TRIP REFLECTIONS

Meghalaya Diary

In Zalak Nanda's words

Day 1

• Today’s day was full of travelling!
• We reached our resort in the evening.
• We had a lot of fun while travelling but were also tired. We were allotted our rooms, and we all quickly went to freshen up.
• After that, we had a free play, where in some played cards; some listened to games while some played stop and party. Everyone was with their own group.
• After a while, we were bored, and we could not do anything to pass the time.
• Thus, after dinner, everyone played for a while, and then we discussed tomorrow’s plans and went to our rooms to sleep.
• This was a great beginning to a wonderful trip.

 
Day 2

• Today’s day began with a beautiful morning, tasty food and a lot of photographs! I loved the view of the nature on my way to the locations. We first went to the Umium lake, which was so beautiful, the fog and mountains added to its beauty.
• After that, again with a lot of travel to do, songs in the bus, card games and inexpressible views, we went to the Shillong peak. We could see fog all around us; we ate Pakoda’s, which I did not really enjoy. We also went to the Elephant falls; they were a treat to visit. Not to forget, we had all the fun that we could possibly have. From talking, to sarcasm even while climbing up and down, visiting the shops nearby, though only “window shopping”, we found out that things were handmade, yet very costly. The markets were very clean compared to markets at Jamnagar. There was no noise, no pollution, and no garbage around.
• There was a lot of traffic while travelling, but I did not really mind that, as we got more time to play, listen to songs and enjoy in the bus.
• We also learnt why the elephant falls were named so, and that they were not named the same earlier.
• After visiting three different locations, we went for lunch! We were happy enough to get Chinese food. We loved the noodles, but everyone did not feel the same about them. Some were so hungry that they wanted to eat Punjabi as a “second lunch”.
• After lunch, we visited the tea garden which was gorgeous! We walked, and explored it! Clicked a bunch of photos in the huts. After this we were done with the visits for the day. Then, we proceeded to our hotel in our buses, facing the traffic again, but this time, as we were tired, we kind of minded the traffic.
• After reaching the hotel, it was drizzling. We still could not make up with the fact that it becomes as dark as night at just 5 o clock in the evening, which of course makes me feel sleepy.
• There were many people selling fruits, there were football fields, and the army security was tight! I loved the cherry blossom trees the most! The nature and the landscapes were the best part of the day! But to be honest, I did feel left out at times, for some reasons.
• The evening was good with the housie game and we were made to sleep early as we had to be ready at 6 o clock.
• This added to another wonderful day of our trip.

Day 3

• Today’s morning was another beautiful morning in Meghalaya. We had to wake up at 4 30 am to be able to get ready by 6 o clock. Our day certainly began by breakfast, and then travelling which was equally as fun as all the other times.
• We loved the experience of zip lining! This was not just as The other zip line we had done earlier. It was huge; I was really excited to experience that; we went for it! I was the third one to do all the four zip lines.
• We visited 2 different waterfalls, and each was mesmerizing to the eye!
• We got to know that Cherrapunji is called Sohra locally. We learnt many different things on a personal as well as a general level.
• We at last, visited the Arwah caves. We had two different ways to the cave, one was a trek and other was a pleasant path. I went by the pleasant path, enjoying the scenery. The clouds were surrounding us, and the whole forest was white, full of clouds. We could not see anything that was down. We could hear the sound of the waterfalls but could not see them. We clicked photographs at different places, went to the caves, with our torches on. In the small caves, we had to bend down to our waists and walk our way out. We failed and tried thrice and at last came out fully tired.
• This ended our day, and we started our long journey to our hotel.
• The best part of the day was the Maggi that was served to us after the zip line. Also, we found quite many Gujarati people there. I especially loved how sweetly the local people talk to us.
• The best part of the day was the zip line undoubtedly.
• We ended our day with dinner, some free play, and talks in our room. We were made to sleep pretty early as we had to wake up early the next day.

 
Day 4

• Another mesmerizing day at Meghalaya. We woke up at 4:30 am as we were planning to leave for Dawki at 7 am.
• We had a delicious breakfast, especially the fresh juices they provide.
• We knew our journey was going to be long, so we were ready for all the fun that we would have while travelling. We saw another set of waterfalls, trees and some cute animals. We stopped and clicked photographs at the India-Bangladesh border. Then, we proceeded for our boating activity.
• The river was really clean and crystal clear. Its beauty is indescribable. We clicked photographs, went in the water, made fun of each other’s boats. So far, the day was lovely.
• Then came the not so good part, the lunch. We were not really satisfied with its taste, but we are taught to adjust to our surroundings, so we ate it however. We then went to the living root bridge.
• The way to the bridge was certainly tiring, but seeing the bridge was worth it. We all had easily gone down the stairs, but when it came to climb them up, all of us were exhausted. My leg had almost given up, but my friend Mann Purohit kept me boosted.
• After the bridge, we went to the Asia’s cleanest village, the Mawlynnong village. Everything was so clean there. There was no garbage, and no pollution. It was full of greenery, fresh air, beautiful houses & cute kids & kittens roaming around. We all felt as if we were somewhere abroad! As we thought Indian villages cannot be as clean and as simple yet sweet as this one was.
• After going to this last location, we were done for the day, and we began our journey back to the hotel.
• This time, the journey was tiring, it was dark so we couldn’t really play or dance. We had our songs to accompany us. We were all exhausted, sleepy & hungry. Finally, after more than 2.5 hrs of travelling, we reached our hotel. This indeed, was satisfaction.
• But getting tired is a part of a beautiful journey. All of it helps us make memories.
• Thus, it ended our second last day at this gorgeous place.

Day 5

• Yet another day at this beautiful “abode of clouds” began with the same positive vibes. We were relaxed as we had to leave pretty late today. We left the hotel at 9 o clock approximately. This time, the travel time didn’t seem just as long.
• We first went to the sacred forest, we got to know some interesting facts about the forests like; it gives Teenmukhi Rudraksh, it gives many medicinal plants and that it consists more than 450 species of flora & fauna. We also learnt that Khasi is a female dominated society. We were really excited to learn about the stories of the forest. We also saw huge football fields amidst the greenery.
• After that, we proceeded for lunch, besides the Don Bosco Museum, this time; we were having the local food. It turned out to be a great experience, and I liked the taste surprisingly. After this, we went into the museum; it was 7 floors of complete exploration. It told us everything about the north-east and its neighbours, from weapons, to clothes, to evolution, baskets, vessels etc... After soaking in all the knowledge, we ended our last and final day of knowing this place.
• We went to our hotel, and did our packing for the return journey, which was tomorrow.
• We are told to wake up really early tomorrow in order to be on time and catch our flight.
• We are also having the DJ night and Bonfire at the hotel today!
• This trip has taught me some lessons I plan to remember for my journey onward now.

 
Regards,
Zalak Nanda
Grade 10

In Khushi Paun's words

Day 2!

• I Woke up at 6:30 and ugh!! waited for almost an hour for taking a bath! Irritating but was fine later. So we visited 3 places today and honestly the place I loved the most was elephant falls, why? Because the atmosphere over there could make any person happy and the way you just climb down thinking you won’t really fall, it was the second place we visited though. The 2nd place that I was in love with was Shillong peak and to be honest how beautiful was it! Honestly the fog made it a better place because when we actually visited it, it wasn't really foggy but eventually it got foggy and beautiful though I couldn't see anything but it was chill and beautiful and especially from those little buildings that were there for a bigger view and a beautiful one! The last place that we visited was tea garden; it was fun and I did really like it and to be honest the first thing that I did was that I related it to the place where I live (Jamnagar of course) and I swear I had never seen something more green and beautiful. There was this place that we passed from but actually didn’t visit which was the place where Abdul Kalam died while giving a speech and honestly being on this trip I realized phone isn’t the only thing that can make me happy and it's my friends who make me happy while travelling with them, playing with them and spending time with them! So that's how my day went!

Day 3!

• The day when we had to wake up at 4:30 but it wasn't really a problem! So we headed out to a whole new different place which was Cherapunji also known as Sohra. There were 3 places that we visited today and to be honest zipline stole my heart! The height we were on was actually amazing plus the view was heart stealing. At first I thought I'd be really scared but eventually I understood that it was just in my head. The 2nd place that we went to was actually very pretty though it was all foggy there but it added beauty to nature.The last but not least were Arwah caves and to be honest I won't recommend it to anyone and found it as a waste of time. One of the best things were that after zipline we actually had maggi and yep it was just amazing and the day went well but too much traffic kind of made me sleepy and cranky reason being I was hungry. In short the day went well but one of the sight was kind of non-recommendable!

Day 4!

• Woke up at 4:30 again today! So we visited 4 places today and the first one was India Bangladesh friendship gate; it was very hot out there and in my opinion kind of boring because we did nothing except of clicking photos. After that we headed out to the show stealer of the day which was boating activity and the river was known as Dawky river which was crystal clear and I was shocked to see that people could take this much responsibility to make it this clean. It was actually the best thing for the day in my opinion and I absolutely enjoyed it. The next place that we visited was the living root bridge which was very pretty and peaceful and the little shops over there were adding to its look too and all we did was clicked photos and enjoyed ourselves. The last but not the least was the Mawlynnong village and I was surprised to see that people again could take so much care of that place and the best thing there was to click pictures and to play with cats as they were very friendly! The only thing I didn't like was lunch as I've had enough of “paneer” and it was repetitive! That's it and we're done but one of the best and breath-taking day of this trip.  

Day 5!

• Today's day was kind of the relief day we woke up at 6:30 and had breakfast. We went at 3 places today and to be honest the day was kind of interesting! I've never been into history but today we went to a museum called the Don Bosco museum; and I found it interesting to look at such amazing arts from north side of India. Then we went to a place which was actually 2 in 1; which means those 2 places that we visited were all together. It was the sacred forest in which we trekked and I was shocked to know facts about spirits and that village like that and the greenery was beautiful. The place was actually with a lot of history about the villagers and their rituals and those villagers were from the village called the Mawphlong village. The day was pretty interesting and I liked it except the lunch as it was kind of out of my taste and spicy.

Regards,
​Khushi Paun
​Grade 10

In Devarshi Faliya's words

17/11/19
It was a long day. I enjoyed and had fun. The best part of the day was getting to play. The worst part of the day was travelling. I hope tomorrow’s day will be better than today. I even learnt things like the weather and atmospheric difference between Gujarat and Meghalaya.

18/11/19
Today was a great day. It was a day full of fun and knowledge. We visited the elephant falls, Shillong falls and a tea farm. The worst part for today was getting stuck in the traffic. The best part for today was to hear songs for at least 3 hours. As the day passed, it got boring. The day could have been better if the day lasted at least till 6:00. The market was small and crowded. The food which we had at the shilling falls was better than the lunch we had. I hope tomorrow we visit a different place for lunch. The elephant falls was the place where I felt alone. The tea farm was good but I don’t think it was a point going there. At the Shillong peak I loved when the clouds came towards us and we were in the clouds. There were many sports grounds on the way.

19/11/19
Today was a day of travelling and fun. We visited waterfalls, a cave and we did zipline. The zipline activity was the best part of the day. We went through 4 ziplines and the last 2 were the best ziplines as they were long compared to the previous ones. The worst part of the day was travelling. It was my 1st time in Cherrapunji and it was a great experience. The lunch wasn't good enough but the snacks and tea which we had after returning were the best. To conclude it was a long day and the clouds made it even better.

20/11/2019
Today was a day full of walks and great views. We visited Mawlynnong village, we did boat ride and we visited the living root bridge. The best part of the day was the boat ride. The worst part of the day was that we had to wake up early and Aliqyaan didn’t let me sleep till late in the night. I even loved the day because I got to change my bus I loved the day but the food we had could be better. After having lunch we had soft drinks and that was icing on the cake for the upcoming events. We even visited the India-Bangladesh border. The border was small and we even went to the other side. We clicked pictures and the BSF, they were kind enough to let us step on Bangladesh and click pictures. It was the best part of the day. We visited Jaintia hills. The food was not so good. I dont want PANEER tomorrow. In a nutshell it was a wonderful day.

21/11/2019
Today was the best day as we got to wake up late. The breakfast was good. We visited the sacred forest, Don Bosco museum and did trekking in the Sacred Forest. The sacred forest was great and we got to know much about it. Then we demanded to play football but we weren't allowed to. That was the worst part of the day. Then we had our lunch. The lunch included the local food of Meghalaya which was great. The rice and the potato chips made a great combination together. The Don Bosco museum was boring and it could have been better if we didn't visit it. We came back to the resort nearly at 6 and then we had disco night. It was a great experience. The day ended well with the bon fire and the disco night.

Regards,
Devarshi Faliya
Grade 8