The Bamboo Trail to Meghalaya's Mawryngkhang Peak

It was a relatively bright morning in Shillong that day, the weather being otherwise surprisingly wet for October's the last couple of days. We've been hearing quite a bit about the Mawryngkhang bamboo trek over the years and wanted to do it this time if the weather Gods were kind enough.

We rented a scooter from the owner of our Airbnb, filled coffee in our flask and set out towards Wahken village where the trek begins and leads to U Mawryngkhang peak.

Legend says, U Mawryngkhang (King of Stones in Khasi language) fought with a rival, Mawpator for the hand of a beautiful damsel Kthiang and won. The trek terminates at the U Mawryngkhang peak, with another small hill right next to it, believed by locals to be Kthiang. There is another small hill protruding abruptly in the valley beside Mawryngkhang peak, beleived to be the severed remains of Mawpator.

U Mawryngkhang peak at the end of the Trail (Click on the image for larger size and better clarity)

Our Airbnb was in upper Shillong, about 500 mts from the main road connecting Shillong to all parts westwards including Cherrapunji, Mawsynram and Dawki. I've realized from my past experience in Shillong that staying in Downtown or in the Guwahati or Silchar end of Shillong is absolutely pointless (unless your purpose of visit is to explore the food and crowded markets of this hill town) since all the treks and places of interest are towards the other end. Shillong is popular among its other fellow North Eastern state capitals for its notorious traffic, you'd get stuck for hours in its serpentine smoke filled traffic especially if you end up staying in Shillong proper.

The ride from Shillong to Wahken, a 14 km detour from a place called Pomlum on the Dawki road, took about 90 minutes. Milestones are clearly marked and the location is available on Google maps as well although the internet is intermittent so downloading maps for offline use is recommended. We had read a few blogs about the Trek before heading there which mentioned freshly harvested pineapples being sold at the point where the Trek starts and were looking forward to them. I love pineapples and was imagining stuffing my mouth with them, needless to say we were disappointed. No fruit, just Maggi in the few shops that were around.

                                    The Small Hut at Wahken, Pay the fee for the hike here

There is a little village council run Hut where you can park your vehicles and pay the fee before beginning the Trek, hard to miss it. We paid, had a little chat and began descending down the stone steps amidst dense grassland foliage. The trail has stone steps for the most part while it turns and twists in a steep descent to a stream which would take approximately 30-45 minutes. 

Initial Descent towards the stream

Learning from my previous double decker root bridge Trek, I've realised it's wisest to not rush it on the way down since that's what hurt my calf muscles the most. We didn't encounter anyone while descending towards the stream and wondered if we were indeed on the right trail until we saw few bamboo bridges on the stream bed that lead to the other side of the bank.

The Stream bed after which is a steady climb  

The actual trek begins from here which is relatively easy in the initial bit, steep at times but with a fairly gradual climb for the most part. There are a couple of small streams along the path to fill fresh water in your bottles, the humidity does make you thirsty even though the temperature is not too hot. After midway along the climb is when the precariously tied bamboo trail begins around the hill, the bamboo path is wide enough to accommodate only one person at a time so we started walking in a file. The bamboo path creaks at times being moist for the most part owing to the rainfall Meghalaya witnesses and might was a bit scary initially but once we got an idea of its strength and how well it was tied, we were comfortable for the rest of the hike.

Steady climb after crossing the stream bed

Occasional Steeper parts in an otherwise steady climb throughout the trail

This was definitely not the scariest trek of India (or even in Meghalaya for that matter, the David Scott Trail in Meghalaya is more challenging) as proclaimed loudly in the thumbnails by lot of our youtubers. This is easily doable even by beginner trekkers as long as you are fit enough and used to walking or hiking for few kilometres at a stretch. We were actually more scared of the strong wind than the actual trail since it was overcast by then and looked like it could start raining any moment. Not ones to give up, we trotted on hoping the rain God’s would be merciful on us that evening.

Approaching the narrow parts of the trail

The Creaking Bamboo does scare you a bit once in a while.

We decided to just trust the local's wisdom and walked along. Wind is more of a challenge than the creaking bamboo.

An hour after beginning the hike and winding around two hills on the creaking bamboo trail, we reached the first peak where there is a view point offering amazing views of the valley. We stopped here to enjoy the view and rest for a while to calm our heart rates after huffing and puffing through the steep last 500-1000 meters before reaching this peak. We can see the Mawryngkhang peak to the right and the last bit of the trail goes through a couple of crevices which look intimidating but easily passable. We contemplated turning back from here since it already began drizzling but decided to continue eventually emboldened by the coffee we carried from Shillong.

Weather changes quickly in Meghalaya

The last Leg..

Stairway to Heaven

We reached Mawryngkhang peak in about 15 minutes from this point and the drizzling slowed down to show us a clearer view of the valley. We just sat there for a while appreciating the beauty that Meghalaya is, greatful to have continued to hike till the peak. The feeling of accomplishment, amazing weather, seclusion from habitation, views along the trail and at the destination definitely made the trek worth it.

U Mawryngkhang peak at the end of the Trail

Heading Back while the Sun is still out 

Fin.

Since the Sun sets very early in the North East, we headed back and reached Wahken in about three hours. Given the time of the year or the hike being branded as very scary by social media, we barely encountered about 10 people in the entire trek. However this is an easier trek compared to the double decker living root bridge trek at Nongriat and offers an equally amazing experience if not better. Do try it and reach out in case you need any help with the route or logistics.