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| Adventurous Shillong |
The
entire journey from Guwahati to Shillong was an exciting
experience. No
sooner the City border of Guwahati was crossed; nature suddenly seems to put
its best face. All along the road, a
sequence
of scenery continues to unfold in its true captivating
splendour, and viewing points are hoisted
to vintage heights.
On
the way to Shillong, we enjoyed a breakfast at a Dhaba, consisting of the
chhole bhature,
Aloo paratha and lip locking hot coffee. Shillong is only 100 km away from
Guwahati.Bus reached at 11.30AM and stopped at bus stand.
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| Breathtaking view from Guwahati to Shillong |
First Day in Shillong
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| Police Bazar-Shillong |
As
per our itinerary with excitement to experience some of the grandest waterfalls
and Lakes of the region. We stayed in Hotel Heritage in Police Bazaar, at a
distance of 250 meter from bus stop.After refreshing and lunch, we moved to
Ward’s lake on a shared taxi, which charged Rs 10.00 each. We realized that Maruti 800, Alto, Tata
Indica, and Hyundai i10/20 are a common mode of transport
Ward’s
Lake
Ward’s
lake a man made, at a distance of 1.6 Km from Police Bazar.Ward’s Lake is a
refreshing pool surrounded by beautiful gardens in the heart of the city.
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| Ward's Lake |
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| Ward,s Lake |
Boating
facilities are available in the lake. It has a wooden bridge at the middle. A
cafeteria is there to provide refreshment.A fountain dancing to the tunes of
song is also there.
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| Ward's Lake |
We
stayed there for about one hour.walked around this lake on the cobble-stone
path and admired the colorful floral beds in the garden, relaxed with a cup of
hot coffee with Potato chips from cafeteria in side lake complex and back to
hotel on foot for rest. It
is special to mention that whenever
one plans a trip to North East; one must keep in mind that the sun sets here
around two hours before the rest of the country.
Police Bazaar of
Shillong
First
day in Shillong ended with a stroll in police bazar and dinner in Madras
Café.Food was not good, but ambience OK.They needs to improve food quality.
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| Police Bazar-Shillong |
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| Police Bazar- Road side Food Lovers |
It
is a shopping heaven for girls as they can find indigenous ornaments and
apparel here, and experiment with different products of fashion. Police Bazar provides an excellent
opportunity for photography.
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| Police Bazar-Road Side Food Lovers -Paradise |
Second Day in
Shillong
The
next day as per itinerary with excitement to experience our road trip to
tourist attractions near around Shillong.From police bazar we hired two Alto
taxi for an adventurous trip @Rs 13oo/= per taxi.This was cheaper than innova
and scorpio.
The
Air Force Museum, located in 7th mile, upper Shillong.The museum is a part of
the Indian Air Force Eastern Command in Shillong. It displays the technologies
used by the IAF Eastern Command, their missiles and aircraft, portraits of air
chiefs, and defence photographs of the Indo-Pakistan and Indo-China war. Helicopters that were used in the ‘60s by
the Indian Air Force for the bombing of Eastern Pakistan are displayed outside
the museum.
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| Air Force Museum-Shillong |
A
section of the museum also displays the uniforms and badges of army personnel.
Information related to the posts of the IAF personnel, along with awards, ranks
and medals are also displayed in the galleries of the museum.The museum is an
excellent insight into the culture and history of the seven sisters’.
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| Air Force Museum-Shillong |
From Air Force Museum, we drove to Elephanta
Falls at a distance of 3.00KM through clean, green cantonment area.On way we
saw tea plantation gardens.This fall is very near to city, this caused it
always over crowded. The
taxi stopped at a parking lot surrounded by souvenir shops and small tea
hotels.
These
stalls were selling tea/coffee, buttered corn, momos boiled eggs/omelette and
souvenirs. Photographers were there to print out instant pictures of tourists
with options of wearing Khasi dresses and then posing for pictures.
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| Notice board--description of this Elephanta Fall name history |
The
Elephant Falls was very picturesque.As I reached the first fall,I found a
notice board that narrated: The original Khasi name of the falls was ‘Ka kshaid
lai pateng khohsiew’ (three steps water falls). Because of the fact that the
water falls in three steps.
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| A beautiful view of Elephanta Fall |
The bottom tier was the most impressive. In
silence, I was hearing the sloshing sound of the waterfall.The walking path
gently descended from the entrance. You have to ride down quite a steep
flight of steps.It’s a top down descent and climbing down 150 rather slippery
steps is not an easy task. The last and the third waterfall is
the tallest. Elephant Falls is characterized by clear water flowing over dark
jutting rocks with no particular forms.
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| The Final view of Elephant Waterfall at bottom-below about 175 feet from top |
Shillong
Top
Located
at a distance of 10 km from city we reached here after a 20 minutes drive from
Elephant Falls. Shillong Peak/Top is the highest point of Shillong and offers
panoramic views of the city, the waterfalls, the Himalayas, the lush green
surroundings as well as the Bangladesh plains.
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| A view from Shillong Top |
It
is situated inside air force base and features a radar station.Due to security
reasons, heavy checking is done at the gates.ID cards are must for
entery.Photography is not allowed till reach the point.Entry fee for tourist is
Rs. 30 per head.It is a treat to visitor’s eye and camera.
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| A Panoramic View from Shillong Top |
We climbed a flight of stairs to have a view of a wooded valley, cloud and mist.The wide horizon offered a panorama of crowning glory.Shillong was visible amidst Pine Oak, orchid and rocks.It was an incredible experience. I wish I could stand there for ages to witness the colour of nature’s wonder.
Lady
Hydari Park
In return journey from Shillong Top we
stopped at Lady Hydari Park at a short distance of 2.5 km from Police Bazar.
Lady Hydari Park is a lush green belt that stretches up to a kilometre in the
heart of Shillong. It was quite clear that “The Lady Hydari Park”is maintained
with great passion.This garden is an ideal place to spend some peaceful time to
relax in between nature.
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| Lady Hydari Park-Shillong |
Named after the first lady of the province,
Lady Hydari, wife of the Governor of Assam.Meghalaya forest department is the
administrative authority of this park and looks after its maintenance. The Park is best known for beautiful bed of
roses that blossom here in various colours.
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| A Mini Zoo in Lady Hydari Park-Shillong |
The park has a a special play area for kids
that offer swings like sea-saws,slips and other small rides for children.Besides
all this the park has a wide variety of local flowering plants and orchids, and
is landscaped in Japanese style.It has a small zoo and white pelicans playfully floating in water ponds
were treat to visitors eye.
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| Lady Hydari Park-Shillong |
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| Pelicans playing and floating in pond in Lady Hydari Park-Shillong |
By the time we reached our hotel, we were
exhausted yet energized; we had breathed the untouched undiluted, glimpsed the
elegance and felt the frenzy of raw nature all together.
Second
day itinerary of shillong ended with a high dinner in Eden Restaurant in Police
bazar.Here we feasted us with Chilli Garlic Fish, Chicken
in Hot Garlic Sauce, Butter
Tandoori Roti.The value of money was very good and it was not expensive.
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| Eden Restaurant in Shillong |
Loved
the taste and the dishes quantity.It was a memorable dinner in Shillong, as
here we got foods of North Indian recipe.After dinner, we walked on roads and
to get more energy we consumed sweets from Delhi Misthan Bhandar.
Posted
and photographed by Engr Maqbool Akram, with help of some materials and photos
from other sources available on net, with thanks.
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