I grew up in this lovely hill town named Shillong. Shillong is the capital of the very aptly named eastern Indian state of Meghalaya – “the abode of the clouds”. Surrounding Shillong are some of the prettiest landscapes that you can hope to see in India. The the wonder of it all is that many such landscapes are being discovered even today.

One such place is Laitlum. Just about 25km from Shillong, after driving scenic past rolling hills covered with potato fields, one comes to the town of Smit. Drive past its busy square for a few kilometres, and there in front of you lies a huge meadow. Most of the time, you will find the meadow mostly devoid of tourists, thought that is starting to change ever since the Bollywood movies “Rock On 2” shot some scenes here. Walk across the meadow and, no matter how ready you are for the sight, be prepared to have your breath taken away!

Stretching out in front of you is a beautiful green valley. Deep down you can see a stream winding its way through the bottom, while smoke curls up lazily from the Khasi village situated halfway down the slope.

This is Laitlum. Some smart person has aptly christened the picturesque canyon as the Laitlum “Grand Canyon” and marked it for everyone’s benefit on Google Maps. Very smart marketing!

Now when one benchmarks a place against something as famous and, well, grand, as the Grand Canyon, you need to make sure your product delivers. And Laitlum does deliver, in spades. It is obviously not as huge as its namesake, but I daresay it is prettier. It is also more approachable and friendlier, with the round-the-year greenery. If you have the time and the energy, it is an ideal place to go for a day-long hike.

Well, enough of words. See the beauty of Laitlum for yourself.

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©2018 Jishnu Changkakoti. All rights reserved. No photograph or part of the blog may be reproduced without the express permission of the photographer and author Jishnu Changkakoti.