Field note · India · Meghalaya

Dawki and Shnongpdeng

Dawki is the border town on the Umngot river, 80–85 km from Shillong down the Pynursla road, and Shnongpdeng is the quieter camping village 8 km upstream. Shared Sumos for the Jaintia Hills side of the state leave from the Bara Bazar (Iewduh) area of Shillong, around the Jowai stand near Anjalee Cinema, and they mostly run in the morning, so a day trip by public transport is tight. On the river the unit of transport is a whole boat, not a seat, and the rate is negotiated before you board. The Indian side of the Dawki–Tamabil land crossing is about 1 km from the Dawki bazaar and open in daylight hours; on the far side, Tamabil bus station is 1.5 km on with regular buses to Sylhet.

Researched: 21 September 2026
Reviewed: not yet
Ways of moving: 9, 23 sources
Not confirmed: 7
Fares seen: 2024–2026

The place

Dawki or Dauki is a town in West Jaintia Hills district, Meghalaya, India.

Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. The place page has what to see, do and eat, and every way there from the planner.

How transport works here

9 ways of moving, each with its rule

We confirmed seven ways of moving to, from or around Dawki: three by road, two hired or on demand and two by water, from 23 sources. Two entries are not a service at all but a rule that decides whether travel happens: a permit, a closure, a border, a season or an authority's say-so. Two of them run only on demand or when the seats are full, so there is no timetable to show; the rule is written where the timetable would be. One needs a phone call or a message before you turn up.

The fares were seen in 2024 to 2026; a fare from an older year is a floor, not a price. We rate 2 of the 9 high confidence, our own judgement of the sources. The entry was checked on 21 September 2026, and ends with seven things we could not confirm.

3 ways

By road

share taxi

Shillong – Dawki shared Sumo

Bara Bazar (Iewduh), Shillong to Dawki via Pynursla, about 80–85 km

The Jaintia Hills and Dawki cars go from the Bara Bazar area, around the Jowai Sumo stand opposite Anjalee Cinema, which people also call the Anjali stand. This is a different stand from the Sohra one in the multi-storey car park. Ask for Dawki and expect to wait while the vehicle fills. Most departures are in the morning.

When: Mornings, leaving when full. Frequency drops off sharply in the afternoon, and there is nothing reliable late in the day
Takes: 2h 30m – 3h 30m
Fare 2026: ₹200–300 per person was reported in 2020. Guides written in 2025 and 2026 quote ₹250–350 and up to ₹400–500 per seat, so assume around ₹300–400

SeasonYear-round. In the monsoon the Pynursla road is landslide-prone and cars may be sent round via Jowai and Amlarem or via Sohra and Sohbar. BookingNone. Turn up at the stand and pay the driver. Run byprivate owner-drivers.

share taxi

Dawki – Shnongpdeng local cars

Dawki bazaar and the suspension bridge to Shnongpdeng, 8 km upstream

Pick one up around the Dawki bazaar and the bridge. Shared cars run both ways, but there are few of them, and most people end up reserving. Agree the fare before you get in. Some Shnongpdeng camps sit across the river and you finish on foot over the suspension bridge, so tell the driver which camp you want.

When: Irregular through the day, thinner in the evening
Takes: 15–20 minutes
Fare 2026: Reserving the car was ₹200–500, one traveller settling at ₹250, in 2020. Guides written in 2025 put a shared seat at ₹50–80 and a small local taxi at ₹100–200

SeasonYear-round. BookingNone, or ask your camp to send a car. Run bylocal owner-drivers.

share taxi

Mawlynnong and Riwai shared Sumo

Bara Bazar, Shillong to Mawlynnong, about 90 km, and Dawki to Mawlynnong, 17 km

From Shillong, the Mawlynnong cars go from the Khasi Hills Sumo stand at Bara Bazar market, and they run in the morning only. They are infrequent and do not always fill, which is why most people reach Mawlynnong on a Dawki day loop instead. From Dawki, ask around the bazaar for a car going up to Mawlynnong; the Riwai living root bridge is on the same road just before the village.

When: Morning only from Shillong, and not every day. Irregular from Dawki
Takes: About 3 hours from Shillong, 30–40 minutes from Dawki
Fare 2026: ₹250–350 per person from Shillong. Shared rides Dawki to Mawlynnong are reported at ₹150–200. Entry is ₹50 per person for Mawlynnong village and ₹20 for the balancing rock at Riwai

SeasonYear-round. BookingNone, pay the driver. Run byprivate owner-drivers.

2 ways

Hired, booked and on demand

tour package

MTDC conducted bus, Shillong – Dawki via Jowai

Shillong to Dawki and back in a day, routed through Jowai in the Jaintia Hills

The state tourism corporation's own day bus, sold on the Meghalaya Tourism site and at the tourism office at Police Bazar in Shillong. The site also lists a Dawki service via Pynursla as coming but not yet running.

When: Departs 07:00
Takes: A full day
Fare 2026: ₹1,000 adult, ₹900 senior citizen

SeasonYear-round, subject to road closures. BookingOnline at meghalayatourism.in, or by phone on +91 8257923906 / +91 8974579752 / +91 8257961043. Run byMTDC (Meghalaya Tourism Development Corporation).

private hire

Reserved taxi from Shillong

Shillong to Dawki, usually sold as a Dawki–Mawlynnong–Riwai day loop

Hire at the Police Bazar taxi stand in Shillong or through the Meghalaya Tourism office there. This is what most visitors do, because the shared Sumos will not wait while you boat and will not detour to Mawlynnong.

When: On demand, usually an early start
Takes: 2h 30m – 3h 30m each way
Fare 2026: Cab companies quote roughly ₹2,100–3,000 one way. A full Shillong–Dawki–Mawlynnong–Shillong day is quoted at about ₹3,500–4,500 for a sedan and ₹4,500–5,500 for an SUV

SeasonYear-round. BookingAt the stand the day before, or online. Run byShillong taxi operators.

2 ways

By water

boat

Umngot river boats at Dawki

Out from the bank beside the Dawki suspension bridge, upriver and back

Walk down to the riverbank by the bridge; there is paid parking near the river point and the boatmen find you rather than the other way round. There is no ticket office and no entry fee, so fix the price and the length of the ride before you step in. Go early: the river is busiest and hottest between about 11:00 and 15:00.

When: Continuous while there is daylight and demand
Takes: 30–60 minutes
Fare 2026: ₹700–1,000 for the whole boat, which takes two or three passengers plus the boatman. Reviewers report ₹800 for a short ride and ₹1,000–1,200 for longer ones

SeasonClearest water November to February, good roughly October to April. In the monsoon the river is high and brown. Since October 2025 the water has also been muddied by soil washed off the Shillong–Dawki highway works, and the state pollution board fined the road agency ₹15 lakh in November 2025. BookingNone needed. Pay on the bank, in cash. Run bylocal boatmen.

boat

Shnongpdeng boats, kayaks and river crossings

The Umngot at Shnongpdeng, upstream and down from the camps

Book through whichever camp or homestay you are staying at, or walk to the riverbank and deal with the boatmen directly. Shnongpdeng is the quieter and clearer end of the same river, and boats here double as the way across to camps on the far bank.

When: Daylight hours; kayaking and boating typically offered 10:00 to 16:00
Takes: 30–45 minutes for a boat ride, about an hour to cover the kayaking stretch
Fare 2026: A boat holding five or six people was ₹500–800 for 30–45 minutes in 2020; 2026 guides quote ₹500–1,500 per boat. A four-person kayak was ₹800. Prices rise with the crowd

SeasonBest October to April; water levels rise and clarity drops in the June to September monsoon. BookingThrough your camp, or on the bank. Camps fill in season, so book a bed a day or two ahead. Run byShnongpdeng boatmen and the village camps.

2 ways

Rules, permits and closures

border crossing

Dawki – Tamabil land border crossing

Dawki bazaar to the Indian check post, then across to Tamabil in Bangladesh and on to Sylhet

The gate is about 1 km from the middle of Dawki and you can walk it, though the road is muddy in the rain and passing mopeds will give you a lift for a few minutes' ride. Dawki is congested with coal trucks, several hundred a day in season, so leave time. On the Bangladesh side, Tamabil bus station is 1.5 km further on and has regular buses to Sylhet, 55 km away.

When: Daily in daylight. One traveller crossing in October 2024 found it open 09:00 to 17:00; other reports say it opens earlier. Arrive well before mid-afternoon
Takes: Formalities took over an hour on the Indian side in 2024; Tamabil to Sylhet is about 1h 30m – 2h
Fare 2024: No fee to cross. Onward transport from Tamabil is paid locally

SeasonYear-round. BookingYou must already hold a valid visa for the country you are entering; visas are not issued at the border. Run byLand Ports Authority of India on the Indian side; Tamabil land port on the Bangladesh side.

service status

Monsoon closures on the Shillong – Dawki road

Shillong – Pynursla – Dawki, with detours via Jowai–Amlarem or Sohra–Sohbar

The direct road fails in heavy rain. On 21 June 2026 a landslide took out the Laitlyngkot–Lyngkyrdem stretch of the Shillong–Dawki highway; the East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner closed it to all traffic beyond Laitlyngkot and the advised alternatives were Shillong–Sohra–Sohbar–Dawki and Shillong–Jowai–Amlarem–Dawki. The Pynursla block office separately barred people from the slide site. Before travelling in the monsoon, check with the stand or your camp which road is open.

When: Not a service. A recurring monsoon condition
Takes: Detours add one to three hours
Fare 2026: Drivers charge more for the long way round

SeasonRoughly June to September, worst in June and July. Run byEast Khasi Hills district administration issues the closure orders.

Not confirmed

What we could not find out

7 things the researcher looked for and did not find, in their own words, with where to ask instead. None of this goes into the planner; it stays here until someone confirms it.

01
No source gives the departure times or the last return time of the Shillong–Dawki shared Sumos. Everything found says only that they run in the morning. Ask at the Jowai stand in Bara Bazar the day before.
02
Whether an ordinary MTC or private bus still runs Shillong to Dawki could not be confirmed. Wikipedia says buses cover the 70 km from Shillong but names no operator, timing or fare; the state tourism site lists only the MTDC conducted tour.
03
No fixed or published boat tariff for the Umngot could be found at either Dawki or Shnongpdeng, and no evidence was found of a boat owners' strike. Every figure here is a reported paid price, and rates move with the crowd. Agree the price before boarding.
04
The effect of the 2025 river discolouration on boat operations is not documented. The state pollution board fined the highway agency in November 2025 but no source says boats stopped running.
05
Current opening hours of the Dawki Integrated Check Post could not be verified from the Land Ports Authority of India, whose site blocked access. The 09:00–17:00 figure is a single traveller report from October 2024 and other sources say the gate opens earlier.
06
Fares and frequency for shared transport between Dawki and Jowai, and between Dawki and Sohra without going back through Shillong, are not documented.
07
No reliable first-hand account of hitching in the Jaintia Hills was found, so nothing is claimed about it here.

In the planner

What the planner can route today

The options above live on the place page, not in the departure board: a boat that comes when you phone has no time to show. What the board can do for Dawki is this.

Y: Scheduled flightsSylhet (ZYL), 29 km
Y: Trains and coachesTransitous carries 2 timetable feeds for this country, 1 with real-time
N: Ferriesno crossing within 25 km
Y: Driving and taxiOpenStreetMap roads; cab fare from the country band
N: Bike and scooter shareno share feed known
N: Cruisesno open itinerary source anywhere

Y routable now · F found, not yet implemented · N no source known.