Meghalaya Waterfalls and Living Bridges

High-rainfall plateau roads linking waterfalls, gorges and living-root bridges.

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Why this ride

High-rainfall plateau roads linking waterfalls, gorges and living-root bridges. The road: NH6 and state roads. Distance and riding time are estimates from the checkpoints until the road is measured on this page.

Roadbook

1. Shillong start

   Shillong is wet, hilly and surprisingly musical. The capital of Meghalaya, a name that means abode of the clouds, it sits at about 1,500 meters in the Khasi Hills, where the monsoon rolls in from the Bay of Bengal and drops some of the heaviest rain on earth. The town is cool and green, with pine trees, old colonial houses and a lake called Ward's Lake in the middle, and the British, who made it the capital of Assam, called it the Scotland of the East.

   The Khasi people, who have lived here for centuries, follow a matrilineal system in which property passes from mother to youngest daughter, an unusual arrangement that shapes the culture. The town has a lively market, Police Bazar, and a taste for rock and gospel music: guitar bands play in cafes and bars, and Shillong is sometimes called the rock capital of India. A local oddity is teer, a betting game based on archery, played daily at a field in town, with results posted on the street. The food is distinct, with pork dishes, sticky rice and jadoh, a rice-and-meat specialty.

   Riders come for the surrounding hills. South of Shillong, the road drops to Cherrapunji and Mawsynram, places that vie for the title of the wettest in the world, with dramatic waterfalls, deep gorges and mist. Further on, the villages of the Khasi Hills are famous for their living root bridges, made by training the roots of rubber fig trees across streams, a craft that takes decades. The double-decker bridge at Nongriat is the best known, though it requires a long hike down steps. Elephant Falls, near town, is easy to reach.

   The roads are scenic but demanding. Expect potholes, landslides in the rainy season, heavy trucks on the main highway to Guwahati and sudden fog. The best months are October to April, with drier weather, while the monsoon, from June to September, brings spectacular but treacherous conditions. Shillong has fuel, shops and hotels, so it is easy to stock up. Mornings are often clear, with cloud filling the valleys later, and a rain jacket is always sensible.

2. Cherrapunji stop
3. Mawsynram stop
4. Dawki stop
5. Jowai stop
6. Back to Shillong finish

Where this sits

Other rides by starting-point distance