5 Reasons To Visit Shillong – Scotland of the East
As the temperature continued to soar in New Delhi, the capital city of India, I took a call and chose to escape the Delhi heat by spending a week in Shillong, Meghalaya. These 5 reasons compelled me to take the trip and should inspire you all too, to head out to the Scotland of the east – Shillong.
Contents
#1 The Unmatched Beauty of the Roads
We landed in Guwahati, and then headed out to Shillong which is a 4 hour drive from Guwahati. The moment we were out of Guwahati, I fell in love with the scenic beauty and the wonderful drives along the hills. My love for the roads further increased in the subsequent days when we headed out to Cherrapunji and Mawlynnong, both 4-5 hour drives from Shillong.
#2 The Awesome Weather
After the soaring Delhi heat which averaged at around 40-45 deg C, we experienced the temperature in Shillong at 18 – 20 deg C on an average. Dark clouds hovering above us, and infrequent short spells of showers throughout our week long stay in Shillong, was a wonderful experience making it one of the 5 reasons to visit Shillong. The joy of waking up to grey mornings, with a little bit of chill in the air, was one of the best I had in a long time.
#3 Proximity to Cherrapunji – The Wettest Place in the world
The town of Cherrapunji, locally known as Sohra, is one of the wettest places in the world and boasts of some mind-blowing, untamed natural surroundings. From the world famous Noh Ka Likai falls, Seven Sisters falls, and the double decker living Root Bridge – one of the most prominent Landmarks in India, the town has it all. Moreover, Meghalaya is an upcoming adventure destination for caving enthusiasts, and one can get first-hand experience of traversing through the 200 m limestone caves (Mawsmai Caves), right near Cherrapunji.
#4 One day trip to Mawlynnong – The Cleanest Village in Asia
One of the other compelling reasons, was to visit the cleanest village in Asia – Mawlynnong, which is also around 3-4 hour drive away from Shillong. Like Cherrapunji, Mawlynnong also boasts of having a living root bridge, but a single layer one. Having seen many army cantonments throughout my life, my first opinion about Mawlynnong, on my first glance was that it looks like a well maintained army cantonment! Which is remarkable, considering that all the work is done by the villagers themselves, and the villagers maintain proper cleanliness too. And that is why a trip to Mawlynnong had to be there on my 5 reasons to visit Shillong.
Living Root Bridge at Mawlynnong
#5 The vibrant food culture in Shillong
The last and the most compelling reason out of the 5 reasons to visit Shillong was the vibrant food culture in Shillong. “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” – This saying was proved true when I got to relish different types of local food options from different cafes spread all around Shillong. However, I hogged onto the yummy Momos, on a daily basis apart from checking out the Cafes.
If these 5 reasons could compel me to convince my parents to go on a week-long family vacation to Shillong, which was enjoyed thoroughly by all 4 of us, you should also check out these 5 reasons to visit Shillong and escape the Delhi heat by taking a trip to the North East.
Related : Top Places to Explore in Shillong
Already been to Shillong? Do share your experience in the comments and do add in your recommendations too.
Pin this 5 Reasons To Visit Shillong blog post for later
I hope you enjoyed reading about these 5 Awesome Reasons To Visit Shillong in North East India. Don’t forget to Pin this Travel Resource about the Shillong Travel Bucket List, and share with others.
And if you like reading the content I create and curate, I will be really thankful if you could
LIKE | COMMENT | SHARE and SUBSCRIBE
Also, if you’re on Facebook, I would love to have you as a part of
the Eat Travel Live Repeat Travel Community
Shillong is one of the most exciting travel destinations in India.
I wish to visit that awesome place.
Thanks for your amazing travel post and photos are mind-blowing.
Very Beautiful place. I like it.
This post was well written but most of all capturing due to you A M A Z I N G pictures! Would love to visit JUST THOSE places thanks to you! 😀
Great article on reasons to visit Shillong. I would love to go to Mawlynnong and also visit the Dawki river from there !
The pictures are stunning
Thank you
Very beautiful place with great views but double rainbow picture is wonderful. Shillong is best
I’m always surprised by the different faces of India. This looks like a beautiful part of the country, so lush
and green. I’d love to visit one day!
What a beautiful place – I love Scotland so I’m sure I would love Shillong too!! The landscapes are just stunning – thanks for sharing!
Wow this place so new to me. Thank you for sharing the pictures are fantastic. Love to visit one day,
The wettest place in the world – how intriguing. You’ve captured the ‘feel’ of the locations you describe very well in your photos. I’ve saved this to my India Travel board on Pinterest.
Thank you so much. And you should definitely have this on your travel map for India.
Great reasons to visit India. Specially the weather because to me it’s really important, it can ruin or make the travel better. I really like the (tree bridge) it looks amazing, so much nature definitely gonna visit it sooner or later. Thanks a lot for sharing it with us
You should try visiting it soon, as its still less touristy now. But in the coming years, as awareness increases, you might find yourself in a crowd. And yeah when you do plan to visit, start early morning.
Great post, I am planning to visit India and do like a few months trip so I am saving this post for future reference 😀 great thank you for sharing 😀
You should definitely keep a month for the North East reserved.
Wow your pictures are truly impressive and inspiring!The food there looks especially delicious!
That living root bridge is one of the coolest things we have ever seen! We would love to go caving through the limestone there! Those dumplings alone would be a great reason for us for come to visit, thanks for showing us!
There are a lot of other caving options too that can be explored in Meghalaya, but the living root bridges are truly a treat for the eyes.
DOUBLE RAINBOW! That photo is so gorgeous! I’ve never heard of a root bridge but the living root bridge at Mawlynnong looks amazing! I want to check it out in person!
Thank you so much. You have to check out the Living root bridges for yourself.
Hi Arnav,
Way cool! One of the wettest areas on earth; yes I have heard of this place. I know it gets insane rain totals during the monsoon season, right? So neat. I love that natural bridge between the trees up top. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Ryan
It rains all year long. Though we were lucky not to get caught in 24 hour rains, but we did experience infrequent showers every now and then.
I have not had the pleasure (yet) of visiting India, but plan to do so. This post points out even more reasons to go. Being a camper, hiker and general nature lover, Shillong and its general surrounds really interests me a lot. So many picturesque places and I absolutely love the root bridges!
Looks like Incredible India is calling you soon !
Wow, the weather in Shillong looks like what we get in England, that’s a wonderful double rainbow photo by the way. Visiting the wettest place in the world is something to tick off the bucket list! I must say that the Living Root Bridge at Mawlynnong is very Instagrammable and you’ve made an excellent photo of it here.
Thank you so much.The living root bridges are really incredible. The local Khasi tribes nurture the roots of the rubber trees for years.
That’s really a cool post, I came in India 5 years ago in New Delhi and I remember that I was so impressed for the quantity of people and mess around so is funny that you found the cleanest place!! I appreciate that! anyway the food is delicious and the colors…how beautiful! Kiss from Italy
Coming from rainy Vancouver, I tend to avoid places called ‘the wettest.’ But Cherrapunji looks so incredible, I wouldn’t be able to pass it over! There is something magical happening there for sure!
True that. Somehow my plan never worked out for the past 10 years or so to visit. But am glad I did visit this time.
Love your pics!!! The double rainbow is awesome.
This is an interesting read! All 5 reasons are indeed enticing… Awesome weather is one of the best reason to visit a place as it makes everything in order 😀
God bless!
JM Kayne | #InMyHeart♥
The weather was the most compelling reason, and I really enjoyed the drop in temperature too.
Amazing article and beautifully written. My bags are packed!
Thank you so much.
This place is new to me. I am Scottish and I love that it is called the Scotland of the East!! It is really beautiful here and I would love to come
Now that I have seen Scotland of the East,am actually looking forward to visiting your country soon too.
Very Nicely written Arnav. Hope to make it some day soon during my Indian visit next year
Thank you.
You should definitely check out the North East India, untouched beauty literally.