Luxury Meghalaya

• Umiam
• 1,000 m
• 85 km · 2.5–3 hrs
• Dinner

Your driver meets you at the arrivals exit of Guwahati Airport with an Innova Crysta, cold water and towels. The highway climbs through Jorabat, Byrnihat and Nongpoh into pine-covered hills. After about 2.5 hours you turn off to Ri Kynjai, a resort of wood-and-stone cottages on the shore of Umiam Lake at about 1,000 m. Check into a lake-view cottage and spend the afternoon on your deck. The hour before sunset, around 4.30 pm in winter, turns the water gold. Dinner is at the resort, which serves Khasi dishes alongside Indian and continental food.

• Shillong
• 1,525 m
• Local sightseeing · about 50 km
• Breakfast, Dinner

After a slow breakfast by the lake, drive 15 km to Shillong and meet your local guide. Start at Shillong Peak, inside an Air Force area; carry original ID. The view from 1,965 m covers the whole city. Elephant Falls is 3 km away. After lunch, the Don Bosco Museum explains the cultures of the Northeast across seven floors, and the guide adds the local stories behind Khasi matrilineal families and clan names. Check into your Shillong hotel by 5 pm. In the evening, we can reserve a table at a Laitumkhrah restaurant with live music on weekends.

• Shillong
• 1,525 m
• Local sightseeing · about 100 km
• Breakfast, Dinner

Leave in the dark with a flask of tea for Laitlum Canyons, 45 minutes away, and watch first light spread over steep grass ridges and the valley below; sunrise ranges from about 4.30 am in June to 6 am in January. Return to the hotel for breakfast and a rest. Late morning, drive 25 km to Mawphlang, where Khasi guides lead every visitor through the sacred forest, protected by the community for centuries. Nothing, not even a leaf, may be taken out. The walk takes about 90 minutes among monoliths and moss-covered trees. Return for a quiet afternoon at the hotel.

• Sohra
• 1,480 m
• 55 km · 1.5–2 hrs, plus stops
• Breakfast, Dinner

Leave Shillong after breakfast on the Sohra road. Stop at the Mawkdok Dympep valley viewpoint and at Wah Kaba Falls. In Sohra, walk the lit route of Mawsmai Cave, about 150 m with one tight squeeze that you can bypass. Check into Polo Cherrapunjee Resort, whose rooms and terraces look across the gorge to the Seven Sisters Falls, full from June to October and a string of thin threads in winter. The resort has pools, a spa and several restaurants, so the afternoon is yours. If the sky is clear, the driver can take you to Thangkharang Park for sunset over the Bangladesh plains.

• Sohra
• 1,480 m
• Local sightseeing · about 25 km
• Breakfast, Dinner

Reach the Nohkalikai viewpoint at 8 am, before cloud rises from the gorge. The fall drops about 340 m, India's tallest plunge, into a pool that turns turquoise between December and April. Next, walk the 1 km cliff path to Arwah Cave, with fossil impressions in its limestone walls. Return to the resort for lunch and a spa afternoon. If you would like something more active, we can arrange a registered local guide for a half-day walk; East Khasi Hills has required guides on treks since mid-2025. Dinner is at the resort, with a private table set on the terrace if the weather allows.

• Departure
• 55 m
• 155 km · 5 hrs
• Breakfast

Enjoy a last breakfast facing the gorge and leave by 9 am. The road runs back past Mawkdok to the edge of Shillong and then down the Guwahati highway via Umiam and Nongpoh. We stop for lunch at a clean highway restaurant, or we can carry a packed lunch from the resort if you prefer. Traffic on the Guwahati bypass can be slow in the afternoon, so please book flights after 4 pm. If you are continuing to Kaziranga, the car can take you straight there instead, about 5 hours from Sohra, with an overnight stop on the way if you prefer.