Thursday, 5 October 2023

 

Thursday morning yet again saw most of us getting up to an alarm set at 6:00 AM. It was time to bid adieu to Cherrapunjee & return to Shillong. That meant a long drive and that too with a couple of sight-seeing scheduled enroute.

Mac had indicated a tentative time of 8:30 AM to board the bus and start our drive back to Shillong. After a comfortable bath & sumptuous breakfast the voyagers assembled for a group foto with the home stay in the background.

The drivers of the 2 vehicles promptly requested for a group foto of the voyagers along with the home stay staff - with the home stay resort & the 2 buses in the background.

 

 

We boarded the buses and managed to start our drive by 8:45 AM. The climate was pleasant. It started drizzling making the climate slightly colder. 

Our first halt was the Elephant waterfalls. This was situated at a distance of around 55 kms from the cherrapunjee resort where we stayed for the past 2 nights & it took us around two and half hours to reach this place. By now it had started raining moderately & the voyagers had to pull out their umbrellas and/or rain jackets. This seemed to be a popular water fall. It consisted of 3 layers of water falls and was accessible from different viewpoints. The first fall is wide and is hidden behind trees. The second one seemed to have some turbulence & the third one is very wide and clearly visible, flows like a milky sheet. However, to reach the third stage one had to climb down around a hundred stairs, which was worth it. Probably because it was raining when we visited, the falls looked filled with water unlike the seven sister’s waterfall. Also, the stairs were uneven & in some places slippery.

 

 

 

At this point, one of the voyagers, Beena, had to curtail her trip & had to return to Mumbai due to an emergency in her immediate family. Luckily, her travel agent could arrange the tickets immediately.

 

Our next halt was at the Don Bosco Museum. This was not just a museum but was a place where I could see and experience the lifestyle, occupation, attire and a whole lot of other aspects about the local tribal society. The museum itself was an imposing 7 storey structure which has a must-see sky walk which gives one a 360-degree view of the Shillong city.

 

The museum had several galleries in the 7 storeys such as musical instrument gallery, culture gallery, language museum, ornaments gallery, art gallery, culture gallery, costume gallery, weapons gallery, fishing / hunting gallery & several other galleries which I could not remember now. 

 

  

 

Most galleries have a touch screen facility where the visitors can get to know more about these aspects.

One gallery which I found very interesting was the “Our neighbour’s gallery” which showcases the neighboring countries surrounding the North East of India – namely Nepal, Bhutan, China, Tibet, Myanmar & Bangladesh. 

The museum had a small theater where visitors could view an 8-minute video. A few members from our group missed the video. Seeing the video before starting the tour of the museum made sense to me, as we were getting a fair idea of what was in store.

Mac had planned for the voyagers to cover the museum in a systematic manner. Take a lift, go to the top, experience the 360-degree sky walk, see the video & start seeing the galleries one by one as you start descending the stairs. 

The museum had a small shop at which one could buy souvenirs and other local items such shawl/ tea/ turmeric powder, etc
Rutuja had “sanctioned” one hour for the museum visit, but for a person who is genuinely interested in such matters atleast 3 to 4 hours would be required.

After a satisfying hour at the museum, (which ended with many voyagers buying something from the shop) we had lunch at a local hotel & checked into Hotel Centre Point. Geetha & me, and I believe, some of the other voyagers got the same room which was allotted to us earlier when we first checked in to this hotel.

It was time to say good bye to Mac, our friend & local guide of the past 5 days. The voyagers had collected (and handed over) a purse, for Mac & the drivers.

After a relaxed evening, we had our dinner & retired to bed with the sound of a live band coming from the street across the hotel.

Having completed the Black Shrike, I started “Time of the Assassins” a novel by Alastair McNeill based on the outline of a story by Alistair MacLean.

 

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