A long time ago in an undergrad dorm room not that far away, I saw pictures of Living Root bridge for the very first time while doing research for Meghalaya trip. That image had been stuck in my mind ever since and I finally had a chance to visit this year. Although we had planned to travel to few well known places, the main item on our itinerary was Nongriat trek to Living root bridge, near Cherrapunji.

We all flew from different cities to Guwahati and took a cab to Shillong. Private cabs are economical if you are in a group. For solo travellers, there are plenty of shared taxis right outside the airport.

After 3 hours of scenic ride, we got down at the city centre in Police bazar in Shillong and decided to walk to our hotel. With narrow lanes & beautiful shops, Shillong is a beautiful hill town. Although there are good places to visit in Shillong such as Shillong peak, Elephant falls etc, for us it only served as a gateway to places that epitomize the beauty of Meghalaya. We went early to bed as we had a long day ahead.

How to reach Nongriat

Next day, we left from Shillong to Cherrapunji (called as Sohra locally) early morning in a cab. The trek to Nongriat starts from Tyrna, which is a further 15 kms from Cherrapunje. It took us around 2 hours to reach Tyrna and started the trek after having delicious Maggie and tea at Khyllep shop, which was much needed at it was cold, foggy and raining.

Few people will approach you asking to be your guides for the trek but they are not required. The route is marked very well and there are isolated houses along the way where you can ask for directions if needed. After taking the customary pic before the trek as below, we started our climb downhill.

Nongriat trek to Living root bridge

Nongriat trek distance is 3 Kms comprising of more than 3500 stairs. Although fairly easy, steep descent & sharp turns at some places make it a little tricky at times. There are 3 suspension bridges along the way and make for a picturesque background. 

The trek is mostly a descent and we covered almost half in 30 mins. As you go further down, the increase in humidity gets very uncomfortable and the continuous sweating makes you want to reach Nongriat fast. 

Double Decker Living Root bridge, Nongriat

The trek to Nongriat took usclose to 2 hours even with all the photo clicking breaks. There are very few options for accommodation at Nongriat. We had booked at Serene Homestay in one of their dorm rooms. Although this Nongriat homestay is not very fancy, it served the purpose. Byron, the homestay owner, accepts bookings only through phone and it was very difficult to get in touch with him because of patchy network in the area (Phone no. mentioned at the end).

After dropping off our things, we headed straight towards Double decker living root bridge. It is less than 100 m from Serene homestay. The water in the stream below the bridge was freezing cold but that’s exactly what we needed after a tiring trek.

After a satisfying dip in the water, we had a hearty lunch at the homestay. Although the food was very basic, it was tasty as hell. There is no shortage of entertainment at the end of the day as Byrons cute little kids keep everyone busy with their antics.

Trek to Rainbow Falls from Nongriat

We started very early for our trek to Rainbow falls. It is supposed to take 1 hour but we took close to 2 hours as the trail had become slippery due to incessant rains. Shoes with good grip & rain jackets are a must. The trail is mostly a dirt track with some really difficult stretches. It is mostly a climb uphill so it was very tiring and we had to take breaks in between. But the effort was worth it when we reached the falls. 

Getting down to the bottom of the falls is a little risky as one has to climb down a makeshift bamboo bridge and it needs to be done carefully. Close to 2 hours spent in the crystal clear water was relaxing and the mental and physical cleansing we badly required.

The trek back to Nongriat was quick compared to before as we were accustomed with the trail. I had the best sleep that night after two very tiring days.

Climb back up to Tyrna

After spending 2 blissful days in Nongrait, we knew we had a difficult task of climbing back up to Tyrna. It was a lot of fun coming down for us but the struggle on peoples face who were climbing back up was real. As it had stopped raining and it was getting humid, we started our trek back up early in the morning at 6. After the initial enthusiastic climb, it became a real struggle to navigate the steep stairs. All the trekking for the past two days was taking a toll on us but with few breaks in between we reached tyrna in 2 hours.

The next stop on our itinerary was Dawki, known for the clear water Umngot river and the famous boat rides. Experience at Dawki was not as per our expectations to say the least. This will be covered in the next post.

Few Details:

Byron (Serene home stay owner) Phone No.: 08787570552, 09615252655
Dorm Room Rent – Rs.400/night per person
Guwahati to Shillong Cab fare – Rs.2400, Guwahati to Shillong shared taxi fare – Rs.200/person
Shillong to Tyrna cab fare – Rs.1300