North East Diary – Day 12 – Mawlynnong: A big fraud by Meghalaya Tourism
Every state has a “State List” of tourist places worth visiting. But if you look at the “National List”, then most of these “state listed places will not figure in it. As I have been traveling the length and breadth of India from quite some time now, I have come across many such places. I go to the places, going by the description provided in the internet or state tourism brouchers, and find that there is nothing much to see; and it is a sheer waste of time. Now probably you might have guessed what I wanted to talk about.
Now with this prelude let me begin. Our today’s journey will be hectic, so we start quite early. We skip our breakfast and start at 7am. First we go to Noh Ka Likai waterfalls. Somewhere on the internet I had read that it is the fourth largest waterfall in the world. No definitely not, and this information is wrong. I don’t know the height, but it is not all that big. It is a rain fed waterfall and hence during non-rainy season, the water will be trickling. But of course, the visit is worth it. There are many waterfalls here, but all are rain fed. (During rainy season, we don’t come here. Even if we come, we may not get a clear view of the falls, because of the mist.) So, we decide to skip other falls and proceed towards Mawlynnong.
The road leading towards Mawlynnong was serene. It passed through one of the most beautiful landscapes of Meghalaya. There are forests, gorges, cliffs, valleys, waterfalls etc. I think it is NH 44E and the road was in fairly good condition. After some time, we took a right turn from the highway. But this road was too narrow. The road was passing through bamboo forests. (These bamboos are used in constructing huts and its flowers are used as broomstick).
We ask the driver to stop for answering nature’s call. The driver tells us that it is not advisable to stop anywhere in these terrains as the place has insurgents and is not very safe. All along the route, we don’t see even a single board from the tourism dept about welcoming the tourists to the cleanest village.
And we reach Mawlynnong around 10.30 am. There were only two vehicles in the parking lot when we reached there. (When we left the place around 1.00pm, there were at least 15 – 20 vehicles, which meant a lot of tourists visit this place). We take a stroll around the village and find that it is clean.
The streets are clean. There are dust bins in every nook and corner of the village. What else is there to see, we ask. And we are directed towards Sky View, which is a view point constructed out of bamboo sticks. It was nearly 80 feet high, and we could see the plains of Bangladesh from here very clearly and nearly.
This village is on the border of Bangladesh. All food items to this village (including eggs, vegetables and rice etc) come from Bangladesh, a local resident tells us. Then we are directed towards a Tree Hut, which again is a house constructed out of locally available bamboos. You can call it as eco friendly house. Actually it is a guest house. What else is there to see; no, nothing else. We have our breakfast cum lunch and proceed to Shillong.
Now for the first time in my North East Tour, I feel the sun is too hot today, and the temperature had risen a bit. We reach Shillong lodge around 3.30 pm. We later go for a walk cum shopping in Police Bazaar. We come back, have dinner and it is the end of the day. But by night, the climate is back to winter clothing.
Now let me tell you why I call this as a biggest fraud, and also why you should not visit this place at all. Is Mawlynnong, the cleanest village? OK, first of all, is it a village? I don’t think so. It didn’t look like a village. It looked like a habitat or a recent settlement. The houses are not very old, there were no livestock. I could not find even a single cow or cattle or even a pig. I could find one or two hens and that was all the live stock I came across. I could not find any agriculture field even at far off places, even from the view point.
How the villagers are getting money for their livelihood? The village is coming into prominence because of Internet. And when I asked a villager, he said there is no internet available, and AIRCELL signal is the only signal you can get with great difficulty. The parking fee was Rs 100 for our vehicle. The best food (with many varieties) we had at the Mawsmai Cave canteen has costed us less than Rs 1100/. But a not-so-good food with lesser no. of varieties costed us more than Rs 1700. Mind you, at the cave it was the only eating place, but here there are many eating places. Very costly place, we thought.
And what about the eco-friendly guest house? It is built with bamboos and the cost of construction is hardly much. Being a business man, I know that any pricing should be proportionate to the investment and the maintenance-cum-running cost involved. However, here the tree house was being charged at around Rs 3000 per day. (No fixed amount, I think. It can vary according to the mood of the owner!!) . The whole thing looked like a big fraud to me than anything else. And it is a sheer waste of money, time and energy to visit this village.
And can the villagers themselves do all these publicity on their own? Very difficult, I think. It must be the work of some top brass at the tourism department. So dear Meghalaya Tourism Dept. people, kindly watch out. You can’t fool all the people all the time. Better stop such gimmicks.
And you dear travellers watch out before you go to this place.
(P. S. Note: I swear by all the facts that I have written. And in case of assumptions, I have come to conclusions by my common sense only. They may be wrong also. And if it is the case; my apologies.)
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About The Author
B P Bhat
An avid traveler, BP Bhat is among few travelers, who instead of scratching the surface of a destination, prefers to go deep and wide to understand, explore and soak in the beauty of a place. His quest for travel has taken him to all extremes of main land in the Mother India; from Leh to Kanyakumari and from Guhar Moti to Kibithu. He likes to explore all the important tourist places in India, State by State.
It’s hilarious that the author seems offended by, “All along the route, we don’t see even a single board from the tourism dept about welcoming the tourists to the cleanest village.”
On another note, yes, Mawlynnong has become an overkill.
Whether it is true of not, but I support Mr. Bhatt regarding his statement about high price of food and accommodation. The village Council and tourism department must take note of it to make the village more tourists friendly….
With due respect to all the commentators, I’d like to say that Mawlynnong is one of the ideal villages and certainly the Village Council(Rongbah Snong) is behind the uniqueness of the area. Further, the inhabitants of the village have made it their habit to keep the village clean. Apart from Mawlynnong there are villages in Nagaland which are traditionally clean from time immemorial. Mawlynnong also possesses one of the oldest churches in India which was built in 1926.
I wonder how the author, who is tourist not a traveller have travelled the length and breadth of India, it’s probably the worst blog I’ve read in the recent times, you have little or almost no knowledge about anything. You Seema to be among those keyboard commandos who just copy n paste stuff, sorry sir but you lack class and writers imagination. Stop wasting your time n do something resourceful.
Dear Mr Bhatt,
First of all, I am a Mizo from Mizoram so you cannot accuse me of having any bias on the matter but it seems you have been a little misinformed about Nohkailikai falls. As someone has pointed out,a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Nohkailikai is never ever claimed to be the 4th highest waterfall in the world or the highest/tallest waterfall in india for that matter..Nor is it claimed to be the biggest (by the way, people hardly talk about a waterfall’s width or breadth, their height is almost always taken into consideration so why the question “biggest waterfall” even arises is beyond me lol)
Rather, Nohkailikai is the tallest/highest PLUNGE waterfall in India if you re-check your sources again and maybe 4th highest plunge waterfall in the world….(notice the word “plunge” is added)..There is a huge difference…Nohkailikai has a single drop as opposed to other high waterfalls elsewhere in India making it really famous. So, next time, please do your homework and indulge in better research before unleashing false and rather quite foolish accusations or complains
Dear Mr Bhaat ..Check out YouTube about mawlynnong by Alexander kharkongor n you will see what is their source of livelihood… People living in the southern slopes of meghalaya are extremely hardworking agriculturalists
and the place is fertile n fruitful …people are well off long back before their place was in d limelight…n became a tourist destination ..they don’t simply mint money from the tourist..the whole idea behind is to provide provisions for them who had come a long way to see their unique place..its a kind gesture on their part …Indeed your little knowledge about the place is dangerous..
Mawlynnong is the clean village of India. Near to it very soon we will add Guwahati as dirtiest city of India.
What are sites to see at Mawlynnong ?? Rs.500/- is it for a single person or for a family consisting me my wife and 8 years old son??
Dear Mr. Embor
Could you kindly let me know the name of the guide you mentioned in one of your post regarding homestays. I would be travelling to Meghalaya during December and intend to visit and stayover at Mawlynnong.
Dear Tarunji,
I have given a contact no. as well as one Mr Samio Embor has given one more contact no. If the rate of Rs 500/ quoted by Samio is true, then go ahead and enjoy your stay there.
Regards
Hi,
me and my wife are planning to visit Mawlynnong on 16th Aug 2014. We loved the pictures and various reviews of the live root bridge and looking for a stay over. I have tried calling a few numbers found online but unable to book a place.
My contact is XXXXXXX (removed by moderator), if someone knows a good homestay option then please share the contact.
Dear Mr Bhatt, Sorry that u had such disagree and unwanted experience about Meghalaya, Cherapunjee and Mawlynnong, even me i have travel many places in India and abroad as well. One thing you are right with what u describe about the meghalaya tourism and the waterfall in cherrapunjee but about the Cleanest village in Asia u are wrong because u havnt explore by staying here aren’t you? No u dont. So anyway about the house u should have gone inside and check how it look like. About cows and pigs it is not their life style to have them except cats, dogs and chiken. The field for agriculture and farming its all outside the village because they need more space for cultivation. U know something they cultivate bettle nut, bettle leaf, bay leaf, pineapple, papaya, black pepper, banana and some other local khasi fruits and food. Last about waterfall here in Mawllynnong u can find a good one we call niriang waterfall where you can have shower there and touch it and winter waterfalls.
Thank you
regard
Samio Embor
For staying in guesthouse and homestay in mawlynnong for tourist and travellers (backpackers) in a very good price starting from 500 per night contact +91 8014992189 he is a good guide and he operate tours and for sharing jeeep or sumo it will cost you 150 per head from shillong to mawlynnong. private car to hire it will 1700-2000. gawahati to shillong sharing cab 170 from rail station and from airport 500 perhead direct to shillong.
Thank you
Hi All
Can you please tell me is there any guest house or staying place for one night and what is the cost per night and the food in Mawlynnong ?
also please giv eme an idea about the car cost from shillong to Mawlynnong and Mawlynnong to Guwahati ?
Thanks
D.Sarkar
Thank You Mr. Bhat for the contact details .
Cheers ,
Madhur
Hai Pratibha,
The contact person is Miss Shailin Shillong. She can be contacted on 03642502420.
By the by, I am enjoying the comments on my travelogue in this forum.
Almost NIL comments for my entire NE tour diary, but SO MANY criticisms for this single Mawlynnong village experience (just 1% of my NE tour). Looks like people are not matured enough to take any negative feed backs and improve upon it. At the same time, they don’t want to make any comments on positive feed backs (remaining 99% of my NE tour).
I will be grateful to you if you can share your experience in these columns, after your stay tree house.
Regards
Hi,
I have been to Mawlynnong village with my parents and after seeing the scenic beauty surrounding it …I feel our country is truly blessed by nature…I would like to visit that village again and this time I would like to stay on the tree house over there ?..Please can any one tell me contact person details and name of that tree house..?
Just can’t help commenting, Mr. Bhatt. Its sad u didn’t enjoy Meghalaya, but I am from Assam, and every now and then I get time i sneak in Meghalaya, Cherrapunjee and the awesome village of Mawlynnong…just love every bit of it. Travel is not doing Auditing sir, travel is all about enjoying,feeling close to nature. You have almost disected your travell with time and money. thankyou, and just a bit of suggestion, watch natural geography and discovery, from the sofa of you clean home and enjoy the perfectly edited and clipped nature on your tv…thats the best bet for you…signing off…A Happy Traveller!
i’m viki the local guide from mawlynnong… the thing is,that you don’t appreciate with what people from mawlynnong had done.. u said that they chare 100 for your car?? let me make it clear, 100 rupees is for two cars k, that also we take from the tourist
A bit of pride in the local village, its location, art, enterprise and heritage are the ingredients around which is built the tourism offer of some of the most touristy places in the world. I believe Mawlynnong is a fine example of that spirit. The propoganda is that it is a clean village (even if it may not be the cleanest in Asia or the world, but that is something that gets you there. I believe it puts you in touch with the community and serves its purpose of giving you a slice of Meghalaya to taste. Surely the author had not expected an architectural wonder or a great weaving tradition there; the same is also not part of the offer. The village offers simple joys, that too beautifully.
While I do not necessarily agree with Mr Bhatt’s rather pedestrian and callous dismissal of Mawlynnong as a “fraud perpetrated by the department of tourism, Meghalaya,” I can probably see where his comments come from.
Beauty is something very personal and subjective. Ideally, tourists should seek out new destinations not with a view to pass judgement on them but instead to try and see the beauty of their novelty.
Some tourists believe they have “visited” a place and can strike it off their “to-do” list only if they have done the routine sight-seeing circuit, which in fact, might be nothing more than side-seeing.
In Meghalaya there is plenty of room for niche travellers who wish to explore aspects that they hold dear to their hearts.
With all due respect to the people of Mawlynnong, I reserve comment on its dubious claim of being the “Cleanest Village in Asia…” and such. I daresay, most of the army cantonments are far cleanly and neatly laid out than the supposedly cleanest village. It is, I would imagine a self-assumed sobriquet borne more from wishful-thinking than from reality. While I do not deny it is rather clean, it seems more to be a set in a movie and there is lack of spontaneity in the much-hyped cleanliness – it’s almost as if everyone is playing out the writ of the rangbah shnong and his councillors.
Having said all of the above, let me also say that there is no thrill that comes even close to sleeping out in the middle of a rural village, listen to the crickets and frogs sing out their ritual sonata and be soothed into a deep sleep by the sight of the zillions of stars that just seem to hang in suspended animation from a black velvety sky – minus the ugly glare of electric lighting and the skyglow of the city skyline.
I would like to say that, I have also visited Mawlynnong and I just love my trip. The place is truely beautiful, clean and I enjoyed my stay in the bamboo stilt-tree house. It was a lovely, relaxing stay – not like anything you can have in a city or for that matter in any other place. The root bridge was a sight to see and the 80 ft high “stairway to heaven” was worth it. The village was truely “Gods Own garden”. I am an avid traveller and each place has a uniqueness of its own which you cannot compare with others. I just agree with Mr. Lamare. I think Mr. Bhatt does not enjoy travelling in its true sense.
After going through the write-up by B P Bhatt, I thought I should reply. Nohkalikai falls is famous not because of its height but because of the folklore behind it. You forget the folklore of Nohkalikai then your visit is also forgotten. The falls is situated in the place which receives the highest rainfall in the monsoon sorry Mr Bhatt not in winter. It is true you will not find hotel of your choice in tourist spots but definitely there are cheaper places to eat if you are a non-vegetarian.
If the houses in Mawlynnong look new it is because they are being renewed every year with fresh bamboos and wood. Remember these are gifts of nature and they don’t last like concrete. The villagers of Mawlynnong do not entire depend on tourism, they do their cultivativation in the slopes which are far from their dwelling places and let me tell you, you will regret if you want to visit their fields because they are steep and dangerous.
It appeared that you are a tourist with a negative mind set and you want everything to be as perfect as in your own home; that is not tourism; experience hardship, learn another culture, see how people live etc … that is what real tourism is all about. Definitely, you will have pictures of the places you have visited, keep and remember them with a positive mind.
Dear dvonne,
Going by the content, language, and tone of your comment, I think you have some vested interest in Mawlynnong.
The views that I have expressed also belongs to all of us. “Us” includes all the remaining 10 group members as well as the tour organizer.
Your comment has not helped in any way to clear the doubts I had. Hence there is no change in my stand.
I request you to read my entire Diary, from Day 0 to Day 19. And I also pray God to fulfill all your GOOD WISHES, that you have made.
Dear Mr Bhatt,
I am sorry for the things you have gone through while in Meghalaya and in the cleanest village in Asia.
Little knowledge is dangerous and this is true with you.
Firstly, Mawlynnong like any other villages in the southern slope of Meghalaya are not big like in the plains. A biggest village in the area have at the most 300 houses which are not in one place usually.
In Meghalaya there are villages that stretches to 10 kms. How? Each household owns a hillocks and so if there are 10 houses, it could cover 10 hillocks.
Rs 100 for car park and you are complaining! You forgot that you get to see the rootbridges, the village and to get into the tree top with a meagre 10 bucks.
I bet you are not a worthy traveller. You stay home and get old soon for you will never enjoy travelling.