Dainthlen Waterfalls

On the way to falls

Bridge on way to falls

View from bridge

Dainthlen falls

Deep Gorge

River bed

world of cloud

Dain-Thlen is the most popular mesmerizing falls there at Cherrapunji followed with the very interesting legend. This place completely added up a stunning view with the mighty falls from flat stony field into very deep gorge and lush green forest. The best part was sitting on this river bed with the place abounded with clouds, adding a plus point to this falls.

The way to this place is filled with unbelievable views as you turn and twist and very rare human being

you get on this way which is around 7km from the main road. There is a beautiful bridge with rocks and water flowing beneath between lush greenery where you could stop by to get some beautiful clicks of the place.

There is a walk of around 200-300 m after the parking at the Dainthlen waterfalls to get a perfect view and this way you need to cross the river bed to opposite side which is slippery and water flowing with some moving wooden panels placed which you need to carefully cross. It was time of Christmas and we found few localites enjoying their time with family of a picnic there and we sat by to enjoy these beautiful place in a world of clouds with breezy and rainy day with insufficient light and managed to get these shots. The whole thing there added up to dreamy waves which carried us in its own world and i was totally lost in this piece of nature.

Location - Sohra, ( temporarily called Cherrapunee or Cherrapunji) in Meghalaya

Timings - Dawn to Dusk

Plan of the trip (Budget Friendly)

How to reach

You can reach Guwahati by air and take a cab to Shillong, hire a vehicle bike/car or cab from police bazar(place in Shillong) to cherrapunji. From cherrapunji main road it takes around 7-8 km and from the stay suggested it takes around 12 km to Dainthlen falls.

Transportation

You can hire bike/car from Shillong police bazar as its a big city when compared to other in Meghalaya and you could find difficulty in getting it later. Instead of booking vehicles or depending on cabs i would recommend to hire vehicle and drive at your will as in Meghalaya it gets dark soon around 4:30 or 5 pm. The main form of public transport in Meghalaya are sumos. Sumos leave from designated stands too early in the morning from each town and city and only when full with 10 people, so if you opt for sumos you need to figure out the timings from localites so that you dont miss on the only sumos for that specific day.

Stay - D Cloud Guest House

A very budget friendly stay with best hospitality.
Every sightseeing/trekking place is within 5-10 km radius from this guest house.
Very friendly owner and staff you can blindly book and go, they will help with all the best visiting places.
They provide the best home made food which you can definitely opt for.

Food

Home made food at the recomment guest house
Gemni Restaurant Restaurant
Haynniew Trep Restaurant Restaurant

Sightseeing places nearby

Eco Park Mountain 1.9 km
Seven Sister Falls Mountain 3 km
Mawsmai Cave Mountain 3.2 km
Nohkalikai Falls River 7.7 km
Khoh Ramhah River 8.9 km
Trekking to Living Root Bridge and Rainbow Waterfalls - 12 km
Wahkaba Falls - 8 km

Things to Carry

Its must you carry warm clothes while traveling to Meghalaya as its too breezy and extreme cold weather.
Raincoats, rain cover for your camera, bags and the other stuffs.
Gloves, warm jackets, thermals, winter socks, scarf and hat shrugs
Choose your foot wear wisely for trekking and hiking.

Legend of Dainthlen falls

As per the locals there goes a saying that the name Dainthlen got it from the gigantic serpent, perhaps a python named 'Thlen' that lived in a cave nearby. The serpent drenched in greed and power used to ambush people on their way in a pattern of devouring half of the people passing by and leaving the half i.e if there were 10 people passing by it would attack 5 and leave the rest. The panicked people around got up with a plan and U Suidnoh a fearless person of Laitryngew, a village you pass through 7 km before reaching Cherrapunjee got along herd of goats and built friendship with the snake by feeding it with goat meat. Once the friendship got strengthen, confident Suidnoh heated lump of iron in a furnace to red hot like meat and called the serpent to feed it. The moment serpent came widening its mouth Suidnoh dropped the red hot lump of iron in its mouth down the throat and serpent swallowed it and was burnt inside followed by its death. People of sohra pulled the snake from cave and got it to this river bed to cut it into pieces, some of the marks present on the stones are still reminiscent of the violent struggle of that serpent. Hence this place was named Dain-Thlen, followed by this legend - death of thlen there.

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Dainthlen Waterfalls