Double Decker Root bridge is located in a small hamlet called Nongriat which has just 35-40 houses. Byron Sing, the owner of Serene homestay where we had stayed, has written an informative booklet about the history and culture of Nongriat. It says that the ancestors of present residents of Nongriat were earlier living in the neighbouring village who had a reputation of being experts in roots and trees. They were also experts in bamboo work and realised the difficulty in maintaining bridges made out of bamboo and wood especially during torrential rains. Necessity is the mother of invention. About 250-300 years ago, this thought made the natives of the land to conceive of the genius idea of making a Living Root Bridge that would be self sustaining. What an idea, sirjee!
We started our trek to Rainbow Falls from the Double Decker Root bridge after munching some sandwiches. The plan was to reach Rainbow Falls and go to a water body on the way back in the same route. Some travelers do the trek down to Double Decker, go all the way further up to Rainbow Falls and then come back the same day. We had opted to take it slow and easy, and as a result we were staying at Serene homestay near DDR bridge for two nights.
As we crossed the DDR, it was a beautiful forest through which we started our walk to Rainbow Falls. There was not a single hut after a few metres and both sides had shrubs and tall trees that did not allow the sun rays to reach the ground. We could see insects if all kinds and we also got bitten by Godzilla-sized mosquitoes if we stayed at one place for a long time. The trek was uphill on stoned paths, crossing streams through Root Bridges and other bridges. Not a single other soul in sight and with the sounds of insects in the background, walking through the forest was an experience in itself!
The path was not a smooth one. In many places there were stones of all sizes that we had to surmount to march ahead. It was a good followup after the hikes in the previous days. When we were tired, we took a halt until we could breathe normally and that’s when we could see all the beauty around. Even while walking through a forest as beautiful as this, if one is so occupied with their pursuits that there’s no time to pause and look around, then one will miss all the beauty around. While I am writing this, I hope all of us will remember to take pauses and look at the beauty around as we get busy in our daily life struggles and pursuits.
After a climb of about 2.5 hours (at the pace of our slowest member), we reached Rainbow falls. And it was a dazzling beauty worth the trek! One can watch Rainbow falls from a 150 metre distance, but cannot go to the falls. We sat there and enjoyed watching the water gush down from a height of 300 m or so. It was then time to turn back. There was a small ascent and then a descent to the water body that we had planned to visit on the way to Double Decker Bridge. But before we would go there, we had to satisfy our growling stomachs. We had noodles at a stall next to the entrance of the pool before we walked down to the pool. It was again a beautiful blue and green pool with crystal clear water made by a waterfall. There were life jackets provided if one wanted to go for a swim. We spent about 30-40 minutes in the water until my daughter started shivering. Still the kids didn’t want to get out of it.
By this time, the mind was used to trek and hence the body had to follow. It didn’t seem difficult at all to get back to the DDR bridge. As we reached our homestay, we had some yummy bread pakodas and again headed for the DDR bridge for the fish spa. It was 4:15 pm by then and there was still energy left in everyone.
We retired to the bed early. To sing a lullaby we had the rain gods shower some rains. Sleep came in no time.
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