My Love affair with Shergaon – The Charming Hamlet of Arunachal Pradesh

Shergaon – A name I did not know until about recently, must be a month or two before we planned our trip to Arunachal Pradesh. And yet here I am, dreaming of the days we spent in this quaint little village in Arunachal Pradesh. A place blessed with remarkable natural beauty and a temperate climate, but more than that the most wonderful people with hearts of gold. A little stroll under the morning sun, moments of solitude by a waterfall hidden inside the forest and incredible warmth shown by people to two strangers in their land – I fell hopelessly in love with Shergaon.

Why Shergaon became my favourite

The Natural Beauty

Shergaon is blessed with unparalleled natural beauty. It is cradled by lofty mountains. River and brooks with the clearest of water flow joyously through it. Farmlands and fruit orchards brimming with life dot the landscape. Even the wild flowers and different shrubs add so much to the charm of the place. And at some places, manmade wooden and iron bridges adorned with prayer flags make it look just like a postcard.

What I loved more is that Shergaon is not yet very commercialized. We did not see too many home stays under construction like we later saw in Dirang. The natural beauty is still intact and it is the perfect place to explore by foot, to take life slow and to relish everything nature has to offer.

The Stay experience

It was late evening when we reached Shergaon. So our first experience of Shergaon was the warm welcome of our hosts into the homestay. After a cup of hot coffee, we joined our hosts by the traditional heater called Bukhari, that is part of almost every home in this cold region. Delicious smelling chicken curry was slowly cooking on the Bukhari and the atmosphere for conversations was set.

Our host offered us some home made rice wine and while we sipped on it, he explained the nitty-gritty of the wine making process from fermented rice. Then the topic shifted to local culture, lifestyle and festivals of the village and how it has helped shape lives in the region. We ended the evening singing together some beautiful Bollywood and Odia oldies and enjoying a hot home cooked meal. It truly felt like being part of someone’s home and we went to bed happy and excited about what Shergaon would reveal the next morning.

The Hidden Waterfall

Choskorong waterfall is like a hidden treasure of Shergaon. I say hidden, because the waterfall is located inside dense foliage away from the main road and is not visible to the outside world. It requires a little hiking (not very difficult) to reach the waterfall. And on the day we visited, there was no other soul around. Just the two of us, sitting under a tree overlooking the falls, entranced by the beauty in front of us. Prayer flags fluttered in the winter breeze. A little birdie was flying around merrily, and the sun peeped through the tree branches swaying in the wind. It felt like a different world, a world away from all the chaos. We stayed there for almost 45 mins enjoying that solitude, with hearts full of gratitude.

It is not just the waterfall that is beautiful, even the walk to that fall offers lovely views, passing by cutesy wooden bridges, streams and a fruit orchard. The orchard looked so colourful with the leaves of the Persimmon trees turned Orange and many trees laden with Persimmons. The last part of the patch was a bit steep, but felt absolutely worth treading when it opened to the view of the waterfall. It took us around 30 mins to reach the fall from the main road. But vehicles can go till the farm and then a 10 min hike can take you to the source of the fall. What an experience it was! Read the full blog Here….