Nongriat Double-Decker Living Root Bridge Trek Guide

Introduction

The Nongriat trek is not long. It is roughly 3,000 to 3,500 stone steps down from Tyrna village into a gorge in the East Khasi Hills, and then the same steps back up. Meghalaya Tourism puts Nongriat about 15 km from Cherrapunji, which is now officially Sohra.

Distance is not the difficulty. Stairs are. There is no gentle gradient to settle into, no flat section to recover on, and the way out is entirely uphill on steps of uneven height. Fit people finish this in four to six hours round trip and still limp for two days.

At the bottom is the Jingkieng Nongriat, better known as the Double Decker, two tiers of guided Ficus elastica roots stacked over the same stream. Wikipedia records that Nongriat has three functional root bridges, and that the double-decker has been filmed for BBC Wales' Human Planet series in 2008 and for an Asahi TV documentary in June 2004.

One correction before anything else, because it appears in almost every article about this place.

The Rainfall Correction: Sohra Is Not the Wettest Place on Earth

Mawsynram is. Wikipedia records Mawsynram's average annual rainfall as 11,872 mm and describes it as receiving the highest rainfall in India and, reportedly, on Earth. Cherrapunji's annual precipitation is recorded at 11,777 mm. Mawsynram overtook Cherrapunji on average annual rainfall around the mid-1980s.

Mawsynram sits 15 km west of Cherrapunji in the same Khasi Hills, at about 1,400 m.

But Sohra keeps the records that matter historically. Cherrapunji received 9,300 mm in July 1861 and 26,461 mm between 1 August 1860 and 31 July 1861. It still holds the all-time record for the most rainfall in a calendar month and in a year. Mawsynram holds a Guinness entry for 26,000 mm in 1985, and set a 24-hour record of 1,003.2 mm on 17 June 2022.

There is also a legitimate dispute about the world title. Wikipedia notes that Mawsynram's claim is contested by Lloró in Colombia, reported at 12,717 mm annually between 1952 and 1989, and by López de Micay, also Colombian, reported at 12,892 mm between 1960 and 2012.

So the accurate line is: Mawsynram has the higher average annual rainfall; Sohra holds the all-time single-month and single-year records; the global title is disputed. If you are told anything simpler than that, it is a tourism slogan.

Nongriat itself, at the bottom of the gorge, has a recorded 1981–2010 average annual precipitation of roughly 9,500 mm. It is not the wettest spot on any list. It is still absurdly wet.

Table of Contents

1. Quick Overview
2. How Many Steps, Really
3. Where Nongriat Is
4. How to Reach Nongriat from Mumbai
5. How to Reach Nongriat from Pune
6. The Route: Tyrna to Nongriat
7. Permits, Fees & Booking
8. The Double Decker: What You Are Looking At
9. The Rainbow Falls Extension
10. Accommodation and Homestays
11. Food on the Trail
12. Nearby Attractions
13. Budget Breakdown
14. Practical Tips
15. Safety Tips: Leeches, Floods and Slippery Stone
16. Common Mistakes
17. Best Time to Visit
18. FAQ
19. Conclusion
20. Sources

Quick Overview

Item	Detail
Location	Nongriat village, East Khasi Hills district, Meghalaya
Distance from Sohra (Cherrapunji)	About 15 km, per Meghalaya Tourism
Trailhead	Tyrna village, 30 to 45 minutes by taxi from Cherrapunji
Steps	Approximately 3,000 to 3,500 each way. Meghalaya Tourism gives both figures on the same page
Duration	4 to 6 hours round trip as a day walk; better as an overnight
Difficulty	Short but physically punishing. Stairs, not gradient
The bridge	Jingkieng Nongriat, also called the Umshiang Double-Decker Root Bridge
Nearest airports	Shillong about 89 km, Guwahati about 177 km, per Meghalaya Tourism
Best time to visit	October to March per Meghalaya Tourism, extendable to April
Entry fee	Community-collected. No official published rate exists

How Many Steps, Really

Nobody has counted them properly, and the official source contradicts itself.

Meghalaya Tourism's Nongriat page says both things. In its narrative description: "You begin at the tip of the valley close to the village of Tyrna and climb down approximately 3500 steps." In its own How to Get There bullets on the same page: "Trek approximately 3,000 stone steps downhill from Tyrna to reach Nongriat."

Wikipedia's Umshiang article gives 6,500 steps and 45 km from Cherrapunji. Treat that figure with suspicion. It measures from Cherrapunji rather than Tyrna, it rests on a single magazine listicle, and the accompanying 45 km is flatly inconsistent with Meghalaya Tourism's own 15 km figure. It is best read as a garbled round-trip or Cherrapunji-origin number.

The honest answer: roughly 3,000 to 3,500 steps each way, never officially counted. Anyone quoting you a precise figure has copied it from someone who guessed. What you should plan for is a continuous stair descent of about an hour and a half and a continuous stair ascent of about two to three hours, depending on how you are built and how hot it is.

Where Nongriat Is

Nongriat is a village in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya, in a gorge below the Sohra plateau. Meghalaya Tourism places it approximately 15 km from Cherrapunji.

The connection to the outside world is a staircase. Wikipedia, citing Gurdon's 1914 work The Khasis, records that a succession of stone steps connects Nongriat with the neighbouring village of Tyrna, just below the Cherrapunji-Laitkynsew bridle-path. That is not a tourist trail that somebody built for visitors. It is the village's road.

Living root bridges are a Khasi practice, called jingkieng jri in Khasi, and they exist because moving through this terrain in this rainfall required crossing gorges that a wooden bridge would not survive. Meghalaya Tourism describes them as "natural bridges weaved from the giant roots of ficus elastica, one of the most documented examples of natural engineering."

How to Reach Nongriat from Mumbai

By air to Guwahati. Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (GAU) is the practical gateway. Mumbai has multiple direct daily flights, roughly three hours. Meghalaya Tourism puts Guwahati about 177 km from Nongriat.

From Guwahati, Shillong is about three to four hours by road on NH6, with shared Sumos and taxis running constantly from the Guwahati airport and the Paltan Bazar stand. Shillong to Sohra (Cherrapunji) is another two hours or so.

By air to Shillong. Shillong Airport at Umroi is about 89 km from Nongriat per Meghalaya Tourism. Flights are limited and often route via Kolkata. Check schedules; do not build the trip around it without confirmation.

By train. Guwahati is the railhead. Mumbai to Guwahati is a long two-night journey. It is a real option if you want it, but almost everyone flies.

The final leg. Sohra to Tyrna village is 30 to 45 minutes by taxi per Meghalaya Tourism. Taxis from the Sohra market can be hired for the day. Agree the return pickup time in writing or on a phone call, because Tyrna is not a place you want to be stranded at 5 pm.

Plan shape. Mumbai to Guwahati, night in Shillong or drive straight to Sohra, night in Sohra or Laitkynsew, trek the next morning. Do not attempt Guwahati to Nongriat in one day.

How to Reach Nongriat from Pune

Pune to Guwahati direct flights operate on some days. Two shapes.

Pune → Guwahati direct. Check availability. When it runs, it is the shortest way in.

Pune → Kolkata → Guwahati. The reliable version, and Kolkata to Guwahati is a short frequent hop. You can also route via Delhi, though it is a longer day.

From Guwahati the road plan is identical to the Mumbai version: Shillong, then Sohra, then Tyrna.

Budget two travel days each way. Meghalaya is further from Maharashtra than the flight time suggests, because the last 130 km take four hours.

The Route: Tyrna to Nongriat

From Tyrna, the steps start immediately. There is a concrete staircase with a handrail in places and none in others, descending steeply through betel nut and dense secondary forest. The first stretch to Nongthymmai is roughly 2 km and about 45 minutes down, and it is around 1,500 steps.

Nongthymmai is the midpoint hamlet. A short diversion here leads to a single-tier living root bridge, which is quieter than the Double Decker and worth the ten minutes. A small separate fee has been reported at this diversion.

Two steel-wire suspension bridges. Between Nongthymmai and Nongriat you cross two of them, one after the other, over fast-flowing tributaries. They bounce. They are the most photographed and the most alarming part of the walk for anyone with a height issue, and they are also the flood-exposure point on this route in the wet season. Sources disagree about the river names, with one giving the Simtung and the Umkyrsan; the Umshiang is the stream the Double Decker itself spans. I could not find a cartographic source confirming which two streams the steel bridges cross, so I am not going to state it as fact.

Then it climbs. After the second suspension bridge there is a flight of ascending stairs before Nongriat, which is a psychological insult on the way down and worse on the way back.

A small root bridge marks the village entrance. Then Nongriat, and about a hundred metres further, the Double Decker.

Total: an hour and a half down for most people, two to three hours back up.

Permits, Fees & Booking

No permit is required. Nongriat is not inside a national park or a restricted area. There is no Inner Line Permit for Meghalaya and no forest permit for this trail.

On fees, I have to be direct with you: no official rate is published anywhere.

I checked. Meghalaya Tourism's Nongriat destination page mentions no fee. Its Travel Essentials page carries no fee schedule for any attraction. The East Khasi Hills district administration's Places of Interest listing carries no Nongriat or Double Decker fee schedule. No Sohra civic body publishes a tourist fee notification that I could locate.

The reason is straightforward: these are community-collected fees, levied by the village dorbar, not by a government department. That is why nothing is gazetted, and it is also why the amount varies.

What the non-official sources claim, with the source named so you can weigh it:

• A first-hand 2020 account by Tale of 2 Backpackers records Rs 20 at the Double Decker ticket counter plus Rs 20 for a camera and Rs 100 for a GoPro, and Rs 10 plus Rs 20 camera at the Nongthymmai root bridge diversion.
• A 2025 blog account reports a Rs 20 to Rs 30 maintenance fee at the starting point near Tyrna.
• Aggregator listings such as Trawell.in claim Rs 50 per person with Rs 20 for a camera and Rs 1,000 for professional video.

Working guidance: carry Rs 200 in small notes per person and expect a figure somewhere between Rs 20 and Rs 50 at Tyrna, and again at the bridge, plus camera charges. Do not argue about it. The money maintains the steps and the bridges, and the village has every right to charge for the maintenance of its own road.

One more thing to check locally. A notice board photographed at Tyrna stated that the viewpoints at Nongriat remain closed on Sundays with effect from January 2020, and the same authors later clarified that not all viewpoints are closed on Sundays. Whether this remains in force is unclear. Avoid Sunday if you can, and ask at Tyrna.

Guides. Not compulsory for the main trail to the Double Decker, which is a staircase and impossible to lose. Meghalaya Tourism does advise arranging a local guide or companion familiar with the route, terrain and language. Guides are hired at Tyrna. For the Rainbow Falls extension, take one.

The Double Decker: What You Are Looking At

Two tiers of guided aerial roots crossing the same stream, one above the other. Meghalaya Tourism notes that the multi-level formation is what makes it unique and that it took years to develop.

Why two decks. The second level was grown after a period of heavy rains raised the river to the level of the first. That is the whole story of this landscape in one design decision.

The species. Meghalaya Tourism attributes the bridges to Ficus elastica, the Indian rubber fig. Wikipedia's Nongriat article says banyan. The rubber fig attribution is the one used in the technical literature on living root bridges and by the state tourism department, and it is the one to go with.

How they are built. The Khasi guide the aerial roots of the tree across a gorge over years, weaving and intertwining them until the structure carries weight. Wikipedia records that the bridges take around 25 years to grow and become usable, can carry the weight of 50 people, and can go on functioning for 500 years.

Its condition. This is worth saying plainly. Wikipedia, citing an Indian Express report from 2019, records that due to tourism the health of the root bridge has degraded. A replica has been built in Nongriat to present the Khasi and Jaintia craft. Meghalaya presented the root bridge at its 70th Republic Day ceremony.

You are walking on a living structure that is being loved to death. Do not jump on it. Do not crowd it for photographs. Do not carve anything. If there is a queue, wait.

Naming. Wikipedia's Nongriat article, citing state government tourism material, gives the double-decker suspension bridge the name Jingkieng Nongriat. It is more commonly called the Umshiang Double-Decker Root Bridge, after the stream it spans, or simply the Double Decker. All three names refer to the same structure.

The Rainbow Falls Extension

Meghalaya Tourism lists Rainbow Falls as a must-see near Nongriat, describing it as a stunning waterfall with shimmering turquoise water a short trek beyond the main bridge. It gives no distance, time, fee or guide information.

What credible first-hand accounts give: about 3 km each way from Nongriat, roughly two hours up and an hour and a half back down. No entry fee. The trail is not well marked. It can be done without a guide but a guide is recommended, and if you have not walked in this terrain before, take one.

The name comes from the rainbow that forms in the spray on a sunny morning. Go early.

The Blue Lagoon. A natural pool sits roughly 1.5 km short of Rainbow Falls, and people swim there. This is the most dangerous spot on the whole route. A student from Shillong drowned there during one documented visit and the trail was closed by police that day. Water levels in these gorge pools rise violently and without warning during upstream rain, and the current is stronger than the surface suggests.

My position: do the extension, do not swim. If you must get in the water, do it at the shallow pool by the Double Decker, in the middle of a dry-season day, with people watching, and get out at the first sign of the water rising or clouding.

Time budget. Rainbow Falls added to a day trip from Tyrna is a very long day: roughly three hours to Nongriat and back plus three and a half hours to the falls and back, plus the climb out. Stay a night in Nongriat and do the falls in the morning. That is the correct way to do this trek and it is also the cheaper one.

Accommodation and Homestays

Stay in Nongriat. This is the single best piece of advice in this guide. The village is quiet after the day-trippers climb out, the stream is loud, and you get the Double Decker to yourself at seven in the morning.

Serene Homestay is the best-documented option, run by Byron Nongbri and family, about a hundred metres from the Double Decker. It has dorm and double rooms and hot showers, and rates in the range of Rs 400 to Rs 500 per person per night with home-cooked meals have been quoted. You will see it called both Serene and Serenity, and "Byron's" refers to the same place. It has a TripAdvisor listing under Sohra and appears on homestay aggregator platforms.

Travellers' Nest is the other long-established property, on the far side of the root bridge.

Scale, and why it matters. A 2020 account documents the change: a couple of years earlier Nongriat had only two accommodation options, with 12 families in the village and capacity for around 10 tourists. By 2020 there were around 10 homestays and guesthouses catering to at least 30. That is fast growth in a village you can only reach on foot, and it is directly connected to the bridge's degradation.

One caveat. I could not confirm whether any Nongriat property appears in Meghalaya Tourism's registered accommodation database, which is a JavaScript application that cannot be filtered by location from outside. Do not assume these homestays are government-registered. Book by phone, confirm the rate before you descend, and take cash.

In Sohra and Laitkynsew. The full range, including the resort at Laitkynsew from which Nohkalikai falls is best viewed. Useful for the night before and, if your legs are finished, the night after.

In Shillong. Everything. Two hours away.

Food on the Trail

Small shops and stalls at Tyrna at the top, and at Nongthymmai. Maggi, chai, biscuits, packaged water. Prices go up as you go down, which is entirely fair since everything is carried on somebody's back up those steps.

Nongriat homestays cook. Khasi food, rice, pork if you eat it, and plenty of it. Order dinner when you arrive rather than at eight o'clock.

Carry two litres of water each and an ORS sachet. The gorge is humid and hot even in December and the climb out is when people cramp. Something salty helps more than something sweet.

Carry your waste back up. There is no collection system at the bottom and the village has enough to deal with.

Nearby Attractions

• Nohkalikai Falls — the Ka Likai waterfall of Khasi legend, one of the tallest plunge waterfalls in India. Wikipedia notes it is best viewed from the neighbouring village of Laitkynsew during the autumn monsoon.
• Mawsynram — 15 km west of Cherrapunji, the holder of the higher average annual rainfall, and home to the Mawjymbuin cave with its stalagmite formations.
• Mawsmai Cave — a short, lit, walkable limestone cave near Sohra. Touristy and genuinely good.
• Nohsngithiang Falls (Seven Sisters) — on the Sohra plateau edge, best in the wet months.
• Mawlynnong — the village marketed as Asia's cleanest, with its own single-tier root bridge and a sky walk.
• Dawki and the Umngot river — clear water in the dry season, a couple of hours east.
• Mawphlang Sacred Grove — an intact Khasi sacred forest, near Shillong.

Budget Breakdown

Two people, five days from Mumbai, including one night in Nongriat. Indicative only.

Item	Budget (₹)	Mid-range (₹)
Mumbai–Guwahati return flight (per person)	7,000	12,000
Guwahati–Shillong–Sohra transfer, return (per person)	1,500	4,000
Sohra–Tyrna taxi, return	1,500	2,500
Community fees at Tyrna and the bridge (per person, estimated)	100	200
Nongriat homestay, 1 night (per person)	500	800
Sohra or Shillong stay, 2 nights (per room)	2,000	6,000
Guide for Rainbow Falls (per group)	500	1,000
Food, 4 days (per person)	1,500	3,000
Buffer	2,000	3,000

The community fee line is an estimate from first-hand reports, not a published rate. There is no official fee schedule for this trail.

Practical Tips

Stay a night. A day trip means the climb out on tired legs in the afternoon heat, and no Rainbow Falls.

Go down early. Seven or eight in the morning. You avoid the day-trip crowd and you avoid the worst of the heat on the way up.

Trekking poles, if your knees have any history. Three thousand steps down is more punishing than three thousand up.

Shoes with grip, not sandals. The steps are wet stone in the dry season and greasy wet stone in the wet season. Our trekking footwear guide for Sahyadri terrain applies almost exactly here, since Meghalaya and the Sahyadri share the same slippery-basalt-in-humidity problem.

Cash only. Small notes. There is no UPI at the bottom of a gorge and the fee collectors do not carry change.

Network drops in the gorge. Tell somebody your plan and your expected exit time before you start down.

Agree your taxi return time before you get out of the car at Tyrna. Have the driver's number.

Avoid Sunday if you can. A notice restricting viewpoint access on Sundays has been in force since January 2020 in some form. Ask at Tyrna.

Pack light for the descent and lighter for the ascent. Leave the big bag at Sohra and take a daypack.

Respect the bridge. It is degrading under tourist load. Do not bounce on it, do not crowd it, and do not treat it as a photo prop.

Safety Tips: Leeches, Floods and Slippery Stone

This trek has no altitude problem. It has four other problems and they are all real.

Leeches. From roughly June to September, in peak monsoon, the forest between Tyrna and Nongriat is leech country and the steps are wet. They come off vegetation onto your ankles and calves and you will not feel it.

What works: full-length trousers tucked into socks, or proper leech socks. Salt in a small pouch, or a strong insect repellent applied to socks and shoe tops rather than skin. Check your ankles at every rest. Do not pull a leech off mid-bite, because tearing the mouthparts is what causes infection. Salt or the back of a fingernail slid under the head will make it release. Then clean the bite properly and cover it, because the wound bleeds for a while and it will get filthy on this trail.

Meghalaya Tourism's own generic monsoon advice for the state is to pack a health kit including pain relievers and insect repellents. That is the closest thing to an official leech advisory that exists.

Flash floods and rising water. This is the serious one. The Sohra plateau catches some of the highest rainfall on the planet and it all funnels into this gorge. Water levels in the streams and pools rise violently within minutes during upstream rain, and you may not be able to see or hear the rain that is causing it.

Rules I would treat as non-negotiable:

• Do not swim in waterfall pools in the wet season. The Blue Lagoon on the Rainbow Falls trail has one documented drowning.
• Do not cross a suspension bridge if the water is visibly up against the deck or the bridge is moving in the flow.
• If it starts raining hard while you are at Nongriat, stay at Nongriat. Do not start up the steps in a downpour and do not attempt the Rainbow Falls trail.
• Watch for the water changing colour. Brown, silt-loaded water means rain upstream and rising levels. Get out and get high.
• Turn back rather than commit. Our guide on when to cancel or turn back from a trek applies to a gorge exactly as much as it applies to a ridge.

There is no official monsoon closure of this trail and no district disaster-management advisory specific to it that I could find. That means the decision is entirely yours, which is precisely why you should make it conservatively. Meghalaya Tourism's stated best time for Nongriat is October to March, in the dry season, for ideal trekking conditions. Take the hint.

Slippery stone and the descent. The most common injury on this route is a fall on wet steps, and the second most common is a knee or ankle giving out on the way down. Uneven step heights, moss, and no handrail on long sections. Go slower than you want to, particularly in the last hour of the descent when you are confident and tired.

The suspension bridges. Two steel-wire spans, both bouncy. Cross one person at a time, hold the cables, do not stop in the middle to take a photograph while people are waiting behind you, and do not cross with a phone in your hand.

Heat and humidity. The gorge is much hotter and more humid than the plateau above it. Dehydration and cramp on the climb out are routine. Two litres minimum, ORS, and a rest every ten minutes on the ascent rather than a heroic push.

Group discipline. Groups string out badly on stairs and the fast walkers end up 40 minutes ahead of the slow ones. Fix a regroup point at Nongthymmai in both directions. Group trekking safety rules covers the rest.

First aid. Blisters, grazes from falls, leech bites, cramp and one likely twisted ankle per group. See first aid kit for Sahyadri treks and add antiseptic, plenty of plasters and an elastic bandage.

Emergency reality. There is no road to Nongriat. An evacuation means being carried up three thousand steps. That is hours, and it is why you should not treat this as a trivial walk because it is short.

Emergency numbers. 112. Meghalaya Tourism publishes a tourist helpline on 1800 599 2026 and a WhatsApp and SMS number on +91 76400 03050. Write them down.

Common Mistakes

Doing it as a day trip and trying to add Rainbow Falls. The most common error. You end up climbing out in the afternoon heat, exhausted, and rushing the best part of the trek.

Going in July because the waterfalls look better. They do look better. The steps are also lethal, the leeches are everywhere, the visibility is nil and the flood risk is real. If you go in monsoon, go knowing that.

Believing the "Cherrapunji is the wettest place on earth" line. Mawsynram has the higher average annual rainfall at 11,872 mm against Sohra's 11,777 mm. Sohra holds the all-time monthly and annual records.

Quoting a precise step count. Meghalaya Tourism gives 3,000 in one place and 3,500 in another on the same page. Nobody has counted.

Turning up with no cash. The fees are cash, the homestays are cash, and there is no ATM below Sohra.

Swimming in the pools. Especially the Blue Lagoon, especially in the wet season.

Bouncing on the root bridge for a video. The bridge's health has degraded under tourist load. Do not add to it.

Wearing flip-flops. People do this. Their trip ends on step four hundred.

Best Time to Visit

October to March — go now. This is Meghalaya Tourism's own recommendation for Nongriat: October to March, during the dry season, for ideal trekking conditions. Dry stone, no leeches, clear views, and the water still running enough to be worth looking at. November to February is the sweet spot.

April — still good, getting hot. The gorge warms up early and the pre-monsoon showers start. Workable, and quieter than the winter peak.

May — the edge. Hot, humid, early rain. The waterfalls are picking up and so is the risk.

June to September — the monsoon. The landscape is at its most spectacular and the trek is at its most dangerous. Leeches, greasy steps, poor visibility, rivers up against the suspension bridges, and flash flood risk in a gorge below one of the wettest places on the planet. There is no official closure. There is also no good reason for a first-time visitor to be down there in August.

My position: go in November or December. If you want to see the rain, see it from Sohra and Mawsynram on the plateau, and walk down to Nongriat in the dry season.

FAQ

Q: How many steps are there from Tyrna to Nongriat? A: Roughly 3,000 to 3,500 each way. Meghalaya Tourism's own Nongriat page gives approximately 3,500 in its description and approximately 3,000 in its How to Get There section. Nobody has authoritatively counted them. Wikipedia's figure of 6,500 steps measures from Cherrapunji rather than Tyrna and should not be used.

Q: How long does the Nongriat trek take? A: About four to six hours round trip as a day walk, with roughly an hour and a half down and two to three hours back up. Adding Rainbow Falls makes it a very long day, which is why staying overnight in Nongriat is the better plan.

Q: What is the entry fee for the Nongriat double-decker living root bridge? A: There is no official published fee. The charges are collected by the village community, not a government department, which is why nothing is gazetted. Meghalaya Tourism, the East Khasi Hills district administration and Sohra civic sources publish no rate. First-hand accounts report Rs 20 at the bridge counter with camera charges, and Rs 20 to Rs 30 at Tyrna, while aggregator sites claim Rs 50 per person. Carry small notes and expect somewhere in the Rs 20 to Rs 50 range at each point.

Q: Do I need a permit for the Nongriat trek? A: No. Meghalaya requires no Inner Line Permit and this trail is not inside a protected area. Meghalaya Tourism does advise arranging a local guide familiar with the route and language.

Q: Is Cherrapunji the wettest place on earth? A: No, not on average annual rainfall. Wikipedia records Mawsynram at 11,872 mm and Cherrapunji at 11,777 mm, with Mawsynram overtaking Cherrapunji around the mid-1980s. Cherrapunji, now Sohra, still holds the all-time records for the most rainfall in a calendar month and in a year: 9,300 mm in July 1861 and 26,461 mm between August 1860 and July 1861. Mawsynram's world title is itself disputed by Lloró and López de Micay in Colombia.

Q: What is the double-decker bridge actually called? A: Jingkieng Nongriat, per Wikipedia citing state government tourism material. It is also called the Umshiang Double-Decker Root Bridge, after the stream it crosses, or simply the Double Decker. Nongriat has three functional root bridges in total.

Q: How far is Rainbow Falls from Nongriat? A: About 3 km each way, roughly two hours up and an hour and a half back, per first-hand accounts. There is no entry fee. The trail is poorly marked and a guide is recommended. Meghalaya Tourism lists it as a must-see but gives no distance or timing.

Q: Where can I stay in Nongriat? A: The village has around ten homestays and guesthouses. The best-documented is Serene Homestay, run by Byron Nongbri, about a hundred metres from the Double Decker, with quoted rates in the Rs 400 to Rs 500 per person range. Travellers' Nest is the other long-established option. I could not confirm whether any Nongriat property appears in Meghalaya Tourism's registered accommodation database, so book directly and carry cash.

Q: Is the Nongriat trek safe in monsoon? A: It is considerably more dangerous. Leeches, wet stone steps with no handrail in places, water up against the suspension bridges, and genuine flash flood risk in a gorge below one of the wettest places on earth. There is no official closure but Meghalaya Tourism's recommended window is October to March. One documented drowning has occurred at the Blue Lagoon pool on the Rainbow Falls trail.

Q: How do I reach Nongriat from Mumbai? A: Fly Mumbai to Guwahati direct, then road to Shillong (three to four hours) and on to Sohra (about two hours). Tyrna village is 30 to 45 minutes by taxi from Sohra. Meghalaya Tourism gives Guwahati airport as approximately 177 km and Shillong airport as approximately 89 km from Nongriat.

Conclusion

Nongriat is one of the few treks in India where the destination is a piece of living infrastructure that a community grew, on purpose, over decades, because they needed to cross a stream. That is a better reason to walk three thousand steps than a summit.

Do it properly. Stay the night. Go down at eight in the morning, drink tea at Nongthymmai, cross the two bridges slowly, sit by the Double Decker after the day-trippers have gone, walk to Rainbow Falls at first light, and climb out before the heat.

Go between November and March. Carry cash in small notes. Do not swim.

And when someone tells you Cherrapunji is the wettest place on earth, you now know the actual answer, which is more interesting than the slogan.

Call to Action

Planning a Meghalaya trip out of Mumbai or Pune? Get your footwear right first with our trekking footwear guide for Sahyadri terrain, pack the right first aid kit for leeches and grazes, and check what your policy actually covers on a foot-access-only trail with our guide to verified trek insurance.

Image Alt Text Suggestions

1. Jingkieng Nongriat double-decker living root bridge over the Umshiang stream, Meghalaya
2. Stone step descent from Tyrna village towards Nongriat, East Khasi Hills
3. Steel-wire suspension bridge on the Tyrna to Nongriat trail
4. Nongthymmai single-tier living root bridge, midway on the Nongriat trek
5. Guided aerial roots of Ficus elastica forming the lower deck at Nongriat
6. Rainbow Falls turquoise pool beyond Nongriat village
7. Nongriat village homestay in the gorge below Sohra
8. Trekkers climbing the stone steps back up from Nongriat to Tyrna
9. Monsoon cloud over the Sohra plateau above the Nongriat gorge
10. Nohkalikai Falls seen from the Laitkynsew side, near Cherrapunji

Sources

1. Nongriat — Meghalaya Tourism, Government of Meghalaya (step counts, 15 km from Cherrapunji, Tyrna access, airports, best time, Rainbow Falls): https://www.meghalayatourism.in/explore/destinations/by-interest/living-root-bridges/nongriat/
2. Nongriat — Meghalaya Tourism, Khasi Hills regional listing: https://www.meghalayatourism.in/explore/destinations/by-region/khasi-hills/nongriat/
3. Travel Essentials, including the state monsoon advisory — Meghalaya Tourism: https://www.meghalayatourism.in/plan/travel-essentials/
4. Living Root Bridges — Meghalaya Tourism: https://www.meghalayatourism.in/explore/destinations/by-interest/living-root-bridges/
5. Nongriat — Wikipedia (Jingkieng Nongriat naming, three functional root bridges, stone steps to Tyrna citing Gurdon's The Khasis 1914, Human Planet and Asahi TV, climate normals): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nongriat
6. Umshiang Double-Decker Root Bridge — Wikipedia (25-year growth, 50-person load, 500-year life, tourism degradation, Republic Day presentation): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umshiang_Double-Decker_Root_Bridge
7. Mawsynram — Wikipedia (11,872 mm average annual rainfall, Guinness 26,000 mm in 1985, 1,003.2 mm on 17 June 2022, Lloró and López de Micay dispute, 15 km west of Cherrapunji): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mawsynram
8. Cherrapunji — Wikipedia (11,777 mm annual precipitation, 9,300 mm in July 1861, 26,461 mm August 1860 to July 1861, all-time monthly and annual records): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherrapunji
9. Living root bridge — Wikipedia (jingkieng jri, Ficus elastica bio-engineering): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_root_bridge
10. Places of Interest — East Khasi Hills District Administration, Government of Meghalaya: https://eastkhasihills.gov.in/places-of-interest/
11. "Explained: In Meghalaya living root bridges, study sees global potential" — The Indian Express, 24 November 2019: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/in-meghalaya-living-root-bridges-study-sees-global-potential-can-it-work-6132569/
12. Nongriat trek and Double Decker root bridge, first-hand account with fee, step and Rainbow Falls detail — Tale of 2 Backpackers: https://taleof2backpackers.com/nongriat-trek-double-decker-root-bridge/
13. Serene Homestay, Nongriat — TripAdvisor listing: https://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotel_Review-g668046-d7213655-Reviews-Serene_Homestay-Sohra_East_Khasi_Hills_District_Meghalaya.html

Community fees at Tyrna and Nongriat are collected by the village and are not published by any government body. Step counts differ even within Meghalaya Tourism's own page. Confirm fees, Sunday access restrictions and homestay availability locally at Tyrna before you descend, and check the weather before committing to the gorge in the wet season.