Chandubi - The Lake the Earthquake Made

Chandubi is a beel - a natural lake - sitting where the Assam plains run into the Garo Hills, about sixty kilometres south-west of Guwahati. It was formed when the great earthquake of 1897 dropped this patch of ground and the water filled in behind it, which is a fairly extraordinary thing to be told while you are standing on the bank of it.

There is no sight to tick off here, and that is the point. What there is: Rabha and Garo villages around the shore, men fishing from dugout canoes the way they always have, forest on the far side, and in winter a great many migratory birds. Go at dawn, when the mist is still on the water and the boats are out, or stay the night in a simple cottage and have the place more or less to yourself.

It is the closest thing to genuine quiet within a morning's drive of the city, and we send people here when they want a day that is not a checklist. If you would rather see it at its liveliest, the Chandubi Festival runs on the lakeshore each January.

What's in it

• 01A lake created by the 1897 Assam earthquake
• 02Dugout canoes and Rabha fishing villages
• 03Dawn mist, and winter migratory birds
• 04Under two hours from Guwahati - an easy day trip