GENERAL WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TRAVELLERS- North East India (Mid April to Mid September)

NER / TIPS & ADVICE

The North-East of India is home to some of the wettest regions in the world (Guinness Book of World Records) and this particular season is when one gets to experience the monsoon at its best.

Between June to August, one has to be ready to experience the entire spectrum of what the local climate has to offer- whether it be the cloudy (Fun fact- the name Meghalaya is derived from Sanskrit- “Megh” and “Alaya”, meaning “an abode of clouds”) days of fog and rain at a stretch or the warm and sunny days that fill the landscape with light and subsequently, a thriving life.

It is this time of the year that the waterfalls and streams are gushing with the rain-fed rivers. Colourful butterflies fill the air looking for nectar from all the flowers around the forests. It really is a beautiful time to be here. However, it is important to remember that weather here can be very unpredictable during these months.

We have put together a few points to help you better understand what to expect while travelling to North-East India during the summer/monsoon-

1. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder

Expect adventurous days of being lost in thick fog with no visibility. On some days, we can guarantee rain like you’ve never seen before. After all, let us remind you that this is the wettest region in the world. Once you are mentally prepared for this, there is a lot of beauty to experience and only those who choose to travel during this time of the year will be lucky enough to witness it first-hand.

On a rainy day, you may either choose to get your gear on and bare the weather, or even stay indoors and read a book or play some card games with fellow travellers as the sounds of the rain falling on the roof fill the room. Who knows, you may just be around while the region achieves a new record for the amount of rain! It’s all how you look at it so don’t let the rain dampen your experience here.

2. Be open to last minute changes due to weather and road conditions

While we try our best to ensure that the itineraries that we plan are done keeping the climate and weather conditions in mind, you must be prepared for last minute changes based on the magnanimity of the rains. During the monsoon, the conditions of many of the roads in the region get harshly affected which in turn have caused landslides in certain pockets in the past. In such cases, we have had to make slight changes to travel plans and routes based on the advice of our local partners who we are constantly in touch with.

3. Power shortages + Loss of signal

Due to the remote nature of many of the destinations that we take you to, please note that fluctuations in power supply and mobile network are a common phenomena during the rainy season.

Only a handful of properties may offer power back-up so if it is a necessity, please double-check with our team about the properties in your circuit while booking. Otherwise, the weather is mostly pleasant so it should not bother you much if you are prepared for it.

There is no doubt that the region is traditionally more popular as a tourist destination during the winter months. We feel that this has mainly been because of road access and a gap between expectations and ground reality.

Today, road connectivity and infrastructure have come a long way. Yes, there are still incidents of road blockages due to landslides that occur in certain circuits but the local authorities look into it immediately and clear them up soon so as to not hamper the movement of people, mainly for the locals who need to use these routes on a daily basis. Your safety and security is of utmost importance to us and we are in constant touch with local partners and authorities to ensure that you have a hassle free experience while travelling with us.

For expectation setting, like we said, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. If you travel during this season believing that rain can dampen your plans of going out, yes, you probably would be upset about your trip but if you come in wanting to explore one of the rainiest regions in the world along with everything that comes up with it, we know for a fact, that you would love your time here. Our region is beautiful and unique enough to host guests no matter which season they come in, as long as they know what to expect and we do our best to tell you the ground reality, which is why we are reaching out to you today.

For any other doubts or questions, please feel free to reach out to our team and we would be happy to help you.

That being said, should you choose to travel to the region during this offbeat season, we hope that this journey will be the first of many more to come. Like each region, each season has a story to tell and we are here to make sure you witness them while you have a safe and memorable experience, no matter when you choose to visit us.

Allow us to end with a quote from the song,“You’ve got a friend” by James Taylor: