Shillong

Eat

There are a variety of restaurants in Shillong. Most of the better ones are located in Police Bazar area. Chinese, Indian and Tibetan foods are popular and even khun ksew.

Bamboo Hut in RAPs' Mansion MG Road is one of the famous hangout and also the CITY Dhaba near Earl Holiday Home.

One should definitely try Momos (steamed Tibetan dumplings filled with cabbage and pork/chicken) They come as small momos and big momos and are very popular snacks.

Shillong has a predominantly Christian population. While pork, chicken and fish are easily available in restaurants run by local Khasis, beef isn't as abundant in restaurants. Cleanliness also remains an issue in smaller food-outlets.

Khasi and Tibetan recipes use very little spices (including salt) unlike cooking style of rest of India and emphasis is on boiling or roasting rather than frying in oil.

For Indian snacks, one can try Delhi Mistaan Bhandar in Police Bazar which has excellent jalebis. The staff is, however, notoriously lethargic, so be prepared to wait up to half an hour just to be able to place your order. In short, stick to the freshly made jelibis since they are worth it, but avoid anything else here.

Apart from these, the hotels mentioned below have restaurants that have their own charm. Ginger at Hotel Polo Towers is good, Kenmore at Hotel Knight Inn Shillong serving delectable craft cuisine, Royal Heritage has a nice restaurant. Sip & Dine at Hotel Alpine Continental have excellent restaurant.

Drink

It is the drinker's paradise.Because of the tax structure on alcohol in this state, you will be hard pressed find cheaper drinks anywhere else in India, if you are the type who buys liquor from a shop and drinks in your hotel room.

If you like pubs and clubs, then Shillong has quite a few of them.

Cocktails at Hotel Alpine Continental. Cloud 9, Centre Point. Polo Irish Pub, Hotel Polo Towers. Tango at Police Bazar in O B Shopping Mall.

Nightlife is generally at its peak on Fridays and Saturdays. Sundays are very, very dull.

Sleep

Shillong has options for all kinds of travellers. Most of the hotels are located in and around the Police Bazar which is the noisy, crowded city centre of Shillong. Hotel Polo Towers and Royal Heritage have locations that are more relaxing. Backpackers might want to check the Youth Hostel near Office of Chief Telecom Officer (CTO Complex). Internet reservations are available only in a few starred hotels.

Go next

There are many interesting places for outing from Shillong.

Cherrapunji (or Sohra as called locally) is around 60 km south of Shillong. It holds the world record for the highest rainfall ever in a calendar year. It is famous for its various waterfalls (most famous of all Noh Kalikai Falls) and limestone caves. The monsoon is the best time to enjoy thundering waterfalls. Limestone caves are full of stalactites and stalagmites and you will find many adventurous souls venturing deep into them. Jaintia Hills This is not a hot tourist spot but one can find a beautiful lake, a 700-year-old Durga temple and a rock garden. Jakrem, 64 km from Shillong, is a hot-spring of sulphur water, believed to have curative medicinal properties. Mawsynram is 56 km from Shillong and is known for the Giant Stalagmite formation shaped into a "Shivalinga" and found inside a cave known locally as Mawjymbuin. It holds a Guinness record for the highest average annual rainfall of 11,873 millimeters (467 inches), compared to 1,582 mm in Kolkata. Sacred Forest (or Mawphlang as called locally) are groves around 25 km away from Shillong. These are considered sacred by Khasis and people were forbidden to enter them earlier. This ensured protection of a dense growth of several kinds of trees including the Khasi pine. The heavily covered grounds around the forests facilitating growth of ferns and orchids most of them endemic. Umiam is a water sports complex, developed upon the reservoir of the Umiam Hydro Elect…