Meghalaya receives the highest rainfall in the world and has lot of water bodies. The rain water causes lot of natural waterfalls to appear and over centuries, erodes the limestone beneath to create unique cave systems. These are very interesting places to visit in Meghalaya (India).
We visited two such cave systems near Cherrapunji. Take a look…
Mawsmai Caves
Mawsmai caves offers us a glimpse of the unique long cave systems that Meghalaya is known for. These caves formed due to erosion of limestone by flowing water forms a complex subterranean network.
This cave system is located at Sohra near Cherapunji and is easy to access. A short walk through a paved passage in a forest, leads one to the entrance of the cave.
The cave system starts with a relatively wide entrance with steps going down. As you go more inside, it gets narrower and at places one has to literally crawl or sit down and slide across. Fortunately, it was not very humid inside and most places there was decent amount of light for us to walk through.
Take a look…
A short walk to the cave entrance
A relatively wide entrance with steps going down
The patterns on limestone created by water
Maneuvering the narrow parts of the caves
Some of us inside the caves
Light at the end of the tunnel?
The Garden of Caves
Another enchanting destination near Cherrapunji that offers a blend of tranquility and adventure is the Garden of Caves. Surrounded by natural forests, and entwining creepers , it offers a series of caves, waterfalls , pools and fossils. A walk along the well guided path takes us to these wonders.
The local Khasi tribes often used these caves as hiding places….so says a legend.
A walking stick was provided to all of us for this visit as it involves moderate amount of trekking and climbing.
The walking track is clearly marked with signboards and arrows leading you to the specific sight. Local workers also guide you to these locations.
The King’s Cave
A flat bed like rock which was used as a resting place for the king or the clan chief, there are stalactites and stalagmites formed by limestone erosion over centuries.
The King’s Cave with a flat rock bed
The Sun Syiem Falls
As we walked along the guided path, we reached a natural rock formation with sunlight trickling in and a small waterfall. It is believed that the chief would often bathe here.
Sun Syiem Falls
Stieh Maw ( War Shields)
The board explaining the site and the stones that resemble war shields
The Root Waterfall
A fairly steep ascent along stone steps, takes one to a beautiful waterfall. Enjoy the video below by clicking on it…
At the root waterfall
The Root Waterfall (click to view video)
Baby in mother’s womb
The next spot is a rock with a natural crevice the resembling a baby in the womb
Baby in the womb
The Bamboo Bridge and Um Dawai
A long winding bamboo bridge takes us to the next location; Um Dawai.
Um Dawai (Natural Spring)
Here we encountered a natural spring used by locals for good health. We all drank off the sweet water from the spring. Unique bamboo bottles were sold here for collecting this water.
Um Dawai
The Bamboo bridge and the bamboo bottles with spring water
The Heart Shaped Rock Impression
The Heart shaped impression on rock
Arsdad Falls
Last but not the least was a beautiful waterfall in layers. One has to climb down a series of steps to reach the waterfall and the clear pool at the bottom.
The falls from above
At the bottom
The beautiful waterfall and the clear pool ( click to watch video)
The Garden of Caves was a very enjoyable destination and we thoroughly enjoyed the visit.
As you can see we saw quite a bit of the natural cave formations in Meghalaya. Time permitting, many more such caves can be explored here.
See you next week at another interesting destination. Till then, do subscribe, like and comment.
Travel-along.in 