Nongriat

A village at the bottom of the steps

Nongriat is a small Khasi village in the East Khasi Hills, deep in a river gorge below Sohra (Cherrapunji). No road reaches it. The last road ends at Tyrna, about 12 km from Sohra, and from there a long flight of stone steps drops through betel-nut groves, jungle and two small hamlets to the village. People come for one thing first: the double-decker living root bridge, a crossing grown from the roots of rubber-fig trees, with one span stacked on top of another.

How hard is the walk?

Be honest with yourself about this. Counts vary between about 3,000 and 3,500 steps each way, and the path also crosses two swaying steel-wire bridges over the river. Going down takes most people one and a half to two hours. Coming back up usually takes longer, often three hours or more, and in the humid afternoon it is where legs and water run out. Anyone with bad knees, heart trouble or very young children should think hard before starting. There is no vehicle, pony or porter shortcut once you are down.

Stay the night if you can

The easiest way to do Nongriat is to split it. Walk down in the morning, sleep in one of the village homestays, and climb out the next day. You get the root bridge to yourself before the day walkers arrive, time for the natural pools, and the option of the longer walk to Rainbow Falls. Rooms are simple, meals are what the family cooks, and everything you use has been carried down the steps. Leave the big bag in Sohra.

Rules the village sets

The root bridges belong to the village, which maintains them and the path. Expect a small entry fee at the double-decker bridge and sometimes a separate camera charge. The village has closed the bridge to visitors on Sundays in recent years; reports since then disagree on whether this still applies, so check in Sohra before you plan a Sunday descent. Most Khasi villages here are Christian and keep Sunday as a church day, when some homestay kitchens do not cook.

A living structure

The bridges are made by guiding young aerial roots of the rubber fig across a stream until they thicken and knit together, which takes many years. Khasi and War communities across Meghalaya have grown around a hundred of them. They were added to India's UNESCO tentative list in 2022 as "Jingkieng Jri". Walk on them gently, do not pull at the roots, and keep to the stone path.

When to come

Sohra is one of the wettest places on earth. The dry months, roughly November to February, give firm steps and clear blue pools. June to September brings very heavy rain, slippery stone and fast, brown rivers. See the best time to visit and what to wear before you go.