Experience an Epic Road trip to the Countryside – Ranikhamar & Chandubi

Idyllic pastures, sun-baked hillocks, quaint villages, lush greeneries , bespoke ethnic Assamese-Garo cuisine and some of the prettiest drives around Guwahati – A Road Trip to Ranikhamar and Chandubi Lake is a perfect amalgamation of what comprises an day-long epic road-trip that one can experience.

How to make the best of the Roadtrip?

The Road Trip is equally ideal for couples, friends and family for who doesn’t love to soak in the beauty that nature has to offer? Located at around 75 km from the city (Guwahati), there are two routes connecting Guwahati and Ranikhamar – via Mirza and via Rani.

The route via Rani is a few kilometers longer albeit more beautiful.  So, we heavily recommend taking the route via Rani to make the most of your day-long trip.

Do start early from Guwahati to enjoy your brief stopovers along the way. We passed through boulevard alleys cozily lined up with trees on both sides. We passed through landscapes daintily done with hillocks, tea gardens and golden pastures.  The fields and paddys on both sides were preened with jungle flowers.

We made brief stopovers at places to click pics. We witnessed the most spectacular landscape when we were just a couple of kilometers (probably 3ish…) from Ranikhamar. It was a sight to behold and we spent nearly 15 minutes soaking in the serenity.

Ranikhamar Retreat

Despite the brief stoppages here and there, we managed to reach the resort by 9:30 am. Sprawling over an area of 0.5 acres, the resort was a humble amalgamation of ethnic culture and scenic greenery. Arrays of thatched house, colorful flower-beds running along the corners and verdant greenery in the form of bushes and trees are characteristic of the resort.

Let’s Talk Food, Shall We?

The live kitchen had varieties of mouth-watering delicacies being cooked. From smoked pork, to chicken barbeque, to mutton dishes. Another section in the same kitchen cooked a plethora of local herbs. The complete package in the resort for the whole day includes the breakfast, snacks and lunch and is definitely worth the money.

Breakfast (Around 10:00-10:30 am)

The platter consisted of wholesome boiled eggs, lucci(Indian Bread), ghoogni (Indian Curry), fresh fruits cut in slices, vada and milk tea. Do not stuff yourself too much during breakfast. The snacks and lunch has a much wider expanse of tasty dishes.

Snacks

Consisting of seven variants of non-veg dishes, this is the part of the meal where you want to definitely look forward to.  Platefuls of chicken marinara, chicken balls, hariyali chicken, fried fishes (small), smoked pork, mutton balls, duck fry and honey chicken were there on the menu the day we arrived.

They offered us paneer pakoda in lieu of smoked pork since we do not have pork. But we sent the plate back as it came. We were already so full!

Lunch

The lunch served scores of exorbitant dishes, one more delicious from the other. The main highlights were the local Assamese and Garo Cuisines cooked straight from the nature’s kitchen. We were fascinated by a typical Garo Dish – Black rice wrapped in banana leaves and Chicken Thukpa.

Visit to the Waterfall

After a brief stint of photography post breakfast we decided to visit the waterfalls near the area. There are two waterfalls near that area. One was accessible after half an hour of boat ride and ten minutes of walking while you could take your car to the other and just walk a few meters from the entrance. The beauty and serenity of both the waterfalls are of equal magnitude and you can take your pick at what suits you the best.

As for us, we decided to ditch the boat ride in the scorching heat; the sun had already come out strong. So, we spinned our car towards the other waterfall. The ticket price was Rs 10/- per adult; we parked our car at the entrance and trudged along a rocky gravely route for about 70 metres till we reached the magnificent waterfall.

Also popularly known as the silent waterfall, this magnificent spectacle gives a sneak-peek into the healthy ecosystem, abundance of flora and fauna and the divine serenity that exists in the region. With each cascading ripples of water we felt tiny sprinkles of fresh water on us as we sat on a rock near the rear of the waterfall. It was magical!

Visit to Chandubi Lake

Located about 8 km from Ranikhamar Retreat, the Chandubi Lake surrounded by picturesque panaroma is an image of paradise. Located in the foothills of Garo Hills, this tourist gem of global dimension was a result of the great Assam earthquake in 1897.

The best time to visit the lake would be early morning and one hour before sunset. We were lucky to reach the lake by 16:15 hours. We spent a few moments fawning over the sublime azure waters. One of us quickly realized that the sun had slowly began its descend.

This was the ideal time for boating. We quickly bought tickets from the counter (Rs 50/- per head) and the two of us were assigned a private colourful pink boat.

As we sailed across the waters, a different kind of peace and calm consumed us to the effect that it felt meditative. Boating in this beautiful lake took our sunset experience up a notch, as we saw the sky assume different shades of sunset hues and finally the sun hiding behind the waters.

Soon, it was time for us to return. We followed the same route back and reached home at about 19:00 hours.

The beauty and serenity that lay just at our vicinity, but yet so unexplored and un-talked about left us thinking.

May be it is our penchant for unfaltering scenic beauty that often leads us to the roads less travelled!