SHNONGPDENG- A detailed guide to planning a visit here

Shnongpdeng, this name may not strike a chord with most of you but Dawki will!!, located in the Indo Bangladesh border and flowing across the two countries, the water levels of this river depends a lot on the rains. We have visited this place twice, once in September 2017 and later by December 2024.

These days thanks to social media and Instagram, Dawki has become the reason people plan their entire visit to Meghalaya but mostly end up getting disappointed because they visit the place at a wrong time!! here is your guide to plan an amazing holiday at this region!!

BEST TIME TO VISIT: The most common mistake everyone makes is the time of travel, we often choose our destinations based on Instagram posts and travel influencer suggestions but we forget about the seasons, we Indians are hard pressed for time and most of us end up traveling during summers to escape the heat or as per the school and college vacation for families, keeping that in mind the best time to visit the Dawki river to see it crystal clear all the way to the bottom of the river is between November to March. While the place has its own charm during the other months and boating is still possible its like yet another river and yet another boating experience. This time we visited by the end of December 2024 for the Christmas vacation. Having already seen it during September when it rained, this time I was so stocked to see the crystal clear waters and I got that.

OTHER PLACES TO SEE: While Dawki river is of course the hero of it all, The Shnongpdeng region is the adventure capital of Meghalaya, giving you opportunities for diving, kayaking, ziplining, rock climbing, rappelling and river side camping. Do visit the Indo Bangladesh border and the Amkoi village if you are a adventure junkie. A village through which the Dawki river flows in between captivating rock formations is a sight dreams are made of. While there are no proper roads or well laid pathways to the river front here, you need to hike and trek your way to the river front for one of the most rewarding experiences you could ever ask for. Imagine greyish white smooth rock formations on the either side with crystal clear turquoise green water meandering In-between.

Due to lack of awareness among tourists and also no direct vehicle access Amkoi is still untouched and is just 20 km from the main Dawki river boating point. the amkoi village also offers boating, cliff jumping, diving and other adventure activities to satisfy your thirst for adventure.

OUR DAWKI EXPERIENCE: Dawki for us was on top of our list and we were excited from the night before. Floating on these glass like waters are stuff that dreams are made of. We started that morning from our stay in Jowai. We headed straight to Dawki had a bowl of Maggi each for lunch and were all set for our boating, the moment we headed down to the river side what we saw was kind of heartbreaking!!

The last time we came here this place was an absolute hidden gem with just a handful of people scattered here and there and now it took us quite a while to navigate the crowd and make it to our boat. We also ended up with one of the rudest boatman we have ever met in all our travels. Some one who straight up refused to share his name with us, outright refused to click a single picture of us and also just took some short cuts and refused to take us to corners and spots where many other boat men were clearly taking us, all this mind you was communicated in an extremely rude manner, with zero hint of hospitality or humanity. He also seemed extremely put off for having to even do the job of taking us for a ride on his boat. I mean did we really ask? he could have handed over this assignment to anyone else. Anyway considering the current times, the environment we were in and who he could possibly be, we did not want to have much to do with him. But we realized one thing that day. That even if you are in paradise if you dont have the right kind of people with you, your experienced could be totally ruined. So instead of letting the boat guy ruin our meticulously planned vacation we decided to focus on mother nature!!

While this seems to be the case most of the times, if you want this place for yourself to enjoy the golden hours, some calm me time with the water to swim and dive you can choose to camp by the river side!! most of the camps are operational between November to March.

No matter how much your boatman tries to make faces or excuses, do try and go as deep inside as possible to get the maximum out of your Dawki excursion. To get some of the most stunning photos clicked and literally feel like you are floating in glass is so worth it and something you don't get anywhere in India.