Double Decker Living Root Bridges, Meghalaya

My family finally gave in to my persistence and that puppy face I made all day long. We had been debating on our North-East India itinerary for the past couple of weeks and we had almost closed in on the details except for a star attraction, the Double decker living root bridges of Meghalaya. Because of the time constraint, we had to choose either this marvel or the seven sisters’ fall excursion in Chirapunjee. Owing to the bleak amount of rain Chirapunjee had seen for the past month we were convinced that we’ll not be able to witness the falls at its glorious best. And that’s how living root bridges made it to the final itinerary.

The biggest apprehension about this attraction came from the fact that to reach the destination we had to walk down around 3500 steps and climb back the same amount to return to the starting point. The travel agents, blogs, and the locals told us that we had to be moderately fit to complete this on time.

Cotton clothes, comfortable shoes and with a light backpack we were ready for our challenge! After a 40 minutes drive through the thick forest of Chirapunjee we reached the starting point of the trek at Tyrna village. Enjoying in the sun were the young local boys playing with the wooden sticks and waving at the tourists who were ready to begin their journey. As we struck a conversation with them we realized there were no indicators on the trek, and we had to hire the locals to guide us through this trek. We began our journey through the lush green forest as we stepped down the flight of stairs. We always feel going down the stairs is a child’s play but post 200-300 steps it starts tricking your knee joints.

If you are not very ambitious and will be satisfied with the smaller version of the bridge, you can take a detour after around 500 steps towards the single decker bridge. Our parents who were between 50 and 60 years of age decided to adopt a slower comfortable pace to enjoy the scenery around and do only the single decker bridge. My sister and I continued with the guide, striding past our temptations to stop at small shops selling water, fruits, and snacks. Our first breather came along as we crossed a couple of manmade bridges hovering over a pure transparent light turquoise river gushing through the rocks. We lingered on the bridge and watched the beauty in silence. Observing nature taking its course with no intervention from humans made us feel small and humble. As we followed our guide towards the destination, through the mix of uphill and downhill stairs we continued to contemplate about life and how insignificant it is compared to this huge marvel of nature around us.

And there it was standing strong and magnificently big, basking in the sun. Two big Indian rubber trees were standing on both sides of the river whose thick strong roots dangled and formed bridges. The smaller roots are tied with the larger thick entangled roots by the local Khasi and Jaintia tribes for around 15 years to build a strong bridge that can stand the river for a longer duration than wooden bridges. This one is believed to be more than 100 years old and grows stronger with new roots entangling the older ones. You can take a walk on both the lower and upper bridge and realize the strength of these roots with every step.

Another 30 minutes of trek led us to a pool of bright turquoise freshwater where we dipped our feet and smiled at nature proudly showing us its beauty and might at the same time!

Travel Tips

– Let your backpack have extremely basic items so that you don’t carry unnecessary weight

– Suggest you to buy the hiking sticks at the beginning of the trek from the local guides. It’ll help you with a few tricky terrains, especially on the way back.

– Must carry cash in lower denominations to buy water and snacks at the shops

– Another 2.5 hours of trek from the double decker will take you to the Rainbow falls which is a must if you have time

– Few home stay options are available if you need to stay the night and continue the trek next day

Journey back is a strenuous one unless you stop every 60-80 steps and look around to take in more of nature’s marvel. Take a break at small shops and enjoy their fresh lime juices and oranges. The locals climb up and down the flight of stairs every alternate day to support this continuous supply of fresh fruits, snacks, and water at these shops for the tourists. I highly recommend the tourists to support the local shops and produce here since it is one of their major streams of revenue. They are one of the most environmentally friendly and responsible citizens of our country. Discarding plastic waste like covers or water bottles, unless in designated dustbins, is frowned upon. The civic sense here is much better than any metropolitan cities and every tourist gets influenced by their lifestyle however short their visit is.

Though exhausted and sore by the end of our journey, there was a sense of fulfillment, admiration, and gratitude 🙂 This will always be our star attraction in northeast India!

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