Cherrapunji

Cherrapunji, locally Sohra, sits on the edge of the Khasi plateau where monsoon air off the Bay of Bengal hits an escarpment and rises, dumping rain in quantities that hold world records: it recorded over twenty-six thousand millimetres in one year in the 1860s, and nearby Mawsynram now generally takes the title of wettest inhabited place. The plateau edge is cut by canyons with waterfalls dropping off it, Nohkalikai among the highest single-drop falls in India. Below, in the valleys, Khasi communities have trained the aerial roots of rubber fig trees across streams into living root bridges over decades, some double-decked.

History

The town's native name is Sohra, which the 19th-century British pronounced "Cherra", later adding the Bengali "punjee", "a cluster of villages"; it was the traditional capital of the Khasi kingdom of Sohra. The history of the Khasi people here can be traced from the early 16th century, between the 16th and 18th centuries they were ruled by the Syiems of Khyriem, and the Khasi hills came under British authority in 1833 (Wikipedia, Cherrapunji).

Highlights

• The living root bridges - fig roots trained across streams over decades.
• Nohkalikai falls - one of India's highest single-drop waterfalls.
• The canyon edge - the escarpment where the plateau falls to Bangladesh.
• The rainfall records - the plateau that holds world extremes.

When to go

September to May; the monsoon from June to August is extraordinary but travel is difficult, with fog, leeches and landslides. October and November give waterfalls still running with clearer views.

What to expect

The double-decker root bridge at Nongriat requires a descent and climb of around three thousand steps, which is genuinely hard. Fog hides the falls for days. Paradoxically, water supply here is a problem in the dry season.

Nearby

Shillong lies north; Mawlynnong and Dawki are east.