My trip to North East India, an unexplored gem and a hidden beauty

Northeast trip 11 March 2022–22 March 2022

I got into the impression that the number of days should be sufficient but since now I have been
travelling for so long that this time was too long. This trip was divided into 2 trips- with Nagaland and Manipur during the
first half and Meghalaya in second half, and Assam of course in between. So in total I covered 4 states in 11 days, natural
beauty is unparallel, I absolutely loved it. Still there hasn’t been that kind of connectivity due to relatively separated
by the chicken neck, Siliguri corridor with the rest of India but Guwahati is now a large metropolitan by all means. I boarded
the flight reaching directly to Guwahati and received my very good friend , one of my roommate in Guwahati. He received me with
a very warm welcome and I am very much obliged for it. After reaching his home, which was a BSNL quarter, and 2–3 hours of rest,
we went to Railway station for Guwahati to Dimapur. Dimapur was the gateway to Nagaland, and train reached there at sharp 7 AM,
from Dimapur our plan was to visit Dzukou valley which act as boundary between Nagaland and Manipur.
For reaching Dzukou, first we have to reach Kohima and from Kohima, to Viswema village and trek would start from there.
All it took 5–6 hours to arrange everything to reach Viswema, firstly taxi operator started late and then from Kohima we took a
shared taxi for which we paid rent of 5 person for total of 2 persons. Then we started trek from Viswema which is not the
rightway, from Viswema the car/taxi takes you up for like 6 kms and from there the real trek starts climbing mountain
like stairs. We weren’t aware of it and hence eventually reached stairs by 4PM, we found a group of 10–11 men- workers, mason,
wiring , small shopkeepers and they accompanied us, eventually they said the trek is still way too long to be reached before
dusk emerges. We kept on walking but we were completely drained and exhausted , and I was repenting as if why we took this step
without knowing how the path would be like, it was but natural that we wouldn’t be able to catch up with the group so they went
forward carrying all the eateries and sleeping bags with them and what we got was clothes only. Once the stirs were up, we felt
the beauty of the trek. The valley with mountains on both sides and green grass cover was on it, I have never seen grass covers
like that, it was amazing, and a 2 foot trail, almost parallel was created going parallel to hills. I have been to J&K, Himachal
, Uttarakhand as well but this was truly out of the box thing, we kept on walking and it eventually kept on getting
darker and darker.
We didn’t knew when will the end come and then we kept on walking trails on Mobile torch! It was scary, forget about beauty, we
just saw a small light with a home far far away, and optimism continued.
“This should be the destination we are looking out for, I told my friend” , he also anticipated yes. We kept walking and walking
and walking and then we reached. Somehow we managed to reached the tip of Dzukou right from starting from Guwahati railway
station and me from Delhi! Chicken was served in abundance by the group we were accompanied by, but I being vegan has to content
with Rs 250 worst food ever. We realised, we aren’t going to take bath here, no use of bringing new clothes, eateries and
sleeping kits was what required here. Bonfire was lit and our legs getting warmth somehow managed not to be get cramped the
next day. This was for the first time, proper camping and proper trekking experience for me. We slept in dormitory with blankets
and mattress in charge for Rs 500 each.
The next day what I saw was magical! Truly breathtaking! I haven’t anticipated the way it could be like this, why the hell
Dzukou wasn’t famous shackled me. The reason was obvious, reaching here was not that kind of easy. But it was worth it, each
Indian once in a lifetime must visit here. It was a lush green valley with grasses and view, if romance and honeymoon should
have a name, it should be this, truly amazing. We clicked few pictures, went further ahead for the view and then we headed back.
This time because it was day time , we could feel the essence of path we were walking a day before in night, the reason for our
early exit was that food served wasn’t up to the mark and we were 2 people, so it didn’t made any sense staying for so long.
Eventually we came down, and reached Kohima, from here we went to “Kohima War Memorial”, it is shocking but Japanese(Japs) do
reached to Kohima during WWII and this memorial was created for them. It was worth watching , and right opposite to War cementery
we got dormitory worth Rs 700 each, there couldn’t have been a better price for us. Let me point out here only that North East
is expensive, everything here is al least 1.5 to 2 times to normal Indian prices. From War cementery, we also went to see
“Naga Heritage Village” which was like 14 kms from Kohima and Hornbill festival is organised in this village each year
in December.
Next day we planned to visit Khonoma village and Dzuleke valley. Frankly speaking, roads weren’t that good and Dzuleke was just a
village again suited for camping and trekking (heaven for Darubaaz group). It was an open ground type area surrounded
by mountains, firstly we weren’t sure what is to be done here but eventually we found that there is a forest trail as well.so we
went for forest trail and this was again a unique experience. But we didn’t go too far because it was forest , and we weren’t
sure what we will find out eventually. After that we visited Khonoma village which was again good for picturestique views of
terrace farming. It was again preserved by GoI for its local chief contributions for resistence againt the britishers. It was
good but not the way Dzukou was.
We had one reserve day, what we originally planned to be covered in 4 days was done only in 3 days. So we had a reserve day, I
requested my friend to visit Imphal but he wasn’t sure to take risk of fear of not reaching to office the next day. From here
our ways parted and now I was solo traveller. Luckily I just found the bus to Imphal from Kohima and the views, well again the
journey was good. Northeast has this concept of hills, nor too high mountains and not all level plains but everything in the
middle. In Imphal I saw Kangla Palace, it was rich in Manipuri history, and then Hiyanthang Lairembi temple and war memorial,
all in 4 hours. And then I headed back to Dimapur because we had late night ticket booked for Guwahati. I was way too optimistic
I would make it but it didn’t mattered to me as I was on full week leave now. I could have stayed and saw Loktak lake but I
found a small shared 13 seater that could take me to Dimapur. I planned to reach by 11 and guess what, reached there at 2 AM.
Fate has it all my way because I knew there will be 2 trains, one was Rajdhani Express running from Agartala I guess to Delhi
at 2:10 AM in Dimapur and following was Kamrup express. I talked to TT and handed him Rs 500 and he gave me a great sleeper
for 6 hour journey to Guwahati. I reached Guwahati in the morning of 7:30 AM , if my friend could have joined we would have
made back on time. I was able to see Manipur and BJP support there was tremendous, Imphal was relatively plain area and much
more advance than rest of Northeast, so I guess it is second most important town after Guwahati in Northeast.
I took to the famous Kamakhya temple right from the railway station and after that reached back my friend quarter. The next 2
days I worked from there, which wasn’t a good idea. Never ever plan the trip like this, Its hard to get the grip going.
So this was the end of part one of my Northeast trip. Few points I would like to highlight here are:
1. Northeast girls are way too much more fashionable than anticipated. I don’t know whether it was in their genes or what but
none of them I found obese even they eat so much rice and meat, their fashion sense is amazing and underrated, I loved Naga girls
2. Men don’t have hair at all
3. Women lead a lot of shops here, unlike men, women are much more active here
4. In villages, I have talked to aunties of 45–60 years old which are more tha fluent in English, in terms of hindi,
northeast is forward than South India, I have also seen tiny kids speaking and understanding well versed English, this was a
cultural shock.
The next day I went to Pobitora Wildlife sanctuary to see the rhinos. It was 40 kms long journey from Guwahati. THe reason I
chose Pobitora and not Kaziranga is one the average density of Rhinos in Pobitora is higher than in Kaziranga and secondly the
average distance of Pobitora was one fourth of Kaziranga. I saw the Rhinos, migratory birds, wild ass. Again Pobitora was
worth it.
So next day we planned to visit Meghalaya during the holi weekend, I booked an Activa 6G, very new in shape
for the visit. Here our plan was for 3 days to explore Shillong, Cheerapunji and Dawki. We started early but my friend couldn’t
drive his way through after 50 kms and fell apart, luckily he was ok after a few scratches. So I and he came back to our homes
and he said it is impossible for him to go any forward, so at 12 in noon , I again dove back to Shillong and reached there by
14:30. The first day I planned to visit local Shillong. Firstly I encountered the beautiful Umiam lake 17 kms before the main
city. Spent some time there, we could boat there as well but preferred not to because of time constraint. And then I visited Shillong
peak, elephant falls and then Ward’s lake in succession. The challenge was to find a hotel and accommodation, and on reaching
Police Bazaar, I was able to find worth sleeping lounge for 500 bucks, mind you this deal was good, I often try to visit on
shoestring budgets, if you don’t have the girls with you, there’s no need of fancy showoff, you always thrive for good food and
good sleep.
The next day I started early, and drove the way to Sohra (Cheerapunji). The natural scenes are awesone and roads are relatively
safer. Started the day off with Mawphlang sacred forest. And then in the path reached, Mawkdok Dynpep view, it was relatively
an unexplored waterfall with a awesome view. Then went to Wah Kaba falls, where I found a group of 4 from Bangalore that’s it.
It was again a good natural waterfall, one thing I would say is if preferable, do visit here in monsoons because then the
waterfalls become live and active. The Nohkalikai falls weren’t far away so got there then, this is probably the second or the
third highest waterfall in India, Nohkalikai was good and must visit.
Then went to caves close to famous Orange restaurant as well, so caving experience was also added in the trip ;) This was like
the natural adventourous exploring kind of trip, northeast is worth I can say. After this I went to see the wonder exclusive
indigenous to this area — the double decker living root bridges! This was a kind of highlight. The local people here bind the
roots with the grand trunk so that the roots coil themselves up and after like a few years this becomes strong. Following This
I had the time and privilege to visit Mawsmei caves, this is a must visit cave I can guarantee that.
I had the plan to visit Dawki but then here would have reached in eveninf then again finding a stay would have been tough, so
I headed back to the Shillong, I saw the air force museum in between. The valor to our courageous soldiers is extraordinary
and a big salute to them. Stayed overnight in Shillong
Then the next day started for Dawki but planned to visit here via Phe Phe falls and Krangsuri waterfalls, so the route
automatically became long but again I would like to say that this was again a hidden marvel, a gem unexplored. Phe Phe waterfalls
was undoubtedly the best find of all waterfalls in this visit together. We have to walk on foot for 10–15 minutes but this was
totally worth it. Krangsure followed, it was also ok but not in comparison to Phe Phe. After this I went to infamous Dawki
and the river water was so crystal clear, exactly according to the name it was. Enjoyed a boat ride to the imfamous Dawki And
saw bangaladeshi border in between as well. Dawki is a must to do place.
And form here I headed back direct to Guwahati and boarded my flight back to Delhi via Kolkata. I missed Mawlynngnong village
and Laitlum canyons but do visit these as well id the time permits. Taking local vehicle was again the turning point and this
is the best way to visit Cheerapunji.
North east was relatively unexplored, it surprised me a lot of times and this experience was truly worth remembering and to
check out for. Do visit here one and you will feel it! Khublei