company in east india - part III

This was the big day, I was about to alter records – Shillong was soon going to be my new eastern benchmark (the east most point that I had been to on this planet!). Got going with the omelet and toast routine, took a cab to the airport and was their in time. The companion was trailing by half an hour and had to meet her brother who had just arrived at the confluence of the ‘arrival – departure’ zones in the Subhash Chandra Bose Airport. Trust the companion for such familial reunions!

The flight was marginally late and we had to wait for a while. As the craft was scheduled to use the aerobridge we had the chance to sit in the waiting lounge just overlooking the runway. The conversation like the view was refreshing, also the fact that we had managed to get the emergency exit seats was quite a mental balm. Just one little cloud hung over our heads and that was the fact that the companion had a cousin who works for the same airline that we were flying, and that the cousin usually flew the same sector. Familial reunions, as I recently told were not rare however this one here was a potential irritant.

It was a swift flight and we were in Guwahati in an hour (companion managed to watch 10 minutes of F.R.I.E.N.D’s in-flight). The airport in Guwahati is quite like any other in a town that size. We went to the Meghalaya Government’s Tourism department counter and were handed over a little brochure about the splendid state; they also helped us in getting a cab – the journey to Shillong had started.

The distance between Guwahati and Shillong is around 100 Kms and almost all of it happens to be a hilly terrain. Upon entering Meghalaya we stopped over for refueling, most cab drivers who operate on that route prefer this arrangement (refueling in Meghalaya) over their own state Assam to benefit from the arbitrage in tax rates. Meghalaya is the only state in the country which has a matriarchal societal setup; women could be seen participating in all forms of life right from ‘manning’ petrol stations.

The companion was sitting on the right, right behind the driver and was getting quite uncomfortable with the sunshine to avoid which a nice royal spread-out nap was taken. The routine half-way stop at a local eatery was mildly disappointing as our craving for some Magi noodles could not be satiated, we settled for a cup of lemon tea which was nice and reviving. The journey resumed, this time with the air conditioning on and I managed to get some sleep. The companion did not take the hill driving too well and was looking quite terrible, we had to stop once for the motion sickness to be vented from then on it was all uphill, literally!

Barapani is around 17 kilometers before Shillong, famous for the Umiam Lake which gives it its name. Hotel Orchid, the government run resort is situated on the banks of this lake and is a very charming old world type of property. The man I met in AHA (refer part I) had recommended this place, we however chose not to stay there largely because it was almost deserted and distant from civilization even tough the view of the lake from the rooms was splendid and did tempt us. We moved on and reached Shillong shortly, there aren’t ‘first impressions’ that come to mind except that it seemed like a nice charming city in the way similar to most hill towns. On the cab driver’s recommendation, aided by our understanding of the city based on a mix of the Lonely Planet, Outlook Traveler and the tourism department’s brochure we decided that Hotel Centre Point situated at the heart of the city in Police Bazaar would be an appropriate place to halt. We checked into the fanciest room which presented a perfect vantage point view of the town square and retired for an hour (the drive had been taxing and it was approaching night). Once refreshed, we stepped out and bought a nice sweat shirt for the companion, who had managed to leave her woolens back home. There was nice nip in the air which pepped me up and we went for a stroll around the bazaar street looking for some place to eat. Tried looking for some local specialties but were not successful and settled for Bombay Bites, a simple place with an extensive spread (and quite a life saver as we would realize soon). We ate some pizza and a vegetable sizzler which was serviced with utmost dexterity by the ‘tara zameen pe’ waiter and were well content. This place was just opposite our hotel which meant that we were back in our fancy room even before we could burp. Watched a bit of television and retired for the day. We were now in the center of Shillong.