Mawsynram – The wettest place on Earth

Today’s post is about our day trip to Mawsynram in Meghalaya with our toddler (then 2.10 years old).

Meghalaya is one of the most sought-after travel destinations for nature and adventure lovers in India. The name Meghalaya means ‘the abode of clouds’ and it is also one of the most beautiful States in the North-Eastern part of India.

Hey guys, we are now entering the week 3 of #BlogchatterA2Z. And, I really can’t believe that I survived the last 14 days. In fact, I enjoyed each day bringing out the travel stories from our memory box onto my blog. We started Week 1 with the Andaman Islands, took you to the offbeat destinations to the extreme North and to the most adventurous expedition to the Middle Andaman. I chose to write about our Kashmir Trip in Week 2 and shared our stories from Gulmarg and Pahalgam.

This week I will take you to another extremely beautiful destination in India. And, I will be sharing our thrilling travel experiences from Meghalaya. In today’s post, I will take you on a day trip to the wettest place on Earth, Mawsynram.  

You may also check our 7N/8D Meghalaya Trip Itinerary here!

Mawsynram Day Trip with Kids

We visited Meghalaya in November 2018. Mawsynram is a small village about 60 km from Shillong & it took us around 2 hrs to reach there. The Mawsynram-Shillong Rd is quite good and well maintained but gets narrow with little bumps here and there after about a drive of an hour and a half. The only thing consistent was the most beautiful scenery throughout the journey. The first hour was a little boring for Nemit and he decided to take a nap.

We visited 3 places in Mawsynram and each one was as spectacular as the other. Our day was a mix of fun, fear, thrill and adrenaline rush.

Top 3 places to visit in Mawsynram

1- Mawjymbuin Cave

Our first stop was the Mawjymbuin cave in Mawsynram. The area around the cave was completely deserted, we couldn’t find any human or animal in that area except for the lady with a baby at the ticket counter. We took tickets and asked our driver to come with us in case we would need a hand with Nemit inside the caves. We had no idea how long, dark and deep was the cave. The lady at the counter could only speak in Khasi (their native language) & was not able to understand Hindi or English.

Our hearts were beating really fast, the whole scene was giving me goosebumps. I was getting weird thoughts in my mind, all kinds of what ifs.

With all these thoughts still hovering on my mind, we walked down the steps towards the cave. After going down a few steps, we could see the entrance of the cave and it looked big. The clouds of terror started clearing off my mind and I could finally feel the serenity of the place.

Mawjymbuin is a small cave just 50 m wide and 4 m high. It is actually a sacred shrine for Hindus due to the huge formation of stalagmite in the form of Shiv Linga. But during our visit, we couldn’t find even one person there.

 

On the left side from the entrance, there was a small opening and a passage to the other side of the cave. I am not sure if that was accessible since all we could see inside was darkness and hear the sound of a flowing stream. Maybe if we had a torch with us, we could have tried to explore more. But for that day, we were happy to explore that small portion of the cave.

There was nothing much for Nemit to enjoy but surprisingly he was quite happy to be there and was showing a keen interest in the Shiv Linga & other stalagmite formations. We left the cave after 30 mins to move on to our next destination.

2- Khreng Khreng Waterfall & Viewpoint

We were quite excited to visit the waterfall and were hoping to see a huge one. It showed just 5 km ahead of Mawjymbuin cave on the map. After 15 mins drive, the map showed we had already crossed the location. We were confused since there was only one road and we hadn’t seen any waterfall along the way.

We got down of the car and walked backward in the direction of the exact location. And saw a few small streams of water falling down off the hill. We checked the small signboard which confirmed that this was the famous Khreng Khreng falls.

I don’t blame the falls here, we visited in November which was supposed to be the dry month in Mawsynram with only occasional rain showers. Hence, the dry waterfall.

So, if you plan to visit Meghalaya, the best time would be just after monsoons, I guess around September-October.

But, we didn’t lose heart, it was our unplanned day and we were happy to go with the flow. Since there was not even a single vehicle passing through that road, we found an excellent spot to sit and started clicking pictures.

 

Surprisingly, we spent an hour there, all thanks to Nemit who was totally having a blast. For us, the waterfall was not as per we had expected but for him, it was still the most beautiful sight.

We were now feeling the hunger pangs so we decided to walk a little further and look for some eatery. But what we saw was a small trail which was going up the hill. We saw a few school kids nearby and upon inquiring we came to know that the trail leads to a viewpoint on the top of the hill.

We, being the adventure junkies, saw an opportunity to explore another offbeat location. Without giving it a second thought we took the trail and were now trekking with our toddler.

 

Although we could not reach to the top since we lost our trail, this was one of the best experiences we had that day. We were literally missing humans that day. At least when there are people around, you can follow them or ask for directions. We came down and decided to go back to Shillong.

3- Mawphlang Sacred Grove, Mawsynram

We were almost out of the Mawsynram village when we saw a board to Mawphlang Sacred Grove and thought of checking it out. It was at a 10 min drive from there and at a very exquisite location. At first, it looked like a big picnic spot but when we read about it we came to know about its significance.

Mawphlang Sacred Forest is one of the most sacred forests of the East Khasi Hills in Meghalaya. And this forest is guarded by one strict rule – ‘NOTHING is allowed to be taken out of this Sacred Grove. Not even a leaf, stone or a dead log’. Failing to comply may lead to death. You may read more about it here. 

It was getting cold hence we decided to head back to Shillong. Our driver mentioned that this region gets covered with dense clouds by the evening (not sure if it’s true). Though we still stopped at a few places to soak in the beauty of Mawsynram one last time.

Some Tips for Parents before visiting Mawsynram

• Mawsynram is completely safe to travel with kids just go prepared for rains.
• Wear comfortable shoes, it gets quite slippery during rains.
• Pack some extra woolens & don’t forget to carry your raincoat.
• Do keep a hiking torch with you.
• Carry lots of snacks & water for your toddler.
• Do pack a lunch, we couldn’t find anything decent to eat (we are pure vegetarians).

I hope you liked reading this post and got an idea of how to prepare and what to do when visiting Mawsynram. The true beauty of Mawsynram can be experienced in monsoons. Have you ever been to Mawsynram? How was your experience? Do share with me in the comments below.

I will see you tomorrow with another travel post!

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Today is Day 13 of #BlogchatterA2Z and the letter of the day is ‘M’. My theme for the challenge is ‘Traveling with kids’ & I have chosen M for Mawsynram, Meghalaya. 

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