Umiam Lake near Shillong - Experience the sereneness

It was a planned trip to the North East, in the week of Diwali. We landed at Shillong airport from an Air India 40 seater flight after having a wonderful aerial view of the green northeast mountains.

The first view

Introduction

How Umiam lake was evolved

What to do

• Viewing area: About 3-4 km's towards Shillong from the lake, you can stand on the top of the hills and look down upon the lake. The road has a viewing area, will proper railings and is about 400 m in length. This is where you get the top view of the lake. You can see mountains all around, and even a small island towards your left. The place is flooded with tourists and everyone can get a view of the lake. So park the taxi, get out your camera and walk along the railing to capture the wonderful view. We could see people taking selfies, group and panoramic photos of various parts of the lake. You may need a cap and goggles in case you are not used to the sun. This is because there are very few trees around at this viewpoint. After basking in this beauty drive down further till you cross Orchid Resort, and come to the parking area.


• Garden: Enter into the Lum Nehru park and behold you can see the Umiam lake around it. You can take a walk along the cobblestoned pathways or in the garden and have different views of the lake. Or you could just sit back and relax and enjoy the serene atmosphere in lush green environment. There are cemented platforms with shade for people to sit and watch the waves lapping on the banks. There is a small cafeteria here which provide basic refreshments. The grassy slopes are not uniform and hence you can watch the lake even when you lie down. We met a big group of 50 people, who had come here for a one day picnic with families. They were from a small Assamese place, about 100 km's away. They had two cooks with them, along with utensils and the food to be cooked. In a corner of the garden, there was an open fireplace where they used to cook food. I am sure they all must have had a whale of a time. We left early to catch a flight for Kolkata and we missed to find out how they all enjoyed.


• Water sports complex: at one end of the garden and on the banks of the lake is a water sports complex, which offers many water sports and adventure activities. Tourists typically visit this spot for kayaking, water cycling, scooting and boating. The rates are reasonable and we had a wonderful boat ride for about half an hour. The boat took us across the lake and it was fun.


View of Umiam lake while boating


• Orchid Resort: The campus consists of a lake resort Orchid Resort. So when we entered near the campus, we saw a board mentioning swimming for Rs 250. My husband is crazy for swimming and he thought that a small part of the lake was cordoned and we could swim. So climbed down a flight of stairs and came across a swimming pool, just on the banks of the lake. Then we realized that it was part of the Orchid Resort facility. The view from near the pool was breath taking. From among the trees, you can see quite a large part of the lake with the hills on the other end. The resort has very good ambience. You can sit on the lawns and the lake is just in front of you. You can have buffet lunch or dinner or enjoy the a la carte along with watching the serene atmosphere along the lake. We had lunch here and found that the food is reasonably priced, of handsome quantity and tasty. The place has ample parking area for guests. Even the hotel is reasonable. We regretted not booking this place for at least one night. Evening and early morning walk in this serene atmosphere are not worth missing.