in the land of clouds-A journey through the cleanest village of Asia, living root bridge, and Bangladesh Border

we started our most exciting part of the tour on 16 March.
The itinerary was like this

Living root bridge
Mawlynnong (Asias cleanest village)
Daki-Bangladesh Border

10 km from Shillong we had our first stop. A wonderful waterfall. The water level was low, but the cascading levels created a beautiful backdrop in the pine land gave us a refreshing experience.

Enroute to Mawlyinnong we came across beautiful landscapes. The mist and clouds just ran in front of us as if they are competing with our bus.

The road almost disappeared many times as it

though fog lamp was on. Enroute we stopped for tea break and many students started making selfies. My health was deteriorating as fever and throat pain was taking full control of me. My colleague Dr. Priyanka take complete charge of the students and allowed me to take rest. from the previous night my voice was completely gone and due to extreme throat pain I was having difficulty even hot water. I acknowledge the help of Ms. Jyoti who carried hot water throughout the trip and served me time to time.

We reached the area of living route bridge around 11.30 am and moved to see the bridge. We have to walk almost 300 meters to reach the spot. Lot of tourists all around. Clear water flows throw a stream, and the roots of two trees connected together with the shape of a bridge. An amazing talent of human to live with nature.

After spending good time in the wilderness, we moved to the cleanest village of Asia 'Mawlynnong'. There was a festival kind of environment every where. Tourist vehicles, tourists moving around village all around. There are boards indicating how they achieved this status. But, one thing was sure that if we determined to do something, things will work out.

handicrafts for sale at the village

We found several interesting things here.

Khasi women are managing everything from the household to handling tourists. There are small eateries and we can rarely find men working here. from kitchen to the service area and cash counter, all are managed by women.
Local materials are used for making souvenirs and these things and small but really beautiful and authentic.
Everyone (host) is very careful so that no litter is seen any part of the village.
They ensure that tourists are happy and satisfied after the visit. So children to elders and every single individual behaves in a very cordial and friendly way.
several homestays can be found in the village. some new constructions are also going on.

They really know the benefit of tourism.

Next stop was Daki, the India- Bangaldesh Border. We had already communicated our programme to the Officer (Asst. Commandant) at the BOP and they were waiting for us. They showed us the India-Bangladesh Border and from the unit office. The small streams originating in the foot hills of Shillong turned out to the wide river entering in Bangladesh at this point.

When we reached the Border, the BSF officer stopped the traffic for few minutes to have a clear view of the area. We highly acknowledge the contribution of our Border Men for guarding our borders and protecting us. The scene became highly emotional and every single one in the group lauded VANDE MATHARAM and BHARAT MATA KI JAI. We returned from the border and in the return trip we stopped for a while at the crystal clear river view.

We reached guest house at around 7.30 pm that day