As we hadn’t seen much of Shillong yesterday, we decided we would do some of the sights here. Got up pretty early and went to Lady Hydari Park in the south of the city. Nothing much to write about the park other than that there is a small zoo also inside. There were very few people inside as it was very early in the day. We loved looking at the majestic Serpent Crested Eagles in the aviary though! From here, we had planned to do a short hike up to Shillong peak on a walking track on wikimapia. However, the guard scared us saying that it was very steep that way and the other easier way was about 8km. We decided we would go to Crinoline falls instead.
It wasn’t easy finding the way to the waterfall - the way is actually past a swimming pool and is a short hike on a cobbled trail. Up we went the trail - and, kept going - and, couldn’t find the waterfall. We weren’t disappointed though as we had instead reached a heavenly place. Tall trees around a small clearing with a nice breeze - how could we ever be disappointed! However, we asked some people about the waterfall and learned that we had to take a diversion on the trail which had walked on. We went back, but were now disappointed - there was very little water and no waterfall! Shillong has been unusually warm this year and it hasn’t been raining much here.
We had an appointment at the tourism department and went to Lower Lachumiere (an area in Shillong) for the meeting. But, we were asked to come back later so thought we could use this time to visit the Tripura Castle, which earlier was the summer retreat of the Maharajas of Manikya dynasty in Tripura. We tried using Google maps to get to the castle and failed miserably. After walking up steep roads, we ended up at a cemetary! There was a building nearby, but we couldn’t find any approachable way to get there. An old lady from the nearby locality collecting firewood showed up and she led us to the building (which was a pastoral home - I don’t know what that is!) on a narrow trail. The librarian here showed us the way to Tripura castle, which was nearby. We were a little hesitant when we got to the gate because of this sign.
We decided to carry on bravely and then realized our folly - two ferocious, snarling dogs rushed towards us! We were saved only because the dogs were on a ledge at the top and we also called for the guards who then reined in the dogs. The castle is a heritage hotel now and we looked around a bit before heading back. We spent most of our time around government office though. And walked a lot! Did I write why I think Shillong is a pedestrian’s paradise? Remind me to.