Okha: A Hidden Beach in the West

Okha, a small town on the western tip of the map of India is a less known place to most travelers. The town that is not more than an hour's drive from the famous pilgrim center and the ancient kingdom of Lord Krishna "Dwaraka". Still not crowded nor polluted like our regular beaches that we see. Not many know of this peaceful retreat. The only outsiders here are people who come on official purpose to the port and some marine botanists studying corals.

How to reach: The place can be reached by road or by train. There are frequent trains from Rajkot Junction, which is an overnight travel. There are very few places to stay, most of them being in the town and one or two on the beach. The town's not that big but there are enough ATM's and a bank and quiet a number of small hotels that serve decent Gujarati and North Indian food and  some Chinese too.

The place is one of the best beaches I've been to. And the quietest of all beaches that I know. Since it is a coral beach, one can spot quiet a number of molluscs (snails) of varied colours and shapes and sizes. The algae and the sea weed on the corals add a beautiful colour to the sea. If seen from a slightly elevated place like the terrace of hotel during the day; one will be delighted to see the different shades of blue and green shades of water which is due to the corals and algae on them. If lucky one can spot a cast of crabs in the early mornings and sometimes sea snakes. Other than the snails and the corals there are small fishing boats always floating on the sea.

A long evening walk on the beach is so calming for there is no one around to disturb and the place is so quiet the you can hear the waves crashing against the rocks and the wind gushing. The thing I love about this place is, one can see both the sun rise from the sea and set back into sea. More over if you happen to be there during the full moon days you'll catch a wonderful sight of moon rise from the sea too. If you are someone who loves watching small fishes, snails, corals and marine life; this is a must visit place.

I personally go there to find some peace. The place looks like a deserted island with not much outsiders and a bare minimum local population and small houses and empty streets. The only busy place of the town is the center of the town where lies the railway station, a bank and a few shops on two streets.  One can find accommodation in the town easily for an average cost. But I would prefer one with a view of the sea, which is about a kilometer away from the town. The place has no online bookings but room are available at any time of the year. There is no particular season to visit this place.  

My first Trip: Meghalaya

A view of the Khasi range from Cherapunjee

 My first trip ever was to 'The abode of Clouds' also called Meghalaya by Indians. A state so small but so rich in culture. A state that still preserves its tribal traditions and culture unlike the other developing tribal states of the North eastern parts of India. The state mostly borders Bangladesh on one side and Assam on the other side. 

 Shillong the capital of this tiny state is a quiet city with a lot of tourists buzzing around it all round the year. Easily accessible by bus and shared taxis from Guwahati which has the nearest airport and railway station is a 3 hour drive form Shillong. 

 If you are there for the weekend the local bazaar called the Police Bazaar is a must visit place in the evening. For a city that totally shuts down by 7 pm the bazaar is an exception on rare exceptions and i was fortunate to be there on one such weekend. The vendors there serve you different types of homemade momos (a local dish), chowmin and grilled pork and chicken. 

Elephant Falls - Shillong

There are a lot of places to look around Shillong itself. For this purpose you can hire a taxi with a package if you are in a group of 5 to 10 people or you can do it on your own except for some places. There are quiet a few intresting places around Shillong like the Elephant falls, Smith's valley, Air force museum, butterfly museum and a couple of Lakes and a zoo and Shillong view point. The viewpoint and Smith's valley are amazing only if there is no fog or rain on the day of vist.

The Khasi heritage village

The Khasi heritage village is a must visit place. It has some of the traditional Khasi tribal houses and stands just outside the Sacred Groves of the Khasi tribe. Though outsiders are not permitted to entre the Grove one can go close to the Grove and take a peek. Its a vast area of dark forest stretching for kilometers. A small walk from here would bring you to the start of a beautiful trail called the David Scott Trail. 

David Scott Trail: Its a one day trek of about 16 to 17kms. Not a very difficult trek. The view's so amazing throughout the entire trek. One comes across quiet a number of small streams cutting your path every now and then. Careful though. The trail can be very slippery if it had rained that week. Yes, I did slip quiet a few times, lol. Its a lot fun when you fall and pull your friends down too. There is one huge steel bridge that's been there from the British period which stands above the river and gives you a panaromic view of the hills and the river. A little further you will have to cross the stream on foot and this is my favorite part. You'll have to remove your shoes so that it doesn't get wet and the rocks are slippery and added to it the water is super cold, atleast in the month I went (November). A little bit more and we were at a small pond with crystal clear water and the taste of water at all the places was so good. The pond still stands so close to my heart. Warning: Its going to get real messy if it rains during your trek and in this kind of place you cannot predict when it might rain and when it might not. So, it's always good to go prepared for the worst.

Cherapunjee: The wettest place on earth, is famous not only for the frequency of rainfall it gets but also for the number of waterfalls, the caves and finally the most spectacular of all "The double decker Living Root Bridges".

The are a lot of caves in this region. Some are small and some are really big ones. Of them the one I liked the most was the one called Aarva Caves. Its darkness and tunnels were so amusing to me for it was my first caving experience. It took about 2 to 3 hours to explore about 60 to 70% of the cave. The rest I wasn't able to do because of the water stagnated in some lower levels due to recent rains.

There are quite a few famous falls in and around Cherapunjee like the Nohkalikai falls and the Seven sister falls. Both these places border Bangladesh. You have a flight of about 300 steps going down from the view point of Nohkalilai falls, which will take you to the very bottom of the falls where the water drops down creating a beautiful blue pool. Damn, the view was mesmerizing. 

A view of the Nohkalikai falls form the view point

And if you go a little further from the falls you come to a cliff from where you can see Bangladesh and a really awesome photo point. The other falls you cannot get so close. 

Mawlynnong: Claimed to be the cleanest village of India, the village is about an hour's drive form Cherapunjee. It is actually very clean. It looks more of a tourist spot than a village because of the tourism that has increased in this particular place over the past few years. Still it is great to walk along the cemented path and through the bamboo farms and the huts of the village. There are lots of small souvenir shops and snack shops all along the way. Most snack shops sell cucumber, fresh pineapple and fresh grapefruit. In fact you can spot some pineapples on your way to the village along the path outside some houses and you can also see women carving small souvenirs out of wood right in front of you in the shops. Most of the shops along the way offer their products at a very reasonable rate till you reach the village market where the prices are exorbitant, still of you can bargain you can get them for reasonable rates.