstrings elegantly.

I lost my heart through this journey in mesmerizing Meghalaya but discovered new gems for life – the travel, the companions and the experiences 😊.