Welcome to the Scotland of the East (Shillong). Part I of many

SumitB · 15th July 2007, 18:35

Well, it was 3PM today (Sunday, the 15th of July, 2007). Had just had lunch and wifey says "Lets go for a long drive". It had been over a month since we went out on a Sunday and could not risk upsetting her. So I agreed. At 3:45 we were on our way but we had to return by 6PM as she had an appointment with the doctor with my mother-in-law.

We generally don't like going to places where there is a crowd and so we mutually agree for just a drive. This time it was towards a place called Tamabil which is the last village on the Indian side of the border with Bangladesh. This place is also called Dawki. It was about 35-40kms from Shillong. Had not carried any camera and was dissappointed when we saw this.

After a few photos, we head forward and we see fog all over. The visibility was barely 100 mts.

We drove for another 10 mins and the fog grew denser. Could hardly see the road infornt of the car. The phone's camera screwed up so could not take any more photos.

Time now was 4:45PM and we had to stop and turn back. Not that I cannot handle fog but we had to get back before 6PM. So we turned back vowing to return for a drive all the way down to the border, in our Swift coming up next week.

CrAzY dRiVeR · 15th July 2007, 20:09

WOW!

Beautiful pics! Next time, may be, you could bring the car into the picture as well.

SumitB · 15th July 2007, 20:11

As I mentioned, these were pics taken with a crappy camera on a HP Pocket PC. Next time, I will make sure that I carry my main camera and also ensure I post my car's pics as well :-)

Sam Kapasi · 15th July 2007, 20:18

I have heard, many times over that Shillong is beautiful. Your pictures only fortify my belief. You are a lucky man to live there.

I would love to see Shillong someday. Please do post more pictures, when you drive off next time.

SumitB · 15th July 2007, 21:23

Saam Baba! Please allow me the pleasure to invite you to this small heaven on earth for us. Be my guest and plan a visit. Stay with us and I assure you you will have fun. This offer is extended to every team-bhpian :-)

Sam Kapasi · 15th July 2007, 22:21

Can you tell me how does one get there, from Calcutta?

esteem_lover · 15th July 2007, 22:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by SumitB

This offer is extended to every team-bhpian :-)

Hope you don't end up with 250 hungry, thirsty & tired BHPians on the same day. LOL. And do you have your own scotch too ?

shuvd · 16th July 2007, 12:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

Can you tell me how does one get there, from Calcutta?

You can fly to Bagdogra (Siliguri) from Calcutta. From Siliguri, you have to hire a car. And no, there are no self drive options.

DriverR · 17th July 2007, 08:56

Shillong has a small airport but only small prop plane can land there. Most people fly down to Guwahati and then drive up to Shillong (3 hrs trip). Sorry Shuvd, but going to Bagdogra is a round about way! Unless you delibrately want to take the scenic route...literally!

Bagdogra (Siliguri), which is in West Bengal to Guwahati takes about 9-10 hours, and then there is the additional 3 hours from Guwahati to Shillong. But you are right about one thing. If you want to DRIVE from Calcutta to Shillong, then you have to go via Siliguri. The route will be Calcutta - Siliguri - Guwahati - Shillong. It is a bit of the roundabout route as one has to go up north before turning east, as Bangaldesh is between Calcutta and Guwahati/Shillong.

Anyone wanting to go to Shillong has to go through Guwahati. So catch a flight to Guwahati from anywhere in India and take the 3 hrs drive up to Shillong. It is worth going there!!!

SumitB · 17th July 2007, 09:49

As DriveR said, you get to Guwahati and take a taxi for Shillong. Its a 110kms from the airport and takes about 3 hours. Its all the way up to our beautiful hill station through a 99% hilly terrain.

Sam Kapasi · 17th July 2007, 09:51

Most interesting. Thank you for the info. The reason I asked about Cal, is that I might be going there for work one of these months and wouldn't mind a short detour.
I assume in this case I should fly from Cal to Gauhati and then drive to shillong.
What about these small aircraft? How expensive are they, to fly from cal to shillong? Anyone?

SumitB · 17th July 2007, 10:30

The local airport in Shillong is Umroi. Don't take the schedule of the flight till here for granted. It gets canceled 75% of the times. A safer bet is hitching a ride on the Pawan Hans from Guwahati to Shillong. Should take you around a 1000 bucks. The ride is just over 15 mins. (Shillong to Guwahati ariel distance is 40kms). The chopper ride also serves as an ariel tour of the beautiful landscape we enjoy in here. The tickets for this ride can be obtained on arrival from Guwahati airport.

Sam Kapasi · 17th July 2007, 10:50

Excellent. So I'll get to Guwahati and hop on to a Helicopter. Must start making plans. When is a good time to visit?

kaushik_s · 17th July 2007, 11:49

I think Shillong looked best during winter. Well that's my point of view as I like hills during winter and with those fogs. Don't miss Cherrapunji if you are going to Shillong. The route to cherra is one of the most scenic routes in India(and probably one of the smoothest, but it was 3 years back.I don't know the situation now)
Sumit, nice pics but you were really missing a good camera.

SumitB · 17th July 2007, 12:09

Though it is tourist season round the year here, the best times to visit would be Apr-Jun & Oct-Jan. The Christmas celebrations here are to be seen to believe and the winter is to be experienced. If you are planning on a visit, give me a shout and things will be taken care off :-)

15th July 2007, 18:35	#1
SumitB BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Shillong Posts: 986 Thanked: 263 Times	Welcome to the Scotland of the East (Shillong). Part I of many Well, it was 3PM today (Sunday, the 15th of July, 2007). Had just had lunch and wifey says "Lets go for a long drive". It had been over a month since we went out on a Sunday and could not risk upsetting her. So I agreed. At 3:45 we were on our way but we had to return by 6PM as she had an appointment with the doctor with my mother-in-law. We generally don't like going to places where there is a crowd and so we mutually agree for just a drive. This time it was towards a place called Tamabil which is the last village on the Indian side of the border with Bangladesh. This place is also called Dawki. It was about 35-40kms from Shillong. Had not carried any camera and was dissappointed when we saw this. After a few photos, we head forward and we see fog all over. The visibility was barely 100 mts. We drove for another 10 mins and the fog grew denser. Could hardly see the road infornt of the car. The phone's camera screwed up so could not take any more photos. Time now was 4:45PM and we had to stop and turn back. Not that I cannot handle fog but we had to get back before 6PM. So we turned back vowing to return for a drive all the way down to the border, in our Swift coming up next week.
	() Thanks

15th July 2007, 20:09	#2
CrAzY dRiVeR Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Bangalore / TVM Posts: 17,180 Thanked: 73,491 Times View My Garage	WOW! Beautiful pics! Next time, may be, you could bring the car into the picture as well.
	() Thanks

15th July 2007, 20:11	#3
SumitB BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Shillong Posts: 986 Thanked: 263 Times	As I mentioned, these were pics taken with a crappy camera on a HP Pocket PC. Next time, I will make sure that I carry my main camera and also ensure I post my car's pics as well :-)
	() Thanks

15th July 2007, 20:18	#4
Sam Kapasi Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Mumbai (but wat Posts: 6,997 Thanked: 2,378 Times View My Garage	I have heard, many times over that Shillong is beautiful. Your pictures only fortify my belief. You are a lucky man to live there. I would love to see Shillong someday. Please do post more pictures, when you drive off next time.
	() Thanks

15th July 2007, 21:23	#5
SumitB BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Shillong Posts: 986 Thanked: 263 Times	Saam Baba! Please allow me the pleasure to invite you to this small heaven on earth for us. Be my guest and plan a visit. Stay with us and I assure you you will have fun. This offer is extended to every team-bhpian :-)
	() Thanks

15th July 2007, 22:21	#6
Sam Kapasi Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Mumbai (but wat Posts: 6,997 Thanked: 2,378 Times View My Garage	Can you tell me how does one get there, from Calcutta?
	() Thanks

17th July 2007, 08:56	#9
DriverR BHPian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 414 Thanked: 526 Times	Shillong has a small airport but only small prop plane can land there. Most people fly down to Guwahati and then drive up to Shillong (3 hrs trip). Sorry Shuvd, but going to Bagdogra is a round about way! Unless you delibrately want to take the scenic route...literally! Bagdogra (Siliguri), which is in West Bengal to Guwahati takes about 9-10 hours, and then there is the additional 3 hours from Guwahati to Shillong. But you are right about one thing. If you want to DRIVE from Calcutta to Shillong, then you have to go via Siliguri. The route will be Calcutta - Siliguri - Guwahati - Shillong. It is a bit of the roundabout route as one has to go up north before turning east, as Bangaldesh is between Calcutta and Guwahati/Shillong. Anyone wanting to go to Shillong has to go through Guwahati. So catch a flight to Guwahati from anywhere in India and take the 3 hrs drive up to Shillong. It is worth going there!!! Last edited by DriverR : 17th July 2007 at 09:03.
	() Thanks

17th July 2007, 09:49	#10
SumitB BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Shillong Posts: 986 Thanked: 263 Times	As DriveR said, you get to Guwahati and take a taxi for Shillong. Its a 110kms from the airport and takes about 3 hours. Its all the way up to our beautiful hill station through a 99% hilly terrain.
	() Thanks

17th July 2007, 09:51	#11
Sam Kapasi Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Mumbai (but wat Posts: 6,997 Thanked: 2,378 Times View My Garage	Most interesting. Thank you for the info. The reason I asked about Cal, is that I might be going there for work one of these months and wouldn't mind a short detour. I assume in this case I should fly from Cal to Gauhati and then drive to shillong. What about these small aircraft? How expensive are they, to fly from cal to shillong? Anyone?
	() Thanks

17th July 2007, 10:30	#12
SumitB BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Shillong Posts: 986 Thanked: 263 Times	The local airport in Shillong is Umroi. Don't take the schedule of the flight till here for granted. It gets canceled 75% of the times. A safer bet is hitching a ride on the Pawan Hans from Guwahati to Shillong. Should take you around a 1000 bucks. The ride is just over 15 mins. (Shillong to Guwahati ariel distance is 40kms). The chopper ride also serves as an ariel tour of the beautiful landscape we enjoy in here. The tickets for this ride can be obtained on arrival from Guwahati airport.
	() Thanks

17th July 2007, 10:50	#13
Sam Kapasi Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Mumbai (but wat Posts: 6,997 Thanked: 2,378 Times View My Garage	Excellent. So I'll get to Guwahati and hop on to a Helicopter. Must start making plans. When is a good time to visit?
	() Thanks

17th July 2007, 11:49	#14
kaushik_s Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,088 Thanked: 164 Times View My Garage	I think Shillong looked best during winter. Well that's my point of view as I like hills during winter and with those fogs. Don't miss Cherrapunji if you are going to Shillong. The route to cherra is one of the most scenic routes in India(and probably one of the smoothest, but it was 3 years back.I don't know the situation now) Sumit, nice pics but you were really missing a good camera.
	() Thanks

17th July 2007, 12:09	#15
SumitB BHPian Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Shillong Posts: 986 Thanked: 263 Times	Though it is tourist season round the year here, the best times to visit would be Apr-Jun & Oct-Jan. The Christmas celebrations here are to be seen to believe and the winter is to be experienced. If you are planning on a visit, give me a shout and things will be taken care off :-)
	() Thanks