Assam-Meghalaya Grand Circuit

Highlights

• Kaziranga rhino safari
• Shillong & Cherrapunjee waterfalls
• Living root bridges
• Dawki river boating
• Guwahati Kamakhya Temple

Day by day

1. Day 1Arrival Guwahati - Kaziranga

   Straight out of Guwahati to Kaziranga, tea gardens flattening out on both sides of the road. A cultural programme in the evening, drums and Bihu dancers, before an early night. Overnight in Kaziranga.

2. Day 2Kaziranga Safaris

   Elephant safari in the morning through grass that closes over your head, then a jeep safari in the afternoon across open grassland and shallow water. Two entirely different ways of seeing the same park. Overnight in Kaziranga.

3. Day 3Kaziranga - Guwahati - Shillong

   Back west through Guwahati, stopping at Kamakhya on its hill, then the long climb into Meghalaya — the plains fall away and the air cools with every mile. Overnight in Shillong.

4. Day 4Shillong Sightseeing

   Shillong at its own pace: the view from Shillong Peak, Elephant Falls stepping down through the rock in three drops, and Ward's Lake in the middle of town where the whole city seems to walk in the evening. Overnight in Shillong.

5. Day 5Shillong - Cherrapunjee

   Down to Cherrapunjee through Mawkdok Valley, where the road runs along the lip of a gorge that simply drops away. Nohkalikai Falls at the end of it — a single plunge into a pool the colour of jade, and the tallest of its kind in the country. Overnight in Cherrapunjee.

6. Day 6Root Bridge Trek - Mawlynnong

   The trek to the Double Decker Root Bridge: steps down through wet forest to a bridge grown, not built, from the living roots of rubber trees trained across a stream over generations. Then Mawlynnong, kept so clean it has become famous for it. Overnight in Cherrapunjee.

7. Day 7Dawki - Shillong

   Boating on the Umngot at Dawki, where the water is so clear the boat seems to hang in the air above its own shadow on the riverbed. Then back to Shillong. Overnight in Shillong.

8. Day 8Departure

   The drive back down to Guwahati for onward travel.

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