Living Root Bridge and Rainbow Waterfall Trek

Living Root Bridge Rainbow Waterfall Trek

Living Root Bridge Rainbow Waterfall trek lies Cherapunji, Meghalaya, is one of the natural wonders of Meghalaya, India. As the name suggests, they are built from living or hanging roots of the banyan tree or similar. These bridges were built by locals to help them cross the valleys. Now they have become the latest tourism attraction.
The article covers the following

• Single Decker Bridge - 2 hours trek
• Double Decker Bridge - 4 to 6 hours trek
• Rainbow Waterfall - approximately 10 hours trek
• Experience at Double Decker Living Root Bridge
• Experience at the Rainbow Waterfall
• Natural water swimming pools
• Other bridges through the valley

Other Miscellaneous items

Geography

Trek gear and things to carry

Food and accommodation near Double Decker Living Root Bridge

Return to Sohra in evening

Geography

The bridges are located near small village Nongrita,Tyrna, Meghalaya,a an hour's drive from Sohra or Cherapunji. The distance is about 21 km. While it is one of the budding tourist attraction, there are very few stay options near it. Most of the hotels are located in Cherapunji or Sohra.

Trek gear and things to carry

• Light sports wear - tshirt and shorts
• If you are visiting the place in winter, you might need a light jacket.
• Sport shoes or trekking shoes
• Caps
• Sunglasses
• Raincoat or ponchos if it rains
• Swimming wear and clothes to change - If you decide to enter water at the double decker bridge, natural swimming pools or the rainbow waterfall.
• Sunscreen lotion
• Water bottles - there are many streams on the way and water bottles can be refilled.
• Dry snacks , yoga bars, chocolates,.khakra and dry bhel.
• Food  - there are many food joints available on the way till the living root bridge. These joints are run by locals and serve basic food items like maggi noodles, omlete, bread omlete, cold drinks, bottled water etc.

Single Decker living root bridge

Just after you have climbed down approximately 1000 steps, you will come across single decker living root bridge. It is to your left and one might miss it, as it is located behind a house. There is a nominal tourist fee of rs 50 which one needs to pay.

One day trek to living root bridge

If you plan to visit only the Double Decker Living Root Bridge, then it would take around 4 to 5 hours.  I would not recommend, hiring a guide to the living root bridge as the route is pretty straight forward. However, if you do feel generous and want to generate some local employment then it's good to hire a guide. We left early morning at 6 am from our hotel in Sohra as we wanted to cover the rainbow waterfall in the same day. It is approximately 5 hours trek each side along with breaks at each spot. Total duration amounts to 10 hours.We reached the entry point at around 7 am. There are local people available as guides, it makes sense to hire them if you are planning to visit the rainbow waterfall. As at couple of places, the route leads to two roads and it becomes confusing. Since it's one day tour, it's recommended not to loose time, figuring out the route. The guide charges around Rs 800 for Rainbow waterfall. Needless to say, one needs to bargain.

Rainbow waterfall trek 

 I would classify this trek as moderate difficult simply not due to the distance. There is a twist to it. Usually all treks start from bottom of the hill and we climb up reach the top by mid of the day. Later we climb down. However in this case, the topography is exactly opposite. We climb down reach, reach the living root bridges. Walk around flat surface for some time and then again climb up last 1.5 km to reach the rainbow waterfall.  While going back, we will initially have climb down up to the living root bridge. Then comes the difficult part, the last leg from the living root bridge is a steep climb of 3000 steps.  This strainous exercise happens when you are completely tierd by end of the day.

Several bridges through the valley

Even though the name of the destination is living root bridge, one needs to cross sevaral wired bridges through the valley. Few of them are firm and couple of people can walk over it at a time. However there is one, which is barely made from long iron bars or strips and only one person can walk through it at a time.

To add some special effects, these bridges start vibrating in the same frequency as that of your foot steps. So you are compelled to walk slow and in one rythm. Later while heading Rainbow waterfall, the local villagers were building a bridge and we had to cross the river on a make and shift bamboo sticks bridge. There were places where we also had to climb small cliffs with help of some roots of the trees besides it.

Double Decker Living Root Bridge experience

After walking down the steps for approximately 2 hours, we reached the Double decker living root bridge.The double decker living root bridge is build over a small stream of water flowing between the valley.  We were the early birds and were able to take photographs of the bridge with out much crowd around. There are small fish available in the stream flowing bellow the bridge, people usually let their feel loose in it and enjoy a free foot massage. Some people also enter the stream and have a refreshing fresh water bath. Usually those who only visit the living root bridge, usually spend an hour or two around the bridge and return back to Tyrna village.

Food and accommodation near Double Decker Living Root Bridge

The stream and current tourism attraction has attracted many houses around it. There is a small homestay available near the double decker living root bridge. I would recommend this stay only for adults who are used to basic budget accommodation. Usually people will come on first day and have a halt at the home stay. Next day they proceed ahead to the rainbow waterfall. If you are going along with kids then it makes sense to plan a one day trip.

Rainbow waterfall

From the double Decker living, we left for the Rainbow waterfall. There are few turns through the small houses and one football ground which are confusing. Either you hire a guide or check with local villagers before proceeding. Else you would get lost in wild. After few meters, the path is full of bridges and wilderness with no trail of humans on the way. There was one bridge which was under construction. We had to climb down the mountain cliff (10 to 12 feet), cross the river over make and shift bamboo sticks bridge and again climb up mountain cliff with support of some tree roots. An adventure to remember, I must admit. The trail follows few steep climbs and we reached the rainbow waterfall at 11 am, after trek of another 1.5 to 2 hours.

 The glimpse of Rainbow waterfall is stunning as you see the gush of deep blue water falling from height of 20 meters or so down the pool. There is a yellow stone located just below the waterfall. It glows like a golden rock, when sun shines on it. On the way, we were able to spot a lot of flora and fauna. Wild mushrooms on the dead wood log was an sight to behold.

We also spotted some black and purple butterflies on the way. Some unique ferns and lots and of green vegetation on the way.

Note: The color of the water in rivers, streams, waterfall etc changes based on the season.  Scenery similar to the pictures in blog, is available in months of September to January. Later when monsoon starts, the water becomes muddy.
The base of the waterfall is not easily accessible. Some adventure enthusiast youngsters had climbed down cliff to the base of the waterfall and were bathing in the waterfall. I would not recommend the same to all. We had dry snacks while enjoying the view of the waterfall from top. There is a small shop which sells soft drinks, chips and biscuits. We started our way back after sometime.

Natural swimming pools

The swimming pool is formed by accumulation of water in hollow cavity along the river. On our way back, we had a pleasure to soak ourselves in natural water swimming pool. The water was very chilly and it took us some time to be comfortable. Since we were on a day trek, we spent approximately 30 minutes over there and moved ahead.

If you plan to stay over night then one can leave your luggage at the home stay near the living root bridge and enjoy bath here late afternoon.

We had maggi for lunch at the living root bridge and proceeded ahead for the day. The last climb of approximately 3000 steps was strainous as we were already tierd.
Approximately at 5 pm, we reached the Tyrna village.

Return to Cherapunji or Sohra

The through traffic from Tyrna village to Sohra stops after 5:30 pm, for safety reasons. As visibility in this area is low due to foggy weather in evening. So one needs to plan the living root bridge visit accordingly.
We came across two Asian lady travellers, who had booked a taxi in morning from Cherapunji. The taxi driver had dropped them at Tyrna village in morning and went back to Cherapunji. Since the driver didn't return in time to pick them up, they had requested a drop from us. One needs to keep also be aware that local transport like buses etc is not available in the evening time. Luckily the driver arrived and drove them back to Cherapunji.

Madhugiri Fort Trek

Madhurgiri trek is a one day trip from Whitefield, Bangalore. The trek lasts for approximately 2 hours to 3 hours.

• Geography
• Logistics
• Single day trip
• Two days or weekend trip
• Meera Velankar
• Recommended Trek gear
• Mom's on Scooty experience
• Silk Cocoon cultivation
• Evening near the Madhugiri Lake
• Madhurgiri trek difficult parts
• Photo session and fun spots in the trek
• Things to do on the top
• Stay options near Madhurgiri
• Can we do the trek on our own without trek group?

Geography

Madhurgiri is a small village in Tumkur district. It lies to south Eastern Karnataka. It gets the name from the monolithic rock hill named Madhurgiri. Madhu means honey and giri means mountain. It is around 130 km from Whitefield Bangalore.
The Madhurgiri hill is second largest monolithic rock in Asia. Monolithic means single rock structure.

Logistics:

There are two options available

Single day trip 

In case, you are short of time and have a day to spare then start early in the morning at around 5 o clock. Have an awesome breakfast on the way near Hebbal.Reach Madhurgiri village by 9 am.  The trek would get get over between 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. Leave Madhugiri and have an wholesome lunch a late lunch at Kamat on the highway.

Weekend trip or two days trip 

Start early morning, reach Madhurgiri by noon. Check in hotel in Madhurgiri and relax. After lunch, stroll around the lake near Madhurgiri village. Enjoy karokle ride if available. Spot some migratory birds nesting near the lake. Next day start the trek early morning by 6:30 am. The trek would get over around 10 am. Head back to Bangalore. Enjoy lunch at Kamat on highway.

I was fortunate to experience the trek two times. First time, in September 2018, we were group of four ladies on two wheelers, a Scooty Streak and Activa.
Myself, Meera Velankar, Deepa Pawar and Madha Joshi. We stayed over night and did the trek early morning.

Recently, in Nov 2019, I visited again Madhurgiri in a day trip, with an enthusiastic group of trekkers from Prestige Shantiniketan appartment complex in Whitefield Bangalore.

MeeraVelankar

Meera Velankar of pedalmummy.com is a well known cyclist and sports enthusiast. She arranges treks and cycling one days tours around Whitefield for adults and kids. Meera along with Swarna Prabhu from Prestige Shantiniketan had arranged the Trek to Madhurgiri on Nov 2019 first week.

Can we do the trek on our own without a trek group ?

Yes. The trek can be done on your own without a trek group. It is recommended that you form a small group of three to four people either friends or family and visit the place.  It's always advisable to hire a local guide. The Hotel Manjunath Comforts at the base of the Madhugiri fort can be contacted few days before the trek. They can arrange a local guide. This guide is usually a local resident, who knows the fort well. There are few difficult patches in the trek where you would need some expert help for the first time. Also as the name suggests, the fort is infested with honeybee nests and spotting of bear is possible. I have seen few videos on YouTube where solo travelers have climbed the fort on their own.

Recommended Trek Gear

• Comfortable sports wear or trek gear.

• Sports shoes. I would recommend not to wear treking shoes or the one with plastic sole. I had a bitter experience first time as I slipped at spot. It had rained the earlier day and some parts of the monolithic rock had small streams flowing downstairs. My shoes slipped in one such area and I was about to roll down my way to the base of the mountain. Luckily I held myself to the railing and our guide Siddhu came to my rescue.Half way through the trek, it's recommended to remove the shoes and walk bear foot as the hill becomes stiff and bear foot gives a good grip.

• Bag - carry a small sack bag with minimum one litre water, snack bars, chocolates, some light snacks.

• Sun protection - cap and sunglasses are recommended.

Mom's Scooty experience:

I had earlier done a Scooty trip to Masinagudi forest with my husband. Females only Two wheeler trip was on my wishlist for a long time. In September 2018, along with the Dare Devil girls gang, we decided to achive this feat on one of the weekdays. It was fun to ride the two wheeler on Highway and gave us much needed adrenal rush. It also allowed the four mother's to break free from our day to day activities for two days and just be on our own. I would definitely recommend others to do a small trip similar to this once in a lifetime.

 

Silk cocoon cultivation

Karnataka state is famous world wide for cultivation of good silk fabric. The silk thread is produced from silk worm cocoon. Once you take a left on the National Highway at Tumkur,we were able to spot few silk cocoon breeders near Madhugiri town. These are usually circular baskets of 1.5 meter diameter. The villagers sometimes keep them outside their house. The moths are spread around on the circular basket to form the cocoons. Once the cocoons reach a particular size, they are removed from basket and the tread is detached. The old lady was courteous enough and showed us the process.

 Evening near the Madhugiri Lake

In our first weekend trip, we decided to explore the local area and reached the lake near the village. There was no concrete road leading to the lake and we were skeptical of exploring the area. We could spot some fishermen fishing in the karokle. We dared to venture in the wild. The fishermen had just pulled back their nets and finished collecting  their days  catch in a karokle.  We could spot some nesting birds on the other end of the lake. We  were also able to hear a lot of frogs crocking in a shallow pond. It was a perfect time for sunset. The mirror image of the Madhugiri fort in the lake at the sunset was cherry on  top of the cake. What a perfect way to end the day. Later we went to the village did some shopping at local shop, loaded our self supplies for next days trek - fruits, milk and bread butter etc. We had dinner at local joint and crashed into bed.
Note - Madhurgiri being a small village do not expect high end shops and restaurants. The village will meet your basic needs.

 

 

Madhurgiri trek difficult parts:

To begin with the trek is sort of easy with stones steps. With 25% of the trek over, the monolithic rock begins. For the next 25% of the rock has steps carved in it and is supported with railing. The first difficult section come the mid way when person has to lean on both the hands and walk sideways. It is as good as doing push up and walking sideways on a steep. The second difficult section lies almost at the end where the rock is inclined at and angle of 70 degrees. This puts your calf muscles and quadriceps at test. If you do not exercise regularly, you are bound to experience major pain next day. After my bitter slipping experience, I always prefer going with the guide no matter what someone thinks of myself.

Things to do on the top :

Once you reach the top, one can sit and relax for half hour or so. The fort remains are in dilapidated condition however kept clean. You can sit in shade and enjoy the snacks. There are no shops or vendors, you need to carry snacks and water. There are no toilets, one has to answer nature's call in open. The scenic view of the Madhugiri town and near by villages will keep your camera lenses occupied for sure.
As per locals, people carry raw food and cook on top of the hill and have a one day picnic.

 

 Photo Session and fun parts in Madhugiri Fort:

A picture says million words. There are many places at the Madhugiri Fort where you can pause and take picture along with a breather.

 

 

 

Stay options in or around Madhurgiri:

If you opt for two days trip then it's advisable to stay at Madhurgiri near the base of the fort. As it will help you kick start the trek early in morning. There are two basic hotels available Manjunath Comforts and Akshay comforts. Both of them are at walkable distance from the start point of the trek. We stayed at Manjunath Comforts, during our  scooty trip in September 2018. Otherwise there are multiple hotels near Tumkur on the highway. However it's an hour's drive from the Madhugiri fort.This would probably delay the trek early morning.

Picture Credits :
Moms on Scooty - Myself. Deepali Pawar, Medha Joshi, Meera Velankar
Group Trek - Myself, Nayana Dongre, Prakash Upadhya, Satya Chekuri, Khusboo Jain and Team.