Assam and Meghalaya: Rhinos, Rain and Root Bridges

Met at Guwahati airport and driven into town. Climb Nilachal Hill for Kamakhya, rebuilt in 1565 with a beehive dome and a sanctum where the goddess is a cleft in wet rock rather than an image. Cross by ferry to Umananda, the small island in the Brahmaputra where golden langurs live in the temple trees. Sunset on a river cruise, then an Assamese thali with masor tenga and aloo pitika.

Drive 195 km east on NH27 through Nagaon, about five hours with a tea stop, the roadside turning to bamboo groves and pineapple stalls. Check in at Kohora and take the afternoon jeep safari in the central range, where the grass is tallest and rhinos come out to the water channels at four. Dinner is duck with ash gourd and a plate of pithas at the lodge.

Out at first light for the Bagori western range, the most reliable for rhino at close quarters and often for tiger tracks in the dust. Mid-morning, walk a tea estate on the park's southern boundary and see how the leaf is withered and rolled. The afternoon safari runs in Agoratoli, the eastern range, which is quieter and better for birds: pelicans, adjutant storks and, on the beels, thousands of wintering ducks.

A long drive of about 280 km and six and a half hours back west and then south, climbing from the Brahmaputra floodplain to Shillong at 1,496 metres. Break at Umiam Lake, the reservoir locals call Barapani, where pine ridges run down to the water. Reach Shillong by late afternoon for a walk through Police Bazaar and a first plate of jadoh, rice cooked in pork stock, at a jadoh stall.

Drive 25 km out to Laitlum, where the plateau breaks off into a green amphitheatre and a stepped path drops to villages that still carry supplies up on their backs. In the afternoon, the Mawphlang sacred grove, protected by the Khasi for centuries so completely that you may not remove even a fallen leaf, walked with a village guide who explains the monoliths. Evening free for the Don Bosco Museum's seven floors.

Only 54 km south, under two hours, stopping at the Mawkdok Dympep viewpoint where the gorge opens without warning. At Sohra, Nohkalikai drops 340 metres in one unbroken plunge, the tallest of its kind in India. Walk the lit passage of Arwah cave past fossils in the limestone, then take Seven Sisters Falls and Thangkharang, both of which look straight out over the plains of Bangladesh.

85 km and three hours down to the border, where the Umngot runs over pale sand at Shnongpdeng and Dawki; between November and February the water is clear enough that a wooden boat throws a shadow on the riverbed. Lunch of grilled fish by the bank. Then 25 km to Mawlynnong for the Sky View bamboo tower and, at Riwai, a living root bridge trained across the stream from ficus roots over generations.

A slow village morning, walking Mawlynnong's swept lanes and the little Church of the Epiphany before the drive back. About 170 km and five hours through Shillong and down the Jorabat road to Guwahati, with time to buy Assam silk in Paltan Bazaar or a bag of Sohra orange-blossom honey before the airport transfer.