Short visit to Dawki, Meghalaya- India-Bangladesh Border

Dawki is a town in Meghalaya, located on India-Bangladesh border. I was unaware of this place till I started my North East trip planning. Now that I am, I suggest you do include this border town in your itinerary without fail. This post shares my photos and related details of Dawki.

Drive till Dawki was fun with wide and curvy hill roads of Meghalaya. Last 10 kms were bad. As soon as we entered Dawki area boat operators surrounded us asking if you would like a ride. I decided to drive around first and come back later.

Almost everyone who goes to Dawki seem to be clicking the boat pictures without fail. Some of my clicks above and below





Umngot river (a.k.a Dawki river) separates the town from mainland and this suspension bridge is the sole way to connect. It is old and fragile-only one lane is available, so police posted on both sides coordinate and let in vehicles one by one. River separates Khasi hills on the Meghalaya side and Jaintia on the opposite. The whole area looks very inviting- A wide river, a long suspension bridge, greenery on both sides, a set of boats in motion in water, waterfalls by the side. It is a delight indeed.

Indians do not get Visa on arrival for Bangladesh- this would have been a good opportunity for Bangladesh to get some tourism revenue to let Dawki visitors into Bangladesh with minimum paperwork and let them explore a bit of Bangladesh (similar to Indo-Bhutan border town)




Mini waterfalls everywhere- Water oozing down from the roadside

Spot the Ecosport


Lone Dog on the river bed

Clicks during boat ride. A 15 minute boat ride costed Rs 500 (2 people, entire boat). One can also try sharing at Rs 100 per person. For large groups it is lot economical. Not sure if we paid more.

Bangladesh and its people: We are told we did enter Bangladesh water during boat ride but are not allowed to get down. What you see below is Bangladesh land and its people. Border Security Force keeps a close watch on tourists, but I still see some security risk in this area. Better border marking and a physical wall/fence etc is safer

Dawki Meghalaya Key Information:

1. Where? About 190 kms from Guwahati Airport or 85 kms south of Shillong town
2. Road condition: Excellent, except last 10 kms
3. What to do? Boat ride/Kayaking in Dawki river, enjoy the scenery, drive till border, view Bangladesh
4. Stay: Available but hard to find. River camping option available but closed during rainy days. Almost everydone does a day visit from Shillong and return.
5. Food: Didn't see any luxury/mid-range restaurants. Basic food is available in town. Few restaurants operate on the way to Dawki
6. Time required: 2-3 hours minimum

We reached Dawki at around 3PM after starting from Guwahati at 10 AM, with some stop for food, quick rest at Mylliem and a stop at Monkey falls. Started from Dawki at about 5 PM. Wanted to visit Mawlyllong the same day but it got dark at about 6 PM, with Mawlyllong still 17 kms away. Had to come back later next day, adding another 120 odd kms to the odo. Where possible, it is time saving to explore both Dawki and Mawlyllong together. Wanted to consider staying at Dawki for the night, but didn't spot any homestays while driving around. I didn't try harder as I already had a stay at Mylliem.

Signing off with a sunset picture, clicked while returning from Dawki

 Coming soon: Living root bridge at Mawlyllong *