This day was Shillong. We had two days to spend there, the first day of which we decided to explore Shillong city and the second day to visit some nearby places.
But first a word about the resort where we stayed. The Umiam Orchid Lake Resort is owned and operated by the Meghalaya Tourism Department. It is situated around 15 km before Shillong in a place called Barapani. The hotel rent for a double room is of the order of Rs. 1500 per night. The double rooms are really huge and spacious with large French windows opening out into balconies. Our room had a wonderful view of Lake Umiam barely 50 meters outside. The lake is surrounded by beautiful and well maintained gardens which is a treat to watch. One can sit in the terrace and enjoy the view for hours. The whole place is very calm, placid and serene and is a perfect getaway for honeymooners and newly married couples. Here is a view from the balcony outside our room.
And here are a couple of views of the dining hall which boasts of a fireplace that is probably lit in the cold winters.
11:00 AM
Breakfast at Hotel Orchid. The food is nothing great but decent vegetarian food is available. We enquired at the reception about the local sight-seeing options available. Luckily the receptionist's cousin was a taxi driver who could also take us around the city. After talking for a few minutes over the phone, we agreed to pay some Rs. 1200 for a day's sight-seeing trip.
11:40 AM
The driver arrived at the hotel in his taxi, a black Maruti 800 and we started off on the tour. We would realize later that we would be with this same driver for three days on. Shillong is around half an hour from the resort on the highway where a constant stream of army and other trucks keep moving. On the way we stopped to have a glimpse of the Umiam lake. As we entered the city, we observed that the roads were narrow and the traffic was slow-moving at several junctions. Our driver informed us that traffic jams are common during the peak hours of the day.
12:00 PM
Visit Bishop Biden Falls. One can see two waterfalls at a distance from a small viewpoint. The falls are surrounded by lush greenery.
![]()
1:00 PM
Visit Shillong View Point. The view point is situated in the Indian Air Force Station premises and it is required to get a visitor's pass before entering. It took several minutes to fulfil this procedure as there were several tourist vehicles waiting to get in. Once inside the gate, a few minutes drive takes us to the view point. One can get a panoramic view of Shillong from this point.
![]()
Just behind the view point, some tribal women were making brisk business by dressing up ladies, gents and children alike in the Khasi traditional costume. It was a colourful picture to see the rich dresses, beads and crowns adorning the enthusiastic tourists. They would charge Rs. 50 for a few minutes of dressing and allowing snaps to be taken! Very nice business model indeed... There were also a few hawkers around selling clothes and other bric-a-brac.
2:00 PM
Arrive Elephant Falls. This is around half an hour's drive from the Shillong view point. Here the water falls in three steps forming three small waterfalls. The notice outside the falls explains the origin of the name Elephant Falls.
![]()
Here's how the three parts of the waterfall look like, one below another as the water gushes down its path.
![]()
![]()
![]()
We had run out of batteries for our camera and had to buy them in a stall just outside Elephant Falls by paying a premium of Rs. 20! The vendors outrightly exploit the hapless tourists.
3:00 PM
From the Elephant Falls, we drove to the Shillong city center and had lunch at the City Dhaba, one of the fine eating places there.
4:15 PM
Arrive Ward Lake. This is a small lake in the city center with a nice garden around it and forms a good lung space for the people. A nominal entrance fee of Rs. 5 per head is charged. The day we went there a number of school children had come with their teachers probably on a picnic and so it was quite crowded. There is a small white bridge over the lake where one can stand and enjoy the view and feed the numerous fish abounding in the waters below. Several boats are anchored at one end of the bridge which can be taken on hire. We hired a pedal boat and took it for a spin around the lake.
![]()
The pedal boat is operated by pushing the pedals with the legs just like a bicycle; the harder one pedals the faster the boat goes. Pedalling in the opposite direction causes the boat to reverse direction. A steering rod is provided at the back - if the rod is pulled left, the boat turns right and vice versa. We spent a pleasant half an hour going around and spotted a duck-house on one of the banks of the lake. There are several stone seats scattered throughout the garden and we relaxed on them for a few minutes before moving on.
5:00 PM
Visit Golf Course. This is around ten minutes drive from the Ward Lake. Our driver informed us that this is a natural golf course.
![]()
5:15 PM
Visit Catholic Cathedral. It is a big blue Catholic church (Grotto Chapel) housing statues of Jesus and Mother Mary. We took a few photographs before departing.
![]()
5:45 PM
Visit Police Bazaar for shopping. This is the main shopping center of Shillong. Several roads lead away in different directions from the square. The city bus stand is located here from where buses ply to various north-eastern towns. The private taxi stand is also a stone's throw away from the bazaar. The bazaar is filled with numerous shops and shopping complexes mostly selling clothes, purses, bags and footwear. Shillong ladies have a very good dressing sense, the evidence of which is clearly seen there!
7:00 PM
Since it was getting dark, we did not get much time for shopping. Besides it would take around forty five minutes to get back to our resort. Hence we left a few minutes past six and reached the resort by 7 PM.
9:00 PM
After relaxing for some time in the hotel room, we went to the dining hall to have dinner. The hotel staff comes to each room to take the dinner order about an hour earlier. One can go to the dining hall at the appointed time and find the dinner waiting on a reserved table. Again the food was not that great but not too bad either. We took a short walk on the resort lawns post dinner before retiring for the night.
My next post will be the final one in this series where I'll describe our visit to Cherrapunji, the place with the reputation of the heaviest rainfall in the world.
The driver arrived at the hotel in his taxi, a black Maruti 800 and we started off on the tour. We would realize later that we would be with this same driver for three days on. Shillong is around half an hour from the resort on the highway where a constant stream of army and other trucks keep moving. On the way we stopped to have a glimpse of the Umiam lake. As we entered the city, we observed that the roads were narrow and the traffic was slow-moving at several junctions. Our driver informed us that traffic jams are common during the peak hours of the day.
12:00 PM
Visit Bishop Biden Falls. One can see two waterfalls at a distance from a small viewpoint. The falls are surrounded by lush greenery.
1:00 PM
Visit Shillong View Point. The view point is situated in the Indian Air Force Station premises and it is required to get a visitor's pass before entering. It took several minutes to fulfil this procedure as there were several tourist vehicles waiting to get in. Once inside the gate, a few minutes drive takes us to the view point. One can get a panoramic view of Shillong from this point.
Just behind the view point, some tribal women were making brisk business by dressing up ladies, gents and children alike in the Khasi traditional costume. It was a colourful picture to see the rich dresses, beads and crowns adorning the enthusiastic tourists. They would charge Rs. 50 for a few minutes of dressing and allowing snaps to be taken! Very nice business model indeed... There were also a few hawkers around selling clothes and other bric-a-brac.
2:00 PM
Arrive Elephant Falls. This is around half an hour's drive from the Shillong view point. Here the water falls in three steps forming three small waterfalls. The notice outside the falls explains the origin of the name Elephant Falls.
Here's how the three parts of the waterfall look like, one below another as the water gushes down its path.
We had run out of batteries for our camera and had to buy them in a stall just outside Elephant Falls by paying a premium of Rs. 20! The vendors outrightly exploit the hapless tourists.
3:00 PM
From the Elephant Falls, we drove to the Shillong city center and had lunch at the City Dhaba, one of the fine eating places there.
4:15 PM
Arrive Ward Lake. This is a small lake in the city center with a nice garden around it and forms a good lung space for the people. A nominal entrance fee of Rs. 5 per head is charged. The day we went there a number of school children had come with their teachers probably on a picnic and so it was quite crowded. There is a small white bridge over the lake where one can stand and enjoy the view and feed the numerous fish abounding in the waters below. Several boats are anchored at one end of the bridge which can be taken on hire. We hired a pedal boat and took it for a spin around the lake.
The pedal boat is operated by pushing the pedals with the legs just like a bicycle; the harder one pedals the faster the boat goes. Pedalling in the opposite direction causes the boat to reverse direction. A steering rod is provided at the back - if the rod is pulled left, the boat turns right and vice versa. We spent a pleasant half an hour going around and spotted a duck-house on one of the banks of the lake. There are several stone seats scattered throughout the garden and we relaxed on them for a few minutes before moving on.
5:00 PM
Visit Golf Course. This is around ten minutes drive from the Ward Lake. Our driver informed us that this is a natural golf course.
5:15 PM
Visit Catholic Cathedral. It is a big blue Catholic church (Grotto Chapel) housing statues of Jesus and Mother Mary. We took a few photographs before departing.
5:45 PM
Visit Police Bazaar for shopping. This is the main shopping center of Shillong. Several roads lead away in different directions from the square. The city bus stand is located here from where buses ply to various north-eastern towns. The private taxi stand is also a stone's throw away from the bazaar. The bazaar is filled with numerous shops and shopping complexes mostly selling clothes, purses, bags and footwear. Shillong ladies have a very good dressing sense, the evidence of which is clearly seen there!
7:00 PM
Since it was getting dark, we did not get much time for shopping. Besides it would take around forty five minutes to get back to our resort. Hence we left a few minutes past six and reached the resort by 7 PM.
9:00 PM
After relaxing for some time in the hotel room, we went to the dining hall to have dinner. The hotel staff comes to each room to take the dinner order about an hour earlier. One can go to the dining hall at the appointed time and find the dinner waiting on a reserved table. Again the food was not that great but not too bad either. We took a short walk on the resort lawns post dinner before retiring for the night.
My next post will be the final one in this series where I'll describe our visit to Cherrapunji, the place with the reputation of the heaviest rainfall in the world.
Srikrishna, most of the hotels that we found in Shillong were of multi-cuisine type. I'm not sure if you can find pure vegetarian hotels there. However it's not difficult to get vegetarian food. The food quality as I've mentioned is decent but not great.
ReplyDelete