OVERLANDING INDIA PT.1 (THE NORTHEAST) - The Way Overland - Episode 42

India! One thing that continues to amaze me is how everything can be so different as soon as you cross the border. There's never any easing into it, just a complete cultural change as soon as you step foot over that invisible line. India was no exception.

The check in process was all relatively easy, though it did take a bit longer than usual because there were multiple foreign vehicles coming in at once. One thing happened at this border crossing that was yet to happen is that they searched both Troopy's and motorbikes. With the motorbike panniers being more easily accessible they had a much more thorough search than us, which thankfully, because I was getting pretty excited for my first 'actual' Indian curry, they just had a quick squizz in our little home and said they were satisfied.

Leaving the customs building for Moreh (the border town) we drove for about 100m and were stopped by a military check point and had to supply all of our documentation, again. The officers were friendly and quite curious as to how we'd all driven/rode there from Australia. After about 45 minutes and they were satisfied that we were travellers and not smugglers, we were on our way and drove into town to get set up for the night.

From Moreh we had another 2 HUGE days of driving to get to our first destination, Sohra (Cherrapunji). The first day took us up into the mountains, mountains that were so beautiful, so clean and so steep that it felt like we were flying along the edge of them. We went up and down many times, as Mark had the longest arm workout of his life taking the Troopy around the never ending bends. This is not what I'd pictured India to look like!

After a very long day of driving we had an overnight stop outside a police station on a dusty road that filled up with trucks by 5am. We left early to finish off the drive to Sohra and arrived mid afternoon.

Following a big past week of driving we were pretty excited to set up for a few days and explore the area. Sohra is a small town which sits atop a plateau overlooking the plains of Bangladesh; it is also known as being one of the rainiest places on earth; thankfully there was no rain on our visit.

We found a great place to set up, right on the edge of the plateau with the Nohsngithiang Falls just walking distance away, which of course we climbed down to check it out.

The area is also known for the 'Living Root Bridges', which are handmade from the roots of rubber fig trees and they actually grow stronger over time. To check these bridges out we walked down about 2000 steps into the valley to reach them. They were really beautiful and really secure to walk across. From the root bridge we trekked for another 30mins to one of the most amazing swimming holes I've ever seen. The water was crystal clear and so blue I could barely believe it was real, especially after jumping in to cool off after a sweaty walk. Feeling very high on life this fine afternoon we sat back to take it all in, looking the whole way up the valley to the waterfall coming off the plateau. What a beautiful sight, one that I will never forget. Am I selling it or what!? Now just for the climb back up the stairs!

(Just a note - that's the sound of the forest at 14:12 - almost deafening! After trying several different filters that's the best reduction we could do!)

That's a wrap for this episode! Thanks for watching! In the next episode we’ll be heading west to Nepal and preparing for our month long trek in the Everest region!

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