Our Planning for Meghalaya Tour

In my earlier post “Leisure Travel During Post-Retirement Life” [https://post-retirementlife.blogspot.com/2024/04/leisure-travel-during-post-retirement.html] I emphasised on proper tour planning in advance and also focussed on luggage management as well as important items to be carried during travel. This time we made our plan for Meghalaya Tour less than a month in advance as our youngest son decided to go for tracking in Himalaya Range. We decided to make a tour to Meghalaya during his tracking period. Accordingly, we made a plan to proceed on Meghalaya Tour on 2^nd May 2024 and to return back on 6^th May 2024.

2. We first booked flight tickets to Guwahati from Kolkata for both onward and return journey. Then I applied for booking Holiday Home at Shillong for two days. After confirmation of booking of holiday home at Shillong, I first tried to book a holiday home at Kazi Ranga, Assam. Initially, we planned to spend two nights at Shillong, one night at Kazi Ranga and One night at Guwahati, Assam. After getting rejection of my application for booking of holiday home at Kazi Ranga, we decided to spend all the four days in Meghalaya i.e. two days in Shillong and two days in Sohra (Cherrapunjee). Accordingly, we booked one homestay at Sohra (Cherrapunjee) for two days. This homestay was booked in hurry without verifying its distance from the main location of Sohra and its proximity to Taxi Stand and markets. It was far away from the main location of Sohra. This was the mistake made on my part. Mistakes are part and parcel of any task including planning. Instead of repenting for the mistake it is better to learn lesson from the mistake and go ahead. We also did the same.

3. During the last week of April, I went to the office of Meghalaya Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) in Kolkata for getting detail information on the tourist spots in Meghalaya. They gave me tourist information guide and other booklets. They told me that there is an office of MTDC near Hotel Polo Tower, the place where I would be staying for two days in Shillong. They advised me to book conducted tour to Cherrapunjee and other places like Dawki, Mawlynnong, etc. from MTDC office at Shillong. I first contacted MTDC, Shillong over telephone and told them to book two seats on 3^rd May for conducted tour to Mawlynnong & Dawki and on 4^th May for conducted tour to Sohra (Cherrapunjee). They forwarded me tour details through WhatsApp. They advised me to make payment at the counter of MTDC, Shillong on 2^nd May after reaching there. I got lot of information on important tourist spots at Shillong and other places in Meghalaya and also the information on transportation facilities in Meghalaya. They told me that it would have been better to approach them before booking tickets and accommodations so that something better plan could have been chalked out to cover maximum tourist spots. This is another learning experience for me.

4. We had the information about the weather conditions in Shillong and other places in Mehgalaya including Sohra (Cherrapunjee). We also knew that rainfall is heavy in Sohra and therefore we carried umbrella as well as raincoat with us. We also carried woollen garments and jackets for protection against cold though the temperature at Kolkata was 42 degrees Celsius before proceeding for Meghalaya Tour. It was not easy to accommodate our belongings in one trolley as we had to carry winter garments, raincoats and umbrellas which occupy more space. Any how we accommodated our belongings in one trolley bag by using the techniques mentioned in para 4(iii) of the previous post “Leisure Travel During Post-Retirement Life” [https://post-retirementlife.blogspot.com/2024/04/leisure-travel-during-post-retirement.html]. We had one trolley bag for check in luggage and one handbag each for myself and my wife to be carried as cabin baggage.  

5. Scheduled departure of our flight on 2^nd May was 7.50 am in the morning which got delayed by 30 minutes. We started at 5.30 am from our home and reached Kolkata airport at 6.00 am. After check in and completing our security check we proceeded towards lounge to have breakfast by swiping our debit cards (SBI Wealth VISA Signature) having the facility of complementary lounge access. Token amount of Rs.2.00 was deducted from each card swiped for access to airport lounge. This card allows complementary lounge access thrice in a quarter. It is advisable to have such debit or credit card having complementary lounge access in airport. There are many other cards having the facility of complementary lounge access which one can check and verify. We also availed lounge facilities at Guwahati Airport during return journey. One need to check the list of airport lounges where complementary access is allowed for the holder of such cards.

6. It is very much essential to estimate the time of arrival at the final destination after taking into consideration the scheduled time of arrival at the destination airport, expected time to receive the check in luggage, time to walk out of airport to Taxi Stand and the estimated time to be taken by the taxi to reach the final destination i.e. hotel and also the expected time to get checked in to your hotel room. Accordingly, we planned to visit MTDC Office at Shillong to make payments for conducted tours to Mawlynnong & Dawki and to Sohra (Cherrapunjee) and thereafter to visit Ward’s Lake. We did accordingly in Shillong on 2^nd May.  

7. Our Tour plan was finalised. On 2^nd May we reached Shillong and visited Ward’s Lake in the evening on the same day. On 3^rd May we visited Mawlynnong and Dawki by conducted tour operated by MTDC. They charged Rs.700 per person for that conducted tour by bus. On 4^th May we checked out from the hotel in the morning after taking complimentary breakfast and proceeded for Sohra (Cherrapunjee) Tour operated by MTDC. They charged Rs.500 per person for that conducted tour by bus. After completing all the sight-seeing in Cherrapunjee we got down there and stayed in Cherrapunji for two days. We enjoyed heavy rainfall in Sohra (Cherrapunjee) for the entire day on 5^th May. On 6^th May, we came back to our home after completing our Meghalaya Tour which will remain memorable for us.

8. We completed our Meghalaya Tour as per our planning and taken lot of photographs and video shoots to keep our tour memorable forever. Our experiences with photographs at each and every spot that we visited will be elaborated in subsequent posts. For detail information on important tourist spots in Meghalaya, conducted tours, accommodations, etc. one can visit the website of Meghalaya Tourism i.e. www.meghalayatourism.in.