Assam-Meghalaya Combo for International Travellers

Route: Arrive Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati; transfer to hotel

Your driver meets you at the airport and takes you to the hotel. Guwahati is the largest city in the North East and the main air gateway to the region. Most guests reach it through Delhi, Kolkata or Bengaluru.

If you land by early afternoon, the evening is for the Brahmaputra. A sunset cruise leaves from the city ghats and runs for about two hours. The river is very wide here, and in the dry season you can see sandbanks and fishing boats far out in the channel. If you arrive late, the cruise is swapped for a walk along the riverfront at Uzan Bazaar.

Experience of the Day

• Airport pickup and hotel check-in

• Sunset cruise on the Brahmaputra

• First Assamese dinner

Food

Recommended: Paradise, a long-running Guwahati restaurant, for an Assamese thali.

Must-Try: Masor tenga, a light, sour fish curry, and khar, a dish made with an alkaline extract from dried banana peel.

Shopping

Assam tea, loose-leaf, from a tea shop in Fancy Bazaar or Paltan Bazaar.

Activities to Do

• Rest after the flight

• Brahmaputra sunset cruise, if you arrive in time

Route: Guwahati to Kaziranga (Kohora), about 200 km, 4.5 to 5 hours by road

The road runs east along the Brahmaputra plain through rice fields and small towns. Tea gardens start to appear as you get close to Kaziranga. Lunch is at the lodge.

The afternoon jeep safari starts around 1:30 pm in the Western range at Bagori. This range has the highest density of rhinos in the park, and the open grassland makes them easy to see. Water buffalo, swamp deer and hog deer graze around the same lakes.

Kaziranga became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. The 2022 census counted 2,613 greater one-horned rhinos here, about two-thirds of all that live in the wild.

Note on safaris

Jeep safaris run in fixed slots: morning from about 7:00 am and afternoon from about 1:30 pm, each up to two hours. The forest department sets routes and slots, and sightings are never guaranteed. Elephant-back rides are offered at the park, but this plan uses jeep safaris only.

Experience of the Day

• Drive through the Brahmaputra plain

• First jeep safari in the Western range

• Evening at the lodge

Food

Recommended: Lunch and dinner at your lodge, most of which serve Assamese dishes alongside continental food.

Must-Try: Duck with ash gourd, a traditional Assamese dish, where the lodge kitchen offers it.

Activities to Do

• Western range jeep safari (about 2 hours)

• Walk in the lodge grounds or a nearby tea garden

Route: Kohora (Central range) and Agaratoli (Eastern range)

The morning starts in the Central range at Kohora, the park's main gate. The track runs through tall elephant grass to open lakes, where rhinos and wild buffalo come down to drink in the early light.

Kaziranga looks the way it does because of the Brahmaputra. Every monsoon the river floods most of the park. The flood leaves fresh silt, and the silt feeds the tall grass that rhinos, buffalo and deer eat. The same flood is why the park closes from June to September. It is also why the rhinos are here in such numbers: the grassland renews itself every year.

The afternoon safari goes to the Eastern range at Agaratoli. It is quieter, with large wetlands. Spot-billed pelicans nest here, and the range is a favourite with birdwatchers.

Experience of the Day

• Dawn safari in the Central range

• Afternoon safari in the Eastern range

• Birdwatching on the Eastern wetlands

Food

Recommended: Dinner at the lodge.

Must-Try: Assam tea, taken with milk or plain, from the gardens around the park.

Activities to Do

Central range jeep safari

Eastern range jeep safari

Midday rest at the lodge

Optional Nearby Excursions

• Kaziranga Orchid and Biodiversity Park near Kohora, between safaris (allow 1 to 2 hours)

• A short tea-garden walk near the park, when a garden is open to visitors

Route: Kaziranga to Shillong via Nagaon and Jorabat, about 255 km, 6 to 7 hours by road

The road runs west across Assam to Jorabat, then climbs south into Meghalaya. The air cools as you gain height. Shillong sits at about 1,500 metres, and pine forest replaces the rice fields.

Stop at Umiam Lake, a large reservoir about 15 km before Shillong, for a view over the water and the hills. You reach the city by late afternoon.

In the evening, walk around Police Bazaar, the busy centre of town. Shillong has a strong live-music culture, and several cafés have bands on weekend nights.

Note on the long drive

This is the longest road day of the trip. The highway is good, and the driver plans a tea stop and a lunch stop. Assam and Meghalaya have had occasional border tensions in some districts. BizareXpedition checks local conditions before the drive.

Experience of the Day

• Climb from the Assam plain into the Khasi Hills

• Umiam Lake viewpoint

• Evening in Police Bazaar

Food

Recommended: Trattoria in Police Bazaar, a small, well-known spot for Khasi food.

Must-Try: Jadoh, red rice cooked with pork, and dohneiiong, pork cooked with black sesame.

Shopping

Police Bazaar for Khasi woven shawls and Meghalaya's local Lakadong turmeric.

Activities to Do

• Drive to Shillong

• Stop at Umiam Lake

• Walk in Police Bazaar

Route: Shillong city, then Laitlum Canyons, about 24 km each way

Start at Ward's Lake, a quiet colonial-era garden lake in the city centre, then walk through Bara Bazaar (Iewduh), one of the largest traditional markets in the North East. Khasi traders, many of them women, sell betel nut, dried fish, spices, cloth and bamboo goods.

In the afternoon, drive to the Laitlum Canyons. The name means 'end of the hills'. The canyons are often in fog in the morning, so the afternoon usually gives the clearest view: layered ridges drop into deep valleys, and the village of Rasong sits far below, reached by about 3,000 steps.

The Human Story

Khasi society is matrilineal: children take their mother's clan name, and the youngest daughter usually inherits the family home. Bara Bazaar, run largely by women traders, is one of the easiest places to see how that shapes daily life.

Experience of the Day

• Ward's Lake

• Bara Bazaar

• Laitlum Canyons in afternoon light

Food

Recommended: A café in Laitumkhrah or Police Bazaar.

Must-Try: Dohneiiong, pork cooked with black sesame.

Shopping

Bara Bazaar for Khasi cloth, bamboo baskets and Lakadong turmeric.

Activities to Do

• City walk with your guide

• Canyon viewpoint

Route: Shillong to Cherrapunji (Sohra), about 55 km, 1.5 to 2 hours plus stops

Start at the Don Bosco Museum of Indigenous Cultures in Shillong. Its seven floors cover the peoples of the North East: their dress, tools, weapons and faiths. It is the best single introduction to the region you will get.

The road to Sohra runs across open grassland on the plateau. Stop at the Mawkdok viewpoint over the Dympep valley. Cherrapunji once held the world record for the most rain in a single year, set in 1860 to 1861. Nearby Mawsynram now records more rain on average, but the Sohra plateau is still one of the wettest places on earth.

In the afternoon, see Nohkalikai Falls, one of the tallest plunge falls in India, then walk through the lit passages of Mawsmai Cave. End the day at the Seven Sisters Falls viewpoint if the light is good.

Note on Mawsmai Cave

The cave has narrow, low sections where you need to bend or squeeze through. It is lit and short. Skip it if you do not like tight spaces; the falls viewpoints are nearby.

Experience of the Day

• Don Bosco Museum of Indigenous Cultures

• Mawkdok viewpoint over the Dympep valley

• Nohkalikai Falls

• Mawsmai Cave

Food

Recommended: Orange Roots in Sohra, a popular vegetarian restaurant on the main road.

Must-Try: Pumaloi, a steamed rice cake eaten with Khasi curries.

Shopping

Sohra's market for local honey, cinnamon and bay leaf.

Activities to Do

• Museum visit in Shillong

• Viewpoints on the Sohra plateau

• Walk through Mawsmai Cave

Optional Nearby Excursions

• Arwah Cave, a quieter limestone cave with fossils in its walls (allow 1.5 hours)

Route: Sohra to Tyrna by car (about 30 minutes), then on foot to Nongriat and back

From Tyrna, about 3,500 stone steps lead down through forest and villages to Nongriat. On the way you cross streams on steel suspension bridges, and then the double-decker root bridge at Umshiang: two spans of living roots, one above the other.

The Khasi grow these bridges from the aerial roots of the rubber fig tree. The roots are trained across a stream, often through the hollow trunk of an areca palm, and left to grow. It can take 15 years or more before a bridge is strong enough to use. The usual explanation for why the Khasi build them is the rain. Timber rots fast in one of the wettest places on earth, but a living bridge keeps growing, and it gets stronger with age. The double-decker at Nongriat is thought to be about 200 years old.

In 2022 the living root bridges were placed on UNESCO's tentative list for World Heritage status, as Jingkieng Jri. Nongriat village has natural pools below the bridge, and the walk back up is the hard part of the day.

Note on fitness

The trek is steep and the steps can be slippery. Going down is easy; coming back up is hard work, about 1.5 to 2.5 hours of climbing. Wear shoes with good grip. If the trek is not for you, the Riwai root bridge on Day 8 is an easy alternative, and the day can be spent at viewpoints and falls around Sohra instead.

The Human Story

Nongriat's families still use the root bridges every day to reach their fields and the next village. The guides on the trail are mostly from the villages below Tyrna, and the homestays in Nongriat are run by local families.

Experience of the Day

• Descent through Khasi villages to Nongriat

• Double-decker root bridge at Umshiang

• Natural pools below the bridge

Food

Recommended: A packed lunch, or a simple meal at a Nongriat homestay kitchen.

Must-Try: Local tea and a snack at the small shops along the steps.

Activities to Do

• Trek to Nongriat with a local guide

• Swim in the pools, if you wish

• Rest on the way back up

Optional Nearby Excursions

• Rainbow Falls, about 1.5 to 2 hours further on from Nongriat, for strong walkers who start early

Route: Sohra to Mawlynnong and Dawki, then to Shillong, about 180 km in all

The road crosses the southern edge of the Khasi Hills above Bangladesh to Mawlynnong. In 2003 Discover India magazine named it Asia's cleanest village. Every house keeps a bamboo bin at the gate, plastic bags are banned, and the village council sets the rules. A short walk away, the Riwai living root bridge is an easy walk for most guests.

Reach Dawki around midday. In the dry season the Umngot carries almost no silt, so with the sun high the light passes straight through the water and lights the riverbed, and the boats seem to float. A short boat ride is included. Then drive back up to Shillong for the night.

Note on villages and the border

Mawlynnong and Riwai charge small entry fees, which are included. Ask before photographing people. Dawki is on the Bangladesh border; do not photograph the border post or security staff.

Experience of the Day

• Mawlynnong village walk

• Riwai root bridge

• Umngot boat ride at Dawki

Food

Recommended: A simple Khasi lunch at a village kitchen.

Must-Try: Fresh pineapple and oranges from the roadside in season.

Activities to Do

• Village walk

• Root-bridge walk

• Boat ride

Route: Shillong to Guwahati airport, about 100 km, 3 hours

Drive down from the Khasi Hills to Guwahati. With a later flight, stop at Kamakhya Temple on Nilachal Hill, one of the most important goddess temples in India, rebuilt in 1565 by the Koch king Nara Narayan.

Note on Kamakhya Temple

An active temple where animal sacrifice is part of worship. Dress modestly, remove shoes and follow photography rules.

Experience of the Day

• Descent to the Brahmaputra plain

• Optional Kamakhya Temple

• Airport drop

Food

Recommended: Breakfast at your hotel.

Must-Try: A last cup of Assam tea.

Activities to Do

• Drive to Guwahati

• Onward flight