Wari Chora - The Canyon in the Garo Hills

Wari Chora is in the Garo Hills, which is the half of Meghalaya almost nobody visits - the tourist circuit runs east to Shillong and Sohra and simply stops. Out here the hills are lower, the forest is thicker, and the Garo are a matrilineal people with a language and culture entirely distinct from the Khasi.

The canyon itself is the draw: sheer walls rising straight out of a river so clear you can watch fish holding position in the current, navigated in a narrow wooden boat with a local boatman reading the water. It got out on social media a few years ago and the community responded by organising access themselves rather than letting it be overrun - which means fees are set locally and the money stays in the village.

What's in it

• 01Boat through a sheer-walled canyon on clear green water
• 02Community-managed access - fees go to the village
• 03Garo Hills, a long way off the Shillong circuit
• 04Best November to March, when the water is low and clear