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Published: September 25th 2011
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Day 1 - Waking on the train was delightful as we passed through secluded villages, green fields and lakes stretching beyond the horizon. Arriving at Guwahati train station the four of us headed out towards the rickshaw stand, only to find that the prices we were quoted were too high for the short journey to the hotel area so instead we decided to walk. Heading inside multiple hotels to enquire about prices we were told no rooms were available despite several keys hanging on the wall. Knowing we weren't very welcome in this town we decided to skip staying over and take a shared sumo (jeep) straight to Shillong. Crammed into the backseat of a jeep for 4 hours, we finally arrived at Shillong welcomed by the sight of green valleys and expanding lakes. Emerging from the jeep we took a taxi to Shillong centre where we wandered about in search of a hotel. Once checked into a mad dog-guarded hotel we headed to the oriental bar for much needed food and rum and coke. Thirsty for more ale, we headed in search of other bars. Discovering the drink was well over-priced, we purchased our own supply and headed to the
room to enjoy with card-playing. Many drunken hours later we retired to bed.
Day 2 - Waking and checking out, we headed out for egg rolls before returning to the hotel to collect our bags to be taken to Hotel Earle Holiday Home. With only a 350 and 450 rupee room available we took both, deciding to split the price and leaving it to 'rock, paper, scissors' to determine who got the best room - we lost 😞 Feeling peckish we headed inside a local eatery serving set meals for 25 rupees . . here we indulged in a tray of dal, mixed veg and plain rice which we ate with our hands and licked our fingers clean (delicious). We then headed to the state library for an art exhibition to which we had been invited the night previously. Here we observed the artwork and sculptures whilst being photographed ourselves. After here we made our way to the local polo ground to watch the archery lottery which we had placed bets on that day - basically 40 archers shoot as many arrows as they can at a wicker target in a 5-minute round, and the aim of the lottery
is to guess the last 2 digits of the total number of arrows that have hit the target. As well as watch the two archery rounds, we were delighted when given the opportunity to fire some arrows ourselves during the practice round much to the amusement of the locals. Making our way back to town we stopped at centre point restaurant for samosas and numerous other snacks. We then headed to Gill and Andy's room to enjoy some western T.V. before bed.
Day 3 - After waking and eating breakfast, we arranged for a taxi to take us to the nearby village of Smit in hope of meeting the King. Upon arrival our expectations were dashed when we discovered the village was not so remote and more developed than we had expected, not to mention we weren't greeted by the king with open arms but rather were left loitering around his building like lemons! After stopping at the local bakery for some bready snacks, we took our taxi back to Shillong. With Hayley feeling ill, it was off to bed for a few hours while Chris spent the afternoon making his own kite. Waking and feeling hungry we headed
back to our favourite bar for dinner and drinks. Later that evening we headed back to the deluxe room for yet more T.V viewing before bed.
Day 4 - Waking that morning in need of a relaxing day, we headed to a local toy shop where we purchased a Frisbee and then made our way to the local park for fun and games. Hours were spent playing cards, frisbee and taking cheesy snaps next to trees and frolicking through rose gardens (such a great day). Nearing 4 o'clock we decided to leave and go for food at the ever so tasty continental bar and restaurant (by this point we were regulars). Deciding to get drunk yet again, we purchased more rum and coke and headed to the deluxe room where Andy and Gill had set their mattresses outside on the porch. So yet again the night was spent drinking and playing numerous games of cards.
Day 5 - Waking feeling quite hungover from the previous nights drunken antics, we packed up, checked out and headed to subway for some much needed hangover food. We then made our way by taxi to the sumo stand located approximately 10 minutes
out of town. After wandering for 20 minutes struggling to find a sumo to Cherapunjee, we finally find one and were on our way to the wettest place on earth.
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