How do you truly embrace the essence of joy, feel the freedom and rewind to let go off all the stress? A fun- filled holiday with your family or friends is the best time to strengthen bonds and rejuvenate the love between dear ones and what could be a better place to have a good time with your family members or friends than Meghalaya?

The Laitlum Grand Canyons in literal sense means ‘The End of Hills’. It is a visual treat; one can see various shades of green for miles around, standing at the edge of the canyon. Laitlum Canyon is a picturesque mountain ridge situated near Smit in Meghalaya at a distance of 8km from Smit and 25 km from Shillong, it is one such spot from where vast, verdant, and fascinating panorama of Meghalaya could be viewed and admired. The scenic hill slopes of Laitlum are often called the Amphitheatre of Meghalaya. The Canyon is covered with a white misty blanket and is known for the best bird’s eye view of Shillong. In addition, Laitlum is a destination for nature lovers, music lovers, a true paradise for landscape photographers, adventures, attracts trekkers. The valley has a moody weather that will make you adaptive to different natural light conditions.

Visit and experience the enveloping fog, the freshness of the mist, the calm and reticent surrounding along with a vibrant spectrum of hues that makes one conspicuous during sunrise and sunset, makes the places breathtaking!

Being a native of the state of Meghalaya, I never got a chance to actually explore this place. This time I took the opportunity to explore some of the most interesting and breathtaking places of Meghalaya and the first in my bucket list was the Laitlum valley. While I was discussing with one of my close friends, Anushmita suggested me to go for Laitlum. I was hoping to soak my soul in the lingering romance of the sprawling valleys. With no second thoughts I decided to plan a visit to Laitlum Canyon.

At around 6.am driver came to picked me up, as soon as we left the hustle bustle city of Guwahati, we started our ascent through the winding hills of Meghalaya. And here waves of clouds passing right through us greeted us and beautiful meadows stretched all around. Hence, we stopped several times on route to experience this exceptional natural beauty. On one of the view points, there is a zip- lining setup, right across to beautiful greenery hills on the other side. On the way, we stopped by the road side at the Dhaba, I relished my paratha with curd and have a cup of hot tea. Nothing short of destination, as we travelled through the winding mountain route, my eyes were transfixed on the beautiful green meadows, villages and forests that passed us one after the other. After we reached the destination point I was over whelmed by the greatness of nature that surrounds me, the fresh chilly breeze and the valley rejuvenates and lightens my mood, the small hills around the place and the altitude at which the view point is situated will mesmerize you. It is like a magical valley while the clouds played hide and seek with us and we just randomly let the waves of cottony clouds pass through us. From the top of the Laitlum Canyon, one can see Rasong, a small hamlet nestled deep in the lush green ridges of the Laitlum gorge. A long steep stairway of about 3000 steps, hewn out of the mountain and lined eith fern covered rocks. If you visit you will find the 300 residents of Rasong depends on an old ropeway pulley the transport food grains and essential commodities down the valley and up to the hilltop. The stairway which passes through sprawling bamboo plantations and colourful bursts of orchids is the only route between the village and the nearest markets. As I was keen to know more about their way of living so I ask some local people, they replied that on days when the rusty old pulley is out of order, the sight of local carry traditional bamboo basket as they climb up the steep mountainside which is common in Laitlum. The main cash crop of Rasong is the broom plant, which the locals used to be sold in the market of Shillong. 

The terrain is a bit difficult to navigate but it has some of the best views in the world and the freshest air one can breathe. In the middle of valley, there is only one shop in the vicinity which offers simple snacks. This is the place where you would love to do nothing, roll on the meadow; take a long walk in the valley, meditate or just have that no holds barred heart to heart conversation with yourself or a companion. The golden meadow of January as I witnessed it will turn lush green during monsoons, the grass soft and inviting. It may be a little slushy on rainy days so it may be sensible to carry a mat along. This is the place where Bollywood movie Rock On 2 was filmed. If you have watched the movie you will be able to easily identify the location of the concert.   

There are no eateries in the area except for a few kids selling full- boiled eggs and their mothers selling steaming hot black tea from kettles, corns in traditional bamboo baskets is all that you will get at the Laitlum. If you are planning to spend quality time there, it is very much advisable to carry packed food, hampers. Furthermore, at the bottom of the canyon is a gurgling steams flow amidst grassy meadow. The meadow serves as an excellent picnic spot with a beautiful viewpoint of four waterfalls. All I can do is obsessed with standing on the edge to look down into the valley- the infallible attraction of nature. It has an amazing healing quality but we are so addicted to our gadgets that we forget for our zest, we tend to forget or lose the opportunity to live in the moment. I am glad she suggested and I chose to tread on a road less travelled since the detour to Laitlum was a perfect closure to my trip. From my experience the best time to visit this valley is in the afternoon hours as the place is covered with foggy in the morning and in the evening. I should say it was the best memorable experience so far.

Content Writer- Wapangla Ozukum.