Mawlynnong December 23

On Wednesday December 23 I went sightseeing again. There was mix-up about the van and driver, so Zovi, a friend, the teenage children of Rev. Pachuau, and I did not get underway until after 11:00. My friends had mostly not been to any of the places we visited today or yesterday.

We went to Mawlynnong village, an eco-village that advertises itself as the cleanest village in India, if not Asia. They have waste baskets all along the various paths in the village, although I did spot a pile of trash behind one rock. The villagers have set up a bamboo lookout tower with a view down to the plains just across the border into Bangladesh. The landscape has lush vegetation, a sharp contrast to yesterday.

Mawlynnong village with the waste baskets

The bamboo lookout tower with some trash behind the rock

Me with Bangladesh in the background

We then went to see a balancing rock outside the village.

The Balancing Rock

Then we had picnic lunch of rice (what else?) before going to a most remarkable living root bridge formed out the roots and trunks of a number of trees.

The picnic lunch

The Group at the Living Root Bridge

The Living Root Bridge

The Living Root Bridge

On the way back in Shillong we got stuck in a traffic jam that delayed our return for about an hour and a half. Once back at the PCI building, I joined a church fellowship group in the apartment of Rev. Pachuau. It happened to be his and his wife Marovi's 25th wedding anniversary.

The fellowship group. Rev. Lalramliana Pachuau is playing the guitar and his wife Marovi is next to him in the red shawl.