How did I reach Shillong?

I have a strong passion for travelling and whenever I get a chance to visit a new destinations, may be a hill station, a snowcapped mountain or a seabeach, I never miss it. I always love to spend time in the lap of nature.

 Last year by God's grace an offer to travel Shillong came my way. The tour came as a complete surprise. But the fact was that it was the outcome of our friends' joint efforts. One thing about it was crystal clear to me that the decision of tour was taken in haste ,was not properly planned.

 It was the beginning of Summer. Outside, the weather was neither hot nor cold, just normal. I along with my friends arrived at the Kolkata airport in the morning around eight o'clock and after security clearance, we boarded a plane for Guwahati as it is the  nearest airport to Shillong.

 The flight took off at scheduled time around 10 o'clock and landed at Guwahati airport after a gap of some forty five minutes.

 As we stepped out of the airport, we felt a bit cool. Here ,the summer was not as normal as Kolkata and a dip in the temperature could be felt easily.

 We hired a private car to get around Guwahati city and nearby places of historical and religious importance.

 It ran a few kilometres on the straight road and then curves appeared.

The road bent continuously and we headed at a steady speed on the spiralling road which climbed up  the peak and also our first destination 'The Kamakhya  Temple' an important pilgrimage place for Hindus. We worshipped the goddess and returned to the place where our car had been parked.

 Since morning, we had not eaten anything, almost on an empty stomach. Not a grain inside. At the same time we were also getting late as we had to reach Shillong before sunset. So, it was decided to have some food at the road side hotel.

 Hardly had we covered a distance of twenty kilometers, when one of our friends told us to halt the car. He complained us of an acute pain in the stomach due to acidity.

The driver understood the problem and applied the brake. The car came to a stop near a small cottage. We all came out of it.

 The driver without wasting a moment entered the cottage and brought a cot, a jug full of water and a hand made fan. My friend drank water and fell flat on the cot. We had no medicine of acidity to relive his pain and the hospital was also not present in the immediate vicinity. So, we all waited for his intense  pain to get reduce.

  Gradually, after an hour, his pain declined and he agreed to move. At that time I glanced at my watch. The time was 8:30 pm, much after sunset .

 The car again advanced towards Shillong in the pitch dark night and after a painful journey of four to five hrs, covering mountainous and spiralling roads we reached our main spot 'Shillong'.

 Anyhow, the driver managed a room in the hotel which was also the cause of our worry, to reach before sunset.

 Our journey to Shillong was pleasant barring some self created problems. No doubt we all enjoyed a lot.