[NPV]

We've been longing for a break, haven't been on a vacation since early 2020 due to the pandemic and school schedules for our daughter.

Following are the criteria for the vacation:
1. Travel during May, hoping to be in northern/cooler climes and avoid places with too much of touristy crowds (if possible)

2. Primary travel by air Ex-Bangalore (other local travel to points of interest by cab), 7 days total duration including travel days

3. Prefer to make the travel and accommodation bookings myself and avoid tour packages by various operators

Some options that came to mind are
- Shillong
- Shimla-Darjeeling
- Manali-Spiti
- Dharamshala

Please help with planning - what are the "must-visit" points of interest at above places ? How is the weather generally during May ? Any other suggestions aside from the list above ?

Appreciate your suggestions.

[chinkara]

Originally Posted by NPV

We've been longing for a break, haven't been on a vacation since early 2020 due to the pandemic and school schedules for our daughter.

...
Some options that came to mind are
- Shillong
- Shimla-Darjeeling
- Manali-Spiti
- Dharamshala

My choice would be Darjeeling-Kalimpong or Manali-Spiti. Manali to Spiti is quite some distance though.

Shimla is too commercial (so is Darjeeling / Manali, but still interesting places around). Shillong and Shimla will also be a little too hot in May.

[ashis89]

I had done Guwahati - Shillong - Cherapunjee - Kaziranga - Dirang - Tawang and back. This was in March 2015 and my input will be dated. However please let me share my thoughts -

- We flew to Guwahati and then took a cab for this round trip. Cabs are a little expensive given the terrain.

- Guwahati was already warm by March. Must witness Brahmaputra while in Guwahati. Also visit the temples.

- Shillong was cool and beautiful. Good enough for a day or two.

- Cherapunjee was beautiful too but it's attraction, the waterfalls were all dry. Can be skipped.

- I didn't like Kaziranga as there wasn't much to see/do. IMO, can be skipped.

- Arunachal Pradesh was the highlight of the trip and I would recommend a trip to Tawang. Roads were very bad back in 2015 but are in excellent shape per my uncle who visited it in Oct 2021. Sela Pass, the monasteries, war memorials and the mountains were the attractions as I remember today.


PS: If you are fond of tea, check out the collection at "Amalgamated Plantations", a Tata tea outlet in Guwahati. My parents have been hooked to its premium CTC and green tea collection since 2015 although we can't procure it anywhere else.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by NPV

We've been longing for a break, haven't been on a vacation since early 2020 due to the pandemic and school schedules for our daughter.

Following are the criteria for the vacation:
1. Travel during May, hoping to be in northern/cooler climes and avoid places with too much of touristy crowds (if possible)

2. Primary travel by air Ex-Bangalore (other local travel to points of interest by cab), 7 days total duration including travel days

3. Prefer to make the travel and accommodation bookings myself and avoid tour packages by various operators

Some options that came to mind are
- Shillong
- Shimla-Darjeeling
- Manali-Spiti
- Dharamshala

Please help with planning - what are the "must-visit" points of interest at above places ? How is the weather generally during May ? Any other suggestions aside from the list above ?

Appreciate your suggestions.

When you say Shimla Darjeeling, do you mean either or, or you plan to split your time between both? The immediate next option in your list Manali-Spiti can actually be done together so not sure if you clubbed the former places in a similar vein.

There is a lot of construction ongoing on the route to Manali, but I don’t think it would reduce the crowds much. Manali will definitely be crowded in May (even Shimla for that matter), as its the peak season. I would personally not club Spiti together in this trip. Instead, with the tunnel now open you could look at spending a couple of days beyond Manali, in Lahaul, to get away from the Manali crowd. There are lots of nearby places you can plan day trips to, so you won’t run out of places to see.

If you are keen on Spiti, do it with main focus on Spiti. Plan for starting from Shimla and exiting via Manali. This will ensure you travel through most of the places in the valley and also acclimatise gradually for the Trans-Himalayan region. But then again, this is a drive worth doing yourself. I am not sure how enjoyable this will be in a cab. Some of the days you may have to be on the road for 8-10 hours. The cab may charge you a bomb if you need it ex-Delhi. An alternative could be to hire a self drive ex-Chandigarh.

On the opposite side of the country, No idea about how crowded Shilling would be in May, but I really had a great time visiting all the local attractions as well doing some day trips to places like Sohra, Dawki, Jaintia Hills etc in July. Time permitting, I think you can change your base every couple of days to keep the drives short and enjoy the nature more. I did see a lot of Meghalaya tourism resorts at all these places but don’t have any first hand experience. NE really comes alive in the monsoons and looks like a totally different region. It may not be as green (as the monsoon months) right now.

[NPV]

Thanks for your responses

Originally Posted by chinkara

Shillong and Shimla will also be a little too hot in May.

Shillong is still on my list, just hope there will be enough water in the lakes, rivers and waterfalls to make them worth visiting.
Reading up on various websites, I think there are already light rains now and by third week of May there will be few more spells of rain, not too much hopefully. The timing is a constraint for the trip due to daughter's exams.

Originally Posted by ashis89

I had done Guwahati - Shillong - Cherapunjee - Kaziranga - Dirang - Tawang and back. This was in March 2015 and my input will be dated.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences.
For now, I would like to keep it simple and do Bangalore-Guwahati-Bangalore by flight and the rest by cab (visits to Shillong, Sohra and other nearby places of interest).

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

When you say Shimla Darjeeling, do you mean either or, or you plan to split your time between both? The immediate next option in your list Manali-Spiti can actually be done together so not sure if you clubbed the former places in a similar vein.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Yes, I was considering Shimla & Darjeeeling as an option Vs Manali & Spiti.
However, now I've zeroed in on Shillong, Sohra and nearby places of interest.

[narayans80]

North East in May would be a bad idea. It is monsoon. Rains have already begun in Arunachal where roads have been hit quite badly. You could try doing Spiti

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by narayans80

North East in May would be a bad idea. It is monsoon. Rains have already begun in Arunachal where roads have been hit quite badly. You could try doing Spiti

Monsoons usually begin during the late part of May or first half of June in the North East. Yes, it’s been raining in Arunachal Pradesh and some parts of Assam as well but that’s not monsoon. Meghalaya can be done in the third week of May as well.

Rains would not be heavy and the topography and the water falls can be enjoyed more vividly. Meghalaya is anyways referred to its name because of the clouds and the rains. If someone is not to pricky about rains, Megahalaya is best enjoyed during May. Roads would not be an issue unlike Arunachal Pradesh where landslides are very frequent in the rains.

If someone dislikes rains in entirety, Meghalaya is not for them. The probability of rains in Meghalaya is always there, even in the summer months. Just one thing though, the waterfalls around the area are fantastic to look after the first spell of rains.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

If someone dislikes rains in entirety, Meghalaya is not for them. The probability of rains in Meghalaya is always there, even in the summer months. Just one thing though, the waterfalls around the area are fantastic to look after the first spell of rains.

Thanks for the update, this kind of reinforces the plan for me because there's no point going around the lakes, rivers and waterfalls in peak summer when there's not much water. Though we have a constraint in terms of when we can head out for the trip (just after Mid May), it does seem like a good window between the summer and monsoons.

[gunin]

Hi NPV,

If you are visiting Shillong, I would suggest the following places to visit:

1. Double Decker Root Bridge, Nongriat Village. You can stay there at a homestay and trek further to Rainbow Falls.

2. Krang Shuri Falls near Jowai

3. Nonglang Village, Mawkrywat and Nongnah Village

Link: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...olero-4wd.html (Exploring South West Khasi Hills (Meghalaya) in a Bolero 4WD)

4. Wahrashi, Syntung Village.

5. Mawphanlur Village

Besides the above, there are a lot of regular tourist places in Shillong, Cherrapunjee, Dawki and Jowai. The weather will be comfortable during May and it will be a good time for a trip.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by NPV

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Yes, I was considering Shimla & Darjeeeling as an option Vs Manali & Spiti.
However, now I've zeroed in on Shillong, Sohra and nearby places of interest.

That’s nice.

When you travel from Guwahati to Shillong, at some places (Jorabat IIRC) the highway is the actual border between Assam and Meghalaya. At these places, the cost of stuff changes just across the road due to change in state VAT. Beat that!

Be sure to checkout the ML05 cafe near Shillong. Nice ambience (even for non petrolheads) and good food. For the uninitiated, the place is named after the Shillong local RTO code ML-05.

All the best for your trip!

[chinkara]

Originally Posted by NPV

Thanks for your responses


Shillong is still on my list, just hope there will be enough water in the lakes, rivers and waterfalls to make them worth visiting.

It has been raining (and has been unfortunately hit by a cyclone) so all this should bring down the temperature a bit and it should be fine. Have a nice trip.