Cherrapunji & Living Root Bridges

Cherrapunji, known traditionally by its indigenous name Sohra, is a high tableland at 1,430 metres on the southern face of the East Khasi Hills in Meghalaya. The land drops away sharply from it into the low-lying plains of Bangladesh, and what lies between is cut by deep vertical canyons, honeycombed with colossal limestone caves, and hung with some of the world's highest plunge waterfalls — among them Nohkalikai, the tallest plunge fall in India. The valleys below hold the living root bridges. Khasi clans grow them over decades, training the aerial roots of Ficus elastica trees out across thundering mountain rivers. The finest of them is the Double Decker Living Root Bridge, deep on the valley floor at Nongriat village.