Day 4 – Jakrem

The previous night we decided that we were going to Jakrem as none of us had ever seen a hot water spring. As usual, we left early in the morning and we left quite early as we had to come back to Shillong and then leave for Guwahati and we were told by Paarth’s parents that we better reach Guwahati before dark.

We started our journey, the driver had never gone to Jakrem before, though he is a regular in the Guwahati-Shillong route. So, he was not sure about the route to Jakrem. So, we had to stop at many places and ask for the route. The way again was full of scenic beauty and in this journey, we saw a lot of villages also, so we got to know more about the people of Meghalaya and the life there.

We reached the hot water spring and at first, we could not guess where the hot water was, because we saw a big stream of water flowing, which was of course not hot water. We then realized that the hot water was pipe-lined into a few bathrooms. We then found the source of the hot water, that was between 2 rocks and decided that we will directly jump into the source.

Jakrem

But we thought that it won’t be fun if we go into hot water first. So, we all jumped into the ice-cold water stream! For a few seconds, I could not feel anything, my whole body went numb. That was the coldest water that I had ventured into in my life. We played in the water for some time, by the way, we were taking bath after 4 days. Then we went to the hot water spring and jumped into the hot water there. Paarth could not bare the heat in the water and got a few burns on his body. We had a nice time there in Jakrem and left the place.

Hot water spring (bluish green water)

We then went to the guest house in Shillong and packed up all the things and loaded them into our Sumo. Then, we again went to the Police Bazaar as there were a few things that were to be exchanged, had lunch there and started for Guwahati. The journey was very calm as everybody fell asleep fast. When we were just about to leave Meghalaya, people started realizing the fact that Alcohol is really cheap there. And some people said they wanted to taste wine. So, we stopped near a wine shop and bought some red wine for people in college. There are a lot of wine shops near the Assam-Meghalaya border. One out of every 5 shops is definitely a wine shop!

We reached the army Cantt in Guwahati at around 8pm, had dinner and started planning for the next day in Guwahati.

Day 2 – Shillong

We started the day very early as the Tata Sumo that was booked was there at around 6.30 am. We got ready, had our breakfast in the mess, packed our bags and left for Shillong. The driver was very good and we did not have any problems making him our friend as he was almost as old as we are. The journey from Guwahati to Shillong is the best journey and you should not miss the fun by going in any Public Transport. We stopped the car at many places and even more when we were nearing Shillong. Parth had quite a rough time as he was travelling by road after a long time and that too in a hilly region like that.

As we approached Shillong, we saw a massive dam, then we saw a few big lakes. We stopped at a lot of places all along the way. The scenery was exotic, all we could see was mountains, clouds, greenery, clean water and cool breeze. One of the lakes particularly, known as the Umiam Lake (bada pani or big water) is the biggest lake there and very beautiful. We reached Shillong at around 11 am. We stayed at Sainik Aaram Gruh, which was booked by Paartha’s dad. We had lunch there and again left for some local site seeing.

beautiful lakes

We went to Shillong Peak first. And just before reaching the spot, some fees has to be paid and that had created a small traffic jam. We took the full advantage of the opportunity and ventured into the forests a bit. Shillong Peak is the highest peak in Shillong and we get a beautiful view of the city and the surrounding areas from there, but of course if you are lucky enough and there are no clouds blocking your view at that time. We saw a biker gang who were riding all the way from Guwahati in their macho bikes like enticer, eliminator, bullet and wearing black leather jackets and helmets. We all thought we would definitely come some day biking to such a beautiful place!

Then we went to Elephant Falls. That is also a superb place to visit, the water fall there creates a beautiful view. That area had been known to be very earthquake prone and that was the reason of creation of the Elephant Falls.

Elephant Falls

Then we started our journey back to the Shillong city. When we were near the market area, we saw one of our juniors who is from Shillong itself, Deeptanu. We asked him about the nearby places and he also took us to the market there, Police Bazaar and showed us some shops where we bought some clothes for very reasonable rates. We all got so carried away by the quality of clothes there and their rates that we forgot about our budget and went on a buying spree. While we were shopping, we entered a cloth shop, in which there was a lady who was being very nice to people, she was talking a lot to the customers. She started asking us about our whereabouts and when we said that some of us were from Karnataka, she said that even she was from Mysore and started talking to us in fluent Kannada! That was a big surprise to all of us, we bought some t-shirts there and had a nice talk with her. It was already closing time there, so we had to hurry up and even the guest house timing was 8pm, so we left the place early.

Patil and I had nice south Indian dinner at a south Indian restaurant there, while others were catching chicken. Then we returned to the guest house. We were alloted 2 rooms, but the rooms were so big that 1 was enough for the 9 of us. We gave the driver 1 full room and all of us occupied the other one. Then was the time for some KUKRI FIGHT, for the want of more blankets and pillows. We got so involved and fought that we started feeling hot and had to open the windows for some time!

Police Bazaar