Northeast Indian adventure, part three: A treehouse, a root bridge and a spotless village, Mawlynnong, Meghalaya

We had no idea what to expect when we discovered we would be visiting a treehouse with a view of the Bangladeshi planes. We imagined the kind of wonky treehouses you play in (or wish you'd played in) as a kid. A small wooden box type construction, perched precariously on a branch, with little room to manoeuvre.Our drive from Shillong to Mawlynnong, like many on this trip, was part of the adventure. A journey which provided an ever evolving landscape. Sheer natural beauty.A little way into the trip we asked Tums if he could find somewhere for us to have a spot of tea. Somewhere to wake up a little before we arrived at the treehouse. No problem for Tums. He seems to be able to find nice stops no matter where we were. We pulled up at a roadside cafe and had some smokey tea made by this gorgeous and angelic lady who was obviously expecting to serve a lot of noodles that day.We later arrived in a little village called Wahthyllong. We wandered past little stalls selling all sorts of unusual looking fruits and found ourselves at the ticket counter.  A few rupees later and we were at the bottom of a treehouse so unimaginably complex and beautiful that we all regressed in age by about 20 years and became giddy with excitement. The structure itself was made entirely of bamboo.  Pathways wound themselves around tree trunks and never ending stairs allowed us to climb up higher than the treetops around us.  Bamboo, which is an incredibly sustainable building material (it grows super fast) is used in a lot of construction around these parts as it is in such plentiful supply.  Steve made sure to check its strength by jumping up and down when we reached the very top.The locals appeared to be building an extension which was fascinating to see. Once we'd climbed down and calmed down, we headed onwards to visit the living root bridge.  Wow. As you can imagine these bridges aren't grown overnight. They take some time. Over a period of about 15 years, the roots of trees, in this case banyan trees, are trained to grow around a length of bamboo. Once the structure is formed, dirt and rocks are stuffed into the gaps between the roots, giving them more surface to grow around and making for a more stable crossing. You can imagine this was a sight to behold. The bridge enabled us to cross over a picturesque river.  The whole scene was just stunning.Our bellies started to rumble so we decided to hike back up toward the car in search of a little snack.Several stalls were selling boiled sweet potatoes, served with black salt. Black salt has a sulphery, eggy taste, which is much nicer than it sounds.  This snack was so delicious that we went back for seconds.  And Thirds.  For dessert we had fresh pineapple. We also came across these little beauties. No idea what they are. Sarah ate them as she's the bravest.  She said they made her tongue go all powdery.Next up on the agenda was Mawlynnong village which boasts the title of Asia's cleanest village. We did find a piece of rubbish on the floor, but we didn't tell anyone.One of the most irritating things about travelling India is the rubbish. We've seen many people mindlessly throwing rubbish on the floor or into open water. Kids throwing rubbish out of moving vehicles with no reaction from the parents. It's a hard thing to see. During our time in Wahthyllong, while we were eating those delicious spuds, we saw a lady throw some rubbish over her shoulder. I couldn't help but crouch down and pick it up, throw it in the bin and mention to her that it's not good to litter. She seemed a little embarrassed, but agreed.Anyway, Mawlynnong was sparkly clean. It's clearly being very well looked after and cared for. Here's a crazy looking spider we found hanging about.Once we were able to confirm that this place was in fact very, very clean, we headed to Langkawet where we stayed here and played cards all night.