Northeast Indian adventure part two: Shillong, the Khasi Tribe and their Enchanted Forest, Meghalaya

Shillong, a hill-station in Meghalaya was our base for a  couple of nights.We found the town centre where we were staying ok, but we weren't really there long enough to get an honest view of it. We struggled to find food, which may have tainted our opinion slightly. We tried and failed to eat at Cafe Shillong, which is a very cute and western style place.  Good for drinking tea, playing cards, but not eating food without animals in.  Never mind!  It was the beautiful lush green that surrounded the area which we had travelled to see.In the morning we headed out to Mawphlang, home to Khasi tribespeople, for a walk around the gorgeous sacred forest.  As soon as we stepped inside, we were totally enclosed under one giant canopy of trees and surrounded by every shade of green imaginable.  Life was just bursting out of every surface in infinite different leafy forms.  Our guide John explained to us that Khasi people believed in the spirits of the forest and showed us the sacred grove within the forest where animal sacrifices were once carried out.  As we wandered along leaf-carpeted paths,  John showed us all sorts of interesting plants, fruits and mushrooms.  Some of which we could eat, while others we were instructed to stay well away from.

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After visiting the Khasi area, we were supposed to head straight back to Shillong for a trip to the Don Bosco museum,  but we were so taken with the architecture of our surroundings that we took a little walk through the Khasi village. We soaked up the atmosphere, greeted some of the locals and checked out some of the buildings.This was very different from all the other houses we'd seen so far. Walking around in India really is a photographers dream. So much to take in, so much to look at, so many colours and this was no exception.Don Bosco is a centre/museum for indigenous cultures. It's a fascinating as well as unusual place. You have to be in the right frame of mind for it, as it is made up of seven floors and jam-packed full of information about the history of the area and the people who have inhabited it.  At the very top of the building, there is also a "sky walk", meaning you can walk on the roof.  Strangely an entire section of the view of the city below is cut off by the peculiar design of the roof itself, however it was nice to be so high up. Stay tuned for part three.