Dawki
Border Town On The Umngot River, West Jaintia Hills · Dawki, Meghalaya
A small border town in the Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya, on the Umngot river, which in the dry season runs so clear that the boats on it seem to float in the air above the stones on the riverbed. Photographs of those boats spread widely online, and they turned a quiet frontier town into one of the most visited spots in Meghalaya. Wooden boats take visitors along the green water between forested banks and under the suspension bridge built by the British. Upstream, the village of Shnongpdeng has camping by the river, snorkelling, kayaking and cliff jumping. Dawki is also a crossing point into Bangladesh, at Tamabil, and there is a viewpoint over the border. The clarity depends entirely on the season: from roughly November to April the water is clear; in the monsoon it turns muddy and boating may stop. Mawlynnong, a village famous for cleanliness with a living root bridge nearby, is on the way from Shillong, about two and a half hours by road. Weekends and holidays bring crowds and queues for boats.
Dawki, West Jaintia Hills, Dawki, Meghalaya, 793109, India
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The usual pattern: boats run in daylight, roughly from 8 am to 4 or 5 pm, and dark comes early in the northeast, around 5 pm in winter. The best clarity is from about November to April. In the monsoon, roughly June to September, boating may be suspended when the river is high. The Dawki bridge is single-lane and shared with border trucks, so jams build during the day. THE TRAPS: travelling in the monsoon expecting clear water, arriving at the landing at noon on a weekend, and leaving Shillong too late to finish before dark. Confirm conditions before going.