Northeast for International Travellers

• Shillong
• 1,525 m
• 115 km · 3–3.5 hrs
• Dinner

Most international travellers reach Guwahati on a domestic connection from Delhi, Kolkata or Bengaluru. Your escort meets you at arrivals with a name board and a local SIM card if you want one, which needs your passport and visa. The 3 to 3.5 hour drive to Shillong climbs from the Brahmaputra plain into pine-covered hills, with a tea stop at the Umiam Lake viewpoint. At check-in the hotel records your passport details for Form C and registers you on the Meghalaya tourism app, which is routine. In the evening, walk Police Bazar with your escort for momos and jadoh, a Khasi rice and pork dish, or find a cafe with live music.

• Shillong
• 1,525 m
• About 60 km in total · 2.5 hrs
• Breakfast, Dinner

We drive 25 km south-west to Mawphlang, where a Khasi guide leads a 1.5-hour walk through the sacred forest, protected by clan tradition for centuries. Nothing may be taken out, not even a fallen leaf, and the guide explains the monoliths, sacrificial sites and the plants the community uses. Back in Shillong after lunch, the Don Bosco Museum gives the best overview of the Northeast's peoples you will find anywhere, across seven floors of dress, tools, music and ritual objects. Finish on its rooftop Skywalk. In the evening your escort can arrange a table at one of Shillong's music cafes; the city has a long tradition of blues and rock.

• Sohra
• 1,480 m
• 60 km · 2 hrs, plus sightseeing
• Breakfast, Dinner

The road south to Sohra, also known as Cherrapunji, crosses rolling grassland with a stop at the Mawkdok Dympep gorge. At Nohkalikai Falls, water drops 340 m from the plateau edge into a green pool; the flow is strongest from June to October and thin from December to February. After a Khasi lunch, walk through Mawsmai Cave, a short, lit limestone cave with a few narrow squeezes, and then stand at the Mawsmai viewpoint above the Seven Sisters cliffs, with Bangladesh's flat plains below. Sohra holds some of the highest rainfall records on earth, and the weather changes quickly, so keep a light rain jacket. Tonight's resort sits on the plateau edge.

• Sohra
• 1,480 m
• 25 km return · 1 hr, plus 5–6 hrs walking
• Breakfast, Packed lunch, Dinner

After an early breakfast we drive to Tyrna village with a local guide and walk down about 3,500 concrete steps through forest and betel nut groves, crossing two steel rope bridges. The descent takes 1.5 to 2 hours. At Nongriat, the double decker root bridge, two levels of living rubber-tree roots trained across a stream by Khasi villagers over generations, spans a clear pool where you can swim in warm weather. Rest, have a simple lunch at a village stall, and start the climb back by 1 pm; going up takes about two hours with rests. The walk is steep but not technical. If your knees object, the guide shows you a shorter root bridge nearer the road.

• Guwahati
• 55 m
• About 155 km · 4.5 hrs
• Breakfast, Dinner

We drive back through Shillong and down to Guwahati, arriving by early afternoon. After lunch we visit Kamakhya Temple on Nilachal hill, one of the most important Shakti temples in India, where the goddess is worshipped in a natural rock form rather than an idol. The courtyards are busy with pilgrims, priests and goats; dress modestly, remove your shoes at the entrance and expect crowds. The temple closes for the afternoon break until about 2.30 pm and for darshan at about 5.15 pm. In the early evening we take a cruise on the Brahmaputra, subject to operation, and watch the sun set over a river more than a kilometre wide.

• Kaziranga
• 70 m
• About 200 km · 4.5–5 hrs
• Breakfast, Dinner

We leave Guwahati at 7.30 am and drive east on the highway through Nagaon. From Jakhalabandha, the road runs along Kaziranga's southern edge, and rhinos often graze within sight of the highway. We reach your lodge near Kohora for lunch. The afternoon jeep safari in the Central or Western Range runs about two hours through tall elephant grass and wetlands. Rhinos are almost certain; you will likely also see wild water buffalo, swamp deer, wild elephants and many birds, including pelicans and storks. Tigers live here but are seen only occasionally. Foreigners pay a higher park entry fee than Indians, which your escort settles at the gate.

• Majuli
• 85 m
• About 95 km · 2.5 hrs, plus ferry 1–1.5 hrs
• Breakfast, Dinner

The second safari starts around 7 am in a different range, often the Eastern Range at Agaratoli for its water birds, or the Central Range again for rhino. After breakfast we continue north-east to Nimati Ghat near Jorhat and cross the Brahmaputra by ferry, with the car on board. Majuli is one of the largest river islands in the world and the centre of Assam's neo-Vaishnav monastic tradition, begun by the saint Srimanta Sankardev in the 15th and 16th centuries. In the late afternoon a local guide takes you to a satra, a monastery, for the evening prayers with cymbals and drums. You stay in a bamboo cottage.

• Majuli
• 85 m
• About 40 km on the island · 3 hrs
• Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Start at Samaguri Satra, where monks make masks for the island's religious theatre from bamboo, clay and cloth; you can watch the work and buy a small mask. Then visit Auniati Satra, with its museum of old utensils and manuscripts, and Kamalabari Satra, known for dance and music. After lunch your guide takes you into a Mising village, where houses stand on stilts against the floods and women weave on looms underneath. If you are interested, you can try a short cycle ride between villages. In the evening, watch the sunset over the river channels and share a Mising dinner of fish, greens and rice at your guesthouse.

• Departure
• 116 m
• About 35 km · 2.5 hrs including the ferry
• Breakfast

After breakfast we take a morning ferry back to Nimati Ghat and drive about 20 km to Jorhat Airport, which has flights to Kolkata and Delhi for international connections. Ferries can be delayed by fog in winter or low water, so we book flights after 1 pm where possible. If your flight is late, we can visit a tea estate near Jorhat, the heart of Assam's tea country, to see plucking and processing in season. If you would rather return to Guwahati, it is about seven hours by road or train. Your escort stays with you until check-in. Please share feedback, since international travellers help us refine this route.