There is a nip in the air as one left Shillong heading towards the town of Smit some 20 km along the Longksha Mawkynrew road and heads further climbing uphill to reach Thangsning. The drive up the mountain leads to an abrupt narrow dead-end road with nothing but the skyline of the mountain range and the horizon beyond. We were asked to leave the car and ready ourselves for the adventurous trek ahead.

Three and a half kilometers of a stretch of pathway along rock-cut steps down the mountain trail winding itself around the spiralling mountain track leaving us breathless with the most dramatic sights of drifting clouds caressing landscapes against the horizon beyond. All this as we trudged along, caught between steps taken cautiously one at a time, tiring bones and sweaty t-shirts, steadily heading to the village of Rangphlang. There was a lesson to be learnt from the few locals who went past us – while in the mountains, harmonize your approach to be one with nature.