It was a three hour drive from here. The weather was getting worse. Now it was raining heavily. We were chatting and joking in the vehicle. Mrs. Waghvare and Mayuri were entertaining us with there pleasant vocal chords. The beauty of the nature around us was simply breath taking. There were huge pastures of land and small villages along the width of the road. Then as we proceeded we were among the mountains. There were tall mountains and valleys around us. Nature was at its best. Many stone quarries were along the sides of the road. Mica was abundant in these mountains. Many rivers flowed alongside us. The fog in here was a hindrance in our way. It reduced the visibility to great extents. Sun was playing hide and seek. When sun came out of the clouds we climbed out of the vehicle and took some pictures and continued with the journey. So it was all hunky dory.
Our first point to visit in Cheerapunji was Noakhlakai falls. These are the forth tallest waterfall in the world. The story goes that a widowed lady remarried. She had a daughter from her first wedlock and she loved her very much. But her new husband was jealous of this daughter. So he killed her and cooked her flesh when this lady was not at home. When she returned she didn’t find her daughter at home so she searched everywhere. Later on she found the fingers of her daughter in kitchen. She felt guilty about leaving her daughter alone at house. So she committed suicide by jumping off this waterfall.
The waterfalls are absolutely wonderful. The water falling from the cliff into the small lake at the bottom was just amazing. After spending some time here doing some shopping for spices we moved on.
Our next stop was Mawsmai caves. These caves are an adventurers dream. There is a feeling of mystery in them. The carvings formed by the hand of nature are intriguing and have a beauty of there own. At first one of our groups went there to check if they are worth seeing. But they didn’t seem as fascinating as we expected them to be. It was mainly due to huge crowds creating chaos there. The water dripping from the rocks above made it all the worse. People playing around in that stagnant water only made the situation worse. Due to it the water awfully smelled. Unable to bear this we just took a few snaps and got out. But still our inquisitive self was not sufficed. So we went to the other end of the caves- the place from where we got out- the exit of the cave. And started our journey back inside from the opposite end. It was nice and now we could feel its real untouched beauty. After spending some quality time here we headed back to Shillong.
The rain had lessened. Nature in its complete glory could be witnessed now. Skies were clear. Perfect for photography and sight seeing. Our winger had got wings and gliding on the roads. We were traveling among the hills witnessing the beauty of nature. Just when we were nearing Shillong we saw an air force museum. Having plenty of time in our kitty we decided to have a look.
We enquired the gate. They let us in easily and soon we met a guy who used to be in Thane! After chatting with him for some time we entered the museum. At the entrance there was huge rocket launcher ready to take down its target. On the left hand side there was a life size chopper. Once we entered the museum there were portraits of all the aero planes and helicopters used by the air force through out its history. There was a model of unmanned plane which was used for target practice. There was a sense of glory and achievement about this place. We saw some photographs from archives about the signing of surrender documents by Lt Gen Niazi. The heroic deed of Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon brought tears to our eyes and also made us proud that our country produces such brave sons. Various awards and mementos won by the Eastern air command were show cased here. Uniforms of various ranks in air force were displayed here. Miniature models of airplanes being currently used were very nice. Some bombs used by the planes and also machine guns which are installed in planes were displayed here. After seeing this all we moved on to other side of the road. Here were two huge planes kept for display. We posed in front of it for some pictures. We could also see the cockpit and the various instruments he has at his disposal. By now the sun was on its way to the other side of the world. So we decided to proceed towards our hotel. A ride of 15 minutes took us to our destination.
After having soup we decided to visit the police bazaar. It was dark and night life was blooming on the streets. Various restaurants giving out the smell of their delicacies was alluring. After roaming around for sometime we went to a hotel called City Dhaba.
This was a very pretty hotel. It was huge and the ambience over here was mind blowing. Over here we met a waiter who had been a waiter in Andheri in Mumbai. The place was full by this time and we were munching on the delicacies being served. Once we were done with our dinner we called up our hotel and asked him to pick us up from here. By the time he came there was a power cut and it had started raining like crazy here. So we hoped in to our car and were soon in our soft beds.
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