Shnongpdeng -Meghalaya Trip

Shnongpdeng - Place where you lose your heart! 

When a picture says more than everything else

Fantasy Land!! Serene beauty of nature would surely make you fall in love with this place

Did you ever feel you have got somewhere you could have never in your bestest imagination dreamed to be? What would you have been to if you go through this marveling feeling of surprisingly being to one such place where you are left with no words to express.

Did u ever feel the stars shine in your eyes exactly like the emoticons or the way cartoons portray?
Do you believe in fantasy land? Did you ever get butterflies in your stomach the other times except for being in love.

I don't know the moment i started to put down those moments i have just landed up asking these questions. Do you ever feel like you have landed in a magical world? Haha!! see i told you alright then if you don't believe me, let me take you to this place something out of a fantasy land, yes places as in fairy tales do exist in real.

Lets hear out the behind story of this amazing place, yes you read it right you could probably hear me more than a read. Let me make you imagine this place all way through my eyes.

The Journey

We started from Dawki and probably by an hour (around 24km) reached Shnongpdeng, clueless about the place we left behind our bags. After parking we headed down to the place, blood clot and terrible pain in leg( got this after trekking whole day as you might have read in my earlier blog) made it difficult though to get down these steps. The feel of fresh air passing my hair, voice of the river adding music to my ears made me pace my step. I was totally curious to see what the place will turn to in this unplanned trip of ours. I was mesmerized by this serene beauty, the moment that cant be put in words. Without giving a further thought we looked at each other with all our eyes telling the same thing and we decided to get back our bags the very next moment.

Serene beauty of nature nothing less than sublime

The unpremeditated journey with the unexpected visit to this place (Shnongpdeng) was such a calm to heart, a feeling of profound when connected to this serene nature seemed like adding balance to ones steps as one walks down the tightrope of life.

How do i put this place Shnongpdeng village in a single word, one will fall of words to describe these scenic place nothing less than sublime be it the diverse mountains, moving bridge, pearl like pebbles, phenomenal flowing of blueish river, gleaming boats, rocks, smoky camps, trees around obviously a noteworthy piece from nature to pay visit to and definitely to be added in your bucket of trips.

Stay at Shnongpdeng

I immediately went to a person facing opposite direction and asked stay for three. He rushed to Sorry no rooms are available. You wouldn't believe your ears what actually then happened, the same person stopped me the very next moment i turned and walked a step ahead telling they have one room available post to which he literally cancelled a persons booking and reduced the price by 1k for us. In this pain what do you think would be the first question to inquire about the room...no no we were then least bothered about anything else, yes it was the washroom we could not take a risk of sitting down the Indian toilet haha.. we immediately asked and got it for, our happiness knew no bounds - Don't ask me if this was for the washroom or not to miss a chance of staying back to this beautiful place then. My husband and brother immediately headed to dawki to get the luggage.

Keep listening...Keep listening
The person ran and got a chair immediately asking me to sit and let him know if i needed tea or any help. I told him its fine Thank you i will manage and he insisted me to sit. I could sense something fishy there and you would be laughing at this but are you thinking of the same what then went into my head. Haha!! I sat there pondering if the person did really get mistaken thinking if i had some issue with my leg, sorry would not then like to put a apt word for this. Ignoring this whirled up thoughts in my head i got immersed in this  beauteous nature of Shnongpdeng.

I was surrounded with the beautiful diverse mountain, harmony of flowing river adding music to ears, moving bridge connecting two ends, beautiful lights, camping with the stay right there allowing you to keep watching all of this with no time limit of getting back somewhere else -- Wohoowwwwooow!! This was just beyond anything i could have wished it to be, too much to handle at once.
                         
After an hour, luggage was there, and no not again the steps but then all the stay was ahead of steps which my legs hated. I wasn't though holding any of the luggage and while stepping ahead i heard a voice from back Madam! i turned and i see the same person who insisted me to sit adding he would show them the room. These lines were making my detective thoughts even stronger and responded its ok and moved ahead with my husbands support to climb the steps i wasn't able to which the other person added careful madam and i actually burst in laughter inside which ofcourse could not be the other way round. Reaching the room i later narrated what my detective mind was actually upto ,they were like common stop it, he genuinely is a nice guy and might have helped you.. I was like yeah may be.

Boating at Shnongpdeng

We immediately headed towards boating which we could not resist ourselves from, the same person helped us with his friends around and we did not had to wait. Yes my detective head was still stuck at the same thought. Time to sit in the boat.. this sitting and getting up never seemed painful infact more difficult then sitting in the Indian toilet right then. Not at all a joke Haha and i wasn't alone they had the same pain but atleast could walk straight unlike me. We got to the boating and here you see the video says it all.

Boating to this place surrounded with diverse mountains  with able to see every details in this crystal water with the fishes along you reaching to a point where the voice of flowing water through this rock was a live miracle of nature. Wonder how the noisy water gets calm inside

Oh lost in this beauty we forgot to have food.. and how does it feel  when a  foodie gets chicken after a long... time to dance!!. The time they cooked and got chicken we meanwhile had chai pe charcha( discussion over a glass of tea) sitting at the river side. Wow each chicken piece was just for 20 we ordered ordered and ordered, it was drooling, that good which made us have only these for the all time we stayed there.

River Rafting at Shnongpdeng

We been to rafting, headed whirled up though trying hard and placing both of our oar to be in sync and singing left right all over. There were few falling in the river which actually scared me what would i upto if fall with this enduring pain in leg but then it was great fun rafting to this crystal water  with sun rays on it seem like pearls spreaded. This river not only seems the boat floating on water from top but seems the same more closer when you get in there. After an hour or so we got back after to click few pics, obviously the beauty which eyes could see none can capture them just in a frame. We sat at the river side and kept hearing the voice of river. The best part was the place was too silent and i could just feel the nature.

The similar shaped boats united at one corner added this beautiful shot shouting out loud depicting  the beautiful message and power in being united.

Camps at Shnongpdeng

This place turned more beautiful at night and the volume of the waves harmony went up. There were lights all over the camping... turned like a firefly adding the shine to eyes,  this is what i call inner peace. After having the chicken from same place we got back to the stay river side, we were enjoying the beauty with the born fire around which local people got there. They called out all the people from  stay if they would like to sit around there. I could still feel calm in chaos, one with many people around, all i could see is everyone lost in the nature.

Moving bridge at Shongpdeng 

We were totally in love with this place to which we decided to spend a day more. The next day in the morning, we walked to the beautiful bridge right there above the river and there were few who thought they were prudent kept running and almost in push you down the moving bridge got me hell scared and though holding the bridge literally made me feel that i almost dropped from there in the river and there too were people on bridge who seemed to be never existing. In the moving bridge i somehow managed clicking pics.








The view from bridge added a bonus to the beauty. The whole thing seemed like a beautiful bride - river as the bride, diverse mountains with its beautiful outfit encircled, smaller rocks all over as the jewel embedded, bridge as the waist chain....Nothing more can be asked for then.

After a while we were while getting back to the same place to eat, and here there is something you got to hear me out. We met the same person  and in talks we told we went on trek the other day anddddd you can imagine the expression his mouth wide opened and seemed as thrice takes turning his head what! what! what! zooming in each time and there came a question i was expecting it to be.. Madammmm did you also? i mean how did you go for trekking? I gave these two a look of yes i was so right about this and answered yes that's the reason i am unable to walk now and within a second he said ok and ran in such a way that we never got to see him back Hahaha!! We laughed out loud.

Crystal Water at Shnongpdeng 

We couldn't stop ourselves from the rafting again, later went to the other side of the bridge with smaller bridge and beautiful rocks, we sat to yet fall over and over again for this beautiful place. This whole thing was so pleasant i didn't wanted to go back. We sat there till late night as we didn't wanted to get the morning  arrive early and have to leave this place. The next morning we were back to the same place to have chicken and they told it will take time, we were running out of time and couldn't wait this time we had it from the other one there which i was sad at. Don't ask me the reason was it food or the very thought of leaving the place?

Hard to say bye

I left behind a bit of me with the waves be it in the shadow of bridge/suppressed by rocks/boats over them or pushed by oar to any random direction which yet never forget flowing by passing every hurdle and unknowingly being the reason of the happiness to umpteen near/far to it. How could you not be lost in this pure soul which with happiness also gets along deep lessons to learn from. Did you too get lost in this in your imaginative thoughts all way from my eyes. If yes please do let me know if you liked it or not letting your valuable thoughts reach out me.


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