“We try to understand you and your tastes on various levels to make our experience.” – Bnjara
On the morning of our flight to Mumbai, the Founder/ CEO of Bnjara asks me, “Have you ever missed a flight?”
Me: “No!!! Not yet!” (Nearly missed’ is nothing new for me, you all know this already!)
Bnjara is a platform that provides highly customised travel solutions and innovative travel products.
Trust me. I vouch for this.
We missed the flight from Guwahati to Mumbai.
Took a flight to Ahmedabad the next morning.
Boarded a train from Ahmedabad to Mumbai that evening.
Rewind…
NH7 weekender. It had been two years since Karthik last attended the Music Festival in Shillong and he was still hopeful that we would give in to his pleads. Karthik had as a ritual picked up extra tickets to the festival months earlier to avail the early bird discount and was (mis)using them to lure us into booking the flights. As if the photos from his previous trip weren’t enough! (Wait till you see ours!)
Shillong however wasn’t the only trip of the month for me because I was scheduled to travel to Bhopal for a colleague’s wedding!
With PP determined to cover each square foot of this country on his bike, he got working on the blueprint and before I knew it, we were all set to go!
Itinerary:
Oct 30: The bike would be parcelled by train to reach Guwahati on the same day as us.
Nov 01: Flight from Mumbai to Guwahati. Pick up bike from station and ride from Guwahati to Shillong – 3 hours
Nov 01 – 02: NH7 weekender
Nov 03 – 05: Cover Shillong and adjacent areas on bike
Nov 05: Ride from Shillong to Guwahati
Nov 06: Flight to Mumbai – minus PP because he had made his mind to proceed further solo!
Nov 07: Train to Bhopal
Nov 10: Return train to Mumbai
Story begins…
A bunch of four wackos; PP, Karthik, Kanna and me, landed in Guwahati and were received by ‘Pappiji’ from ‘Tanu Weds Manu’ (a resemblance that nobody else found :P) with the car that Karthik had arranged for the two days of the weekender.
AdWise: If you really want to make the most of the weekender and you’re not too particular about comfort and luxury, opt for the campsite to save your travel-time. If not, I recommend ‘Pine Hill Homestay’. Good stay and food at decent rates. Also, they arrange for a driver on request because it’s a long drive and if you’re going to be collecting Bacardi mugs you’re going to need a transporter 😉
Day 1: The weekender scenes, unfortunately, I can’t describe in detail because by the time we reached the venue (traffic + bad roads) we were going against the flow, meaning, the crowd was heading toward the exit! If it was any consolation, we did hear Shubha Mudgal finish off with ‘Ab ke saawan aise bharse’!!
Now that there were no performances to watch, it was time to get down to business; hit the food stalls! It was Momo to my rescue because pork & beef, both of which sell there like hot cakes, are a no-no for me.
Day 2: You’d think we’d have learnt a lesson and left earlier but NO! We took a different but longer route to avoid traffic and reached by 7.00 pm. We did manage to catch a couple of really good gigs so no complains there! Raja Kumari threw a power-packed performance and had me mesmerized by a genre that I don’t generally listen to; Hip-hop!
Several momos, mugs and music later we were at the end of the weekender and the journey with Pappiji, much to his joy! It was time to hit the road by ourselves; four lads, two bikes.
AdWise: If you want your winter-sightseeing to be worth it, please set your internal alarm to wake you up by 5.00 am because the Sun goes to sleep at 5.00 pm.
Talking of which, do you remember Raj’s dialogue from DDLJ “Arre Zurich mein kya rakha hai, asli Europe toh yeh hai..itna sundar, itna khoobsurat!”??
While in Shillong, I could totally relate to this! We had a couple of items on our what-to-see list but otherwise no defined targets because it’s the journey and not the destination that’s the real deal.
Day 3: Nohkalikai Falls, Cherrapunji (No, the place doesn’t receive rainfall throughout the year! What a bizarre notion, unless you sucked at Geography like me :D)
The destination was a couple of hours away, what with all the halts to give the bladder and the buttocks a break.
AdWise: When you’re the pillion rider on an Avenger, you got to ‘ass’ess the option or you’ll find yourself singing:
‘Aye bum bata yeh tujhe kya hua, tu hai kyun bekaraar itna!? Kahin laal na ho jaaye, kahin haal na ho jaaye!’ 😀
We reached in time to witness the sun setting in a sky that was an artist’s masterpiece; neat strokes of the deepest hue of orange and yellow, lending a magical mesmerising touch to the blue landscape!
If this wasn’t enough, there was the waterfall! It was all just too perfect to be real!
AdWise: If you are the adventurous type that likes to wander off, please ensure you have a charged-phone with a good flashlight or a torch, unless you are counting on your stars to show you the path! Pun intended.
A must-go-to: Shillong Cafe
With a live band and a cosy seating we were attracted to the place but NOTHING to match the food!
Day 4: Mawlynnong, Bangladesh border, Dawki lake, well almost.
We started early. Believe me.
Mawlynnong, considered the cleanest village of Asia, is home to the marvellous root bridges; a must see work-of-art!
With the surrounding calm waters and greens, your mind could trick you with reflections and perspectives and all of that! You’d think I’d have attained sainthood!
Then came the real challenge: Ride from Mawlynnong to Dawki.
You can’t come to Shillong and not see the Dawki Lake. But what if you are in Dawki and still can’t see the Lake!? Then you’d be like us.
Mawlynnong to Dawki is about an hour and a half ride according to Maps. It was a little past 3.00 by the time we got moving from the Root Bridge but as per our calculations a sunset boat ride was easily do-able. What we didn’t factor in was the terrain.
Maps can be a pain in the ass, metaphorically and literally. The alternative path that was supposed to be faster was a rider’s dream and a pillion’s nightmare.
The only silver lining was the sight of Bangladesh border!
We reached Dawki after 5.00 only to see no Lake because… It was pitch dark!
Plan A: Go boating in the dark.
Plan B: Stay in Dawki for the night and boating next morning
What to do?????
Plan C.
Keep guessing 😉
Part two. Coming soon.
C.A.: Confused Aquarian 