Trekking to Meghalaya's living root bridges

The Khasi people have been training the roots of rubber fig trees across rivers for generations. The bridges are alive, they get stronger with age, and some of them are older than the roads that lead to them.

The famous double-decker is at Nongriat, below Tyrna village near Cherrapunji. The walk down is roughly 3,000 concrete steps, and the walk back up is the same steps in reverse — allow five to seven hours in total, and start by 7am.

Stay the night if you can. A homestay in Nongriat turns a punishing day hike into an easy two-day walk, and lets you carry on to Rainbow Falls in the morning before the day trippers arrive.

Take grip. The rock is wet even in the dry season, and the last stretch crosses two steel wire bridges above the river. Trekking poles help knees enormously on the return climb.

Best months are October to April. During peak monsoon the pools flood and the steps become waterfalls — beautiful, but not walkable.