Assam & Meghalaya - Rhino, River and Cloud

The journey at a glance

6 days, shaped around you.

1. Day 01

   Arrival, Kamakhya and the river

   Guwahati

   

   Met at Guwahati Airport or Railway Station and taken straight up Nilachal hill to Kamakhya - one of the most important Shakti Peethas in the country, and a working temple rather than a monument, which is why we buy the VIP darshan pass instead of putting you in a three-hour queue. Then the Brahmaputra Heritage Centre in the restored Deputy Commissioner's bungalow above Kachari Ghat, which tells the river's story better than any guidebook. The day closes with the Alfresco sunset cruise on the Brahmaputra.

   • Airport pickup
   • Kamakhya Temple - VIP darshan
   • Brahmaputra Heritage Centre
   • Alfresco sunset cruise

   This day only works on a morning arrival. Land after about 1pm and the temple, the museum and the cruise will not all fit - tell us your flight at enquiry and we will either reshuffle it or move the cruise to Day 2 rather than pretend. Kamakhya also closes to darshan for the four days of the Ambubachi Mela each June.

   Guwahati - 3★ hotel, central Breakfast next morning

2. Day 02

   Pobitora rhino safari, and a working tea estate

   Guwahati - Pobitora - Amchong

   

   An early start east to Pobitora, about ninety minutes out, for a morning jeep safari through the Rajamayong grassland. Pobitora is small - far smaller than Kaziranga - but it carries the highest density of greater one-horned rhino in the world, and a morning here very rarely disappoints. On the way back, Amchong tea estate at Sonapur, on the same road: a walk through the gardens and the factory, from plucked leaf to graded tea.

   • Pobitora jeep safari
   • Rajamayong grassland
   • Amchong tea estate walk
   • Tea factory & tasting

   Pobitora and Amchong both sit east of Guwahati on the same highway, which is the reason they share a day - it keeps the driving to one direction instead of crossing the city twice. Safaris run roughly November to April and close through the monsoon when the grassland floods; forest-department jeep and entry charges are paid at the gate on the day.

   Guwahati - 3★ hotel, central Breakfast

3. Day 03

   Guwahati → Shillong

   Guwahati → Shillong

   

   Check out after breakfast and climb into Meghalaya - about three hours, and the air changes on the way. Umiam Lake, which the Khasi call Barapani, is the stop worth making. In Shillong: Shillong Peak for the panorama over the whole town, Elephant Falls in its three tiers, the calm gothic St Mary's Cathedral, and Ward's Lake in the middle of town for a slow end to the afternoon. Check in near Police Bazar and spend the evening walking it.

   • Umiam Lake (Barapani)
   • Shillong Peak
   • Elephant Falls
   • St Mary's Cathedral
   • Ward's Lake
   • Police Bazar

   Shillong Peak sits inside an Air Force area and closes to visitors without notice on security grounds. If it is shut we substitute the Sacred Heart viewpoint, which costs you the altitude and none of the view - we would rather tell you that now than on the day.

   Shillong - 3★ hotel, Police Bazar Breakfast

4. Day 04

   Shillong → Sohra, and the escarpment

   Shillong → Sohra (Cherrapunji)

   

   Check out and drive south to Sohra, still widely called Cherrapunji, and spend the day on the escarpment. Nohkalikai first - India's tallest plunge waterfall at 340 metres, and it wants the better light. Then the Seven Sisters Falls dropping towards the Sylhet plains, Wah Kaba Falls in its own quiet gorge, a limestone cave, and Eco Park on the cliff edge looking out over Bangladesh. You sleep on the plateau, which is what makes tomorrow's route work.

   • Nohkalikai Falls
   • Seven Sisters Falls
   • Wah Kaba Falls
   • Arwah or Mawsmai Cave
   • Eco Park

   Arwah and Mawsmai are both limestone show-caves twenty minutes apart, so we do ONE of them properly rather than both in a rush - Arwah for the fossils in the walls, Mawsmai if you would rather the shorter, easier passage. Say if you genuinely want both and we will drop Wah Kaba to make the room.

   Sohra - plateau resort Breakfast & Dinner

5. Day 05

   Mawlynnong, the root bridge, and Dawki

   Sohra → Mawlynnong → Dawki → Shillong

   

   The reason we put you on the plateau last night: from here the road runs east rather than doubling back through Shillong. Riwai first, for a living root bridge grown - not built - from the roots of a rubber fig across the stream. Then Mawlynnong, called the cleanest village in Asia for two decades and thoroughly organised around deserving it, with a bamboo sky walk into the canopy. Down to the Umngot at Dawki, where in the dry months the water is clear enough that the boats look like they are floating on air, and back up to Shillong for the last night.

   • Riwai root bridge
   • Mawlynnong village
   • Sky walk
   • Umngot river boating at Dawki

   This is the longest day of the trip - roughly 200 km and five to six hours in the vehicle across the whole day, plus stops. It is also the day people photograph most. The transparent Umngot is a November-to-April thing; through the monsoon the river runs fast and opaque and boating is often suspended outright.

   Shillong - 3★ hotel, Police Bazar Breakfast

6. Day 06

   Departure

   Shillong → Guwahati Airport

   After breakfast, check out and transfer down to Guwahati Airport or Railway Station - roughly three and a half hours, timed against your flight rather than the clock. Afternoon and evening departures suit this itinerary best.

   • Check-out
   • Transfer to Guwahati

   Departure Breakfast