Dawki & Umngot River

Dawki is where Meghalaya ends and Bangladesh begins, a small West Jaintia Hills town on the Umngot river at the very foot of the hills, with a British suspension bridge of 1932 and a border gate facing Tamabil in Bangladesh, where trucks queue for Sylhet. The river is the reason to come. Fed by clean springs and filtered through limestone, the Umngot runs so clear from November to March that from the bridge the wooden boats below appear to hover above their own shadows on the stony bed; photographs of it have become the emblem of the whole Northeast.

Eight kilometres upstream, Shnongpdeng village has turned its riverbank into a low-key adventure camp: tents on the sand, kayaks, a zip line, snorkelling in emerald pools, cliff jumps and grilled river fish at dusk while fishermen work by lamplight. The Jaintia Hills above hold Krang Suri Falls, a sheet of white water into a blue pool near Amlarem some 40 kilometres away, and the monoliths at Nartiang raised by the Jaintia kings whose summer capital it was. A day here begins early, on the water before the tour buses arrive at nine, moves upriver to swim and idle, and ends watching the sun drop over Bangladesh from a riverside camp.

In the monsoon the river turns brown and swollen and the boats stop; in winter it is the clearest water in India. Pair it with Mawlynnong, 30 kilometres up the hill, and one night covers both.