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Meghalaya

Meghalaya (Abode of Clouds in Sanskrit, pronounced "meg-hah-lah-yah") is one of the seven North-Eastern states of India. Famous for its high rainfall, subtropical forests and biodiversity, it is abutted by Assam in the north and east and by Bangladesh in the south. The River Brahmaputra (or Luit as called locally) forms the border in the west.

The state's territory constituted the Khasi-Jaintia Hills and Garo Hills districts of Assam until 1972. Most of the terrain is hilly and experiences heavy rainfall during monsoons.

Meghalaya is home to three major tribal populations - Khasis, Garos and Jaintias (in order of population).

Cities

 * — East Khasi Hills. Capital, economic hub, and multicultural center of Meghalaya

 * — tourist hotspot of Meghalaya, gateway to waterfalls, caves, swimming holes, and living root bridges

 * — village locally famous for having been declared the "cleanest in Asia" by an Indian magazine

 * — West Garo Hills. Hub of western Meghalaya, sprawled across jungle hillsides

 * — South West Garo Hills

 * — South Garo Hills. Gateway to Balphakram National Park and other jungle scenery destinations

 * — West Jaintia Hills

 * — East Jaintia Hills.

 * — South West Khasi Hills

 * — Ri Bhoi

 * — West Khasi Hills. High-elevation plateau town with houses overhanging a river

 * — North Garo Hills

 * — East Garo Hills. Small but bustling town nestled in a temperate woodland

Other destinations

 * — located in the Garo Hills in Meghalaya, a well known park in India for its scenic beauty and various species of flora and fauna

 * (Nokrek Biosphere Reserve) — a small population of Red Panda reside in this park, though visitors rarely if ever see them. It is habitat for the Asian elephant, species of cats and primates. It is also an important area for birds. Rongbang Dare Water Fall and Nokrek Peak are located in this park with tall thick forest. Visitors mostly come for trekking and scenery.

Understand
The British came to Sylhet in 1765. At that time the Khasis used to come at Pandua on the border of Sylhet to trade in silk, cotton goods, iron, wax, honey and ivory in exchange for rice, salt and dried fish. Limestone from the Khasi hills used to fulfill the demand in Bengal then. Soon British officials of the East India Company began trading in limestone and thus came in contact with the Khasis. In 1824, the Burmese invaded Cachar and also appeared at the border of the Jaintia Hills. The British sent a small force to reinforce the Jaintia Rajah’s troops. On 10th March 1824, a friendship treaty was signed by the Rajah accepting the protection of the British. Other Khasi chiefs also allowed the passage of the British troops through their territories. After the Burmese invasion was over, the British demanded a corridor through the Khasi and the Jaintia Hills to connect Assam valley with Surma valley. Most of the Khasi chiefs agreed, and the road was completed in March 1829, but only after quelling an upheaval by U Tirot Sing. The story that followed after putting down the uprising by U Tirot Sing was the signing of several treaties with different Khasi chiefs. In 1862 the Jaintias revolted under U Kiang Nongbah. By virtue of these treaties, the British gradually took control of the mineral deposits and side by side subjugated the chiefs and also took control of judiciary.

Talk
The most dominant language of Meghalaya is Khasi, spoken by the native population of most of central Meghalaya, including Shillong and Cherrapunji, and widely understood in the eastern part of the state too, though most people there speak the related Jaintia language. However, in western Meghalaya, Khasi is replaced by Garo, an unrelated language, and Khasi is generally not understood there.

English is the official language of the state, and the main way that people from the west and the east communicate with each other. However, in rural areas many people still speak almost zero English. In Shillong, on the other hand, most people can speak some English, and you'll meet many who are completely fluent.

Hindi is also spoken as a second (or third) language by many people in Meghalaya, and is perhaps a bit more widely understood than English. And around the edges of the state it's common to find areas where most people speak Bengali or Assamese.

By plane
The Shillong Airport, located around 35 km from Shillong is the only airport in Meghalaya where commercial flights operate from. A limited number of Air India flights (ATR42 type) are available from Kolkata per week. However, the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport at Guwahati, serves as the nearest major airport to Shillong. It is connected by daily flights to all Indian cities and also to Bangkok.

By helicopter
The Government of Meghalaya operates a twice-a-day helicopter service from the Guwahati Airport to the Shillong Heliport, located 10 km away from the city centre. Tickets are modestly priced at ₹1500. A 2 hour 30 min long journey by road from Guwahati to Shillong (and vice-versa) is cut down to just a 20 minute flight if travelling by helicopter. (As of 2023, the price has likely doubled, assuming the service is still running.)

By train
There are no railway lines in Meghalaya. Guwahati is the nearest railway station located around 104 km from Shillong.

By road
Shillong is connected with Guwahati by NH 40. Various modes of transport including Shared taxis, Buses and private cabs ply on this route. Shared sumos are available from right outside Guwahati Railway Station to Shillong for ₹160 per seat (probably more now). There are also morning and overnight bus and Sumo routes to Shillong from Silchar, though they're much longer and less convenient that going from Guwahati.

Various bus and shared taxi services also run between local areas of Assam and other parts of the Meghalaya, particularly Tura in the west.

Visa and Restricted Area information
No Inner Line Permit or Protected Area permit is required to enter Meghalaya. The Meghalaya government tourism website contains a lot of resources for tourists.

Get around
Any Meghalaya excursion should start from Shillong or Guwahati for convenience. Local non-AC buses, share sumos connect several parts of Meghalaya and other destinations of the North-East. Though cheap, these buses are infrequent and inconvenient. Best is to hire a taxi for a day and cover your destinations. Standard Maruti 800 taxis cost about ₹1200 (with fuel) for standard day excursions (Mawsynram, Cherrapunjee, Nartiang) as of Nov 2008. Bargain if you want to explore places other than regular tourist sites. Shillong City Tour costs about ₹500-₹700. Since Meghalaya is a small state, destinations are not very far apart in the regular tourist circuit, so retaining a car is not a cost effective idea. If one visits Orchid Lake Resort or Cherrapunjee Resort, cars are not readily available from these offbeat spots. So plan your itinerary in advance and accordingly make arrangements from Shillong for pick up from the resorts on the return leg. Otherwise, you may have to face delays. As tourism initiatives are mostly limited to Shillong and East Khasi Hills, travellers to Garo Hills (Tura, Williamsnagar), Jaitia Hills (Jowai) and West Khasi Hills (Nongstoin) should plan their route/itinerary considering the lack of proper tourism infrastructure (food/lodging/transport/roads).

See

 * Balpakram National Park
 * Cherrapunji
 * Elephant Falls
 * Lady Hydari Park
 * Mawlynnong
 * Nokrek National Park
 * Shillong Peak
 * South Garo Hills, Pitcher Plant sanctuary, Siju Caves
 * Umiam Lake
 * Wards Lake
 * Living Root Bridges

Do
Meghalaya is a caver's delight. The area around Cherrapunji has quite a few limestone caves that can be visited, such as the caves at Mawsmai near Mawsynram. Earlier in 2018, the world's longest sandstone cave has also been discovered in the area at Krem Puri. At nearly 25km long, its length is almost three times the height of Mount Everest. Some dinosaur fossils have also been found in this cave.

Apart from caving, you will also enjoy visiting the beautiful waterfalls around Shillong and Cherrapunji. You should also not miss visiting at least one of the Living Root Bridges. These are natural bridges, created by the local tribals by training the roots of trees to grow in certain directions and weaving them together with mud to create a passable bridge over a stream.

Eat
Rice is the staple food and different varieties from the red rice to the sticky glutinous rice are grown and eaten in Meghalaya. The red rice from the Sung Valley is known to be particularly delicious. Pork in every form is enjoyed by all three communities. The Khasi and Jaintia cuisine are similar and use black sesame seeds to add a distinctive taste to the pork and other dishes. A cold salad of shredded pork with onions and ginger is also very popular.

During the early monsoon, different varieties of mushroom sprout all over the Jaintia and Khasi Hills and these make their way to the local markets. The mushrooms are either cooked in combination with the meat dishes or just fried lightly on its own. Rice is cooked either plain or in combination with onions, ginger and turmeric, giving it the characteristic yellow colour; this is known as 'jastem'. Another variation is the 'jadoh' which is rice cooked with meat (namely pork). Rice cakes called 'putharo and the drier flaky pumaloi are prepared from rice flour. Another variety is the deep fried jaggery sweetened pukhiein and steamed pusla usually eaten as snacks with tea.

The Garo cuisine is simple to cook with different variations adding richness to the flavour. One of the most popular dishes among the Garos is the Nakham Bitchi dish, which is prepared from special dry fish, chillies and a pinch of soda. This is a hot spicy soup and is usually served with rice, together with some other fish or meat dish, usually boiled with yam, pumpkin, gourd, chillies and a dash of bamboo ash water. These dishes are sometimes cooked wrapped in leaves or in fresh bamboo cylinders over an open fire, thereby infusing the food with the flavour of the leaves and green bamboo. Also popular among the Khasi, Jaintia and Garos is fish and meat preserved either by drying in the sun or smoking over fire. A variety of chutneys prepared from different types of herbs, fermented soya bean and fermented fish always accompany the meals.

Sleep
Major tourist destinations in Meghalaya usually have a few hotels, various guesthouses (smaller, locally-owned hotels), and numerous "homestays" (more local and casual yet). Outside of the main tourist circuit, most major towns have at least one or two guesthouses, but smaller villages may not. A few places, like Wahrew riverbank south of Cherrapunji, have pre-pitched tents that you can reserve to stay in.

Most accommodations do not provide wifi, and some (particularly in warm-weather areas) don't provide hot water for showers, so if either of these things are critical to you, make sure to ask in advance (an in-room water heater is called a "geyser", pronounced "geezer").

Many accommodations here are not listed on hotel aggregator websites, and if you do use one of those to book online, make sure to the still contact the place directly once you've booked - it's not unusual in India to get mix-ups where the places didn't see your online booking or don't even honor online bookings anymore. The recommended way to find a wider range of accommodations is to search in a map app, and then either just show up to one or contact them directly if you can find a phone number (sometimes visible in photos of the place's sign even if it's not in the listing). Homestays and some guesthouses expect you to contact them ahead of time, since they don't have reception desks.

Be aware that some places with "hotel" in the name are actually only restaurants with no rooms available. Usually you can figure out the difference by looking at online reviews, or by assuming the worst if there are no reviews.

Government run guesthouses, called "Inspection Bungalows" or "IB", are sometimes a good option in smaller towns. They prioritize government officials, but tourists are generally allowed to stay too, though you may need to apply for permission (same day) with the local police. Though they are basic, and may have squat toilets or no hot water, they are generally both better-kept and cheaper than low-end hotels and commercial guesthouse (in 2023, at least one charged as low as 100₮/night).

Stay safe
Like most of Northeast India, Meghalaya is generally considered safe for travelers, especially compared with more-frequently-visited parts of India like the north and west. Street crime is uncommon, and it is not unusual for women to travel alone or walk at night. Pickpockets are said to be an issue in the crowded bazars of Shillong, though apparently not as bad as in some other parts of India and the world.

While Meghalaya does have a recent history of violent insurgency, like the other states of the northeast, the days of rebel attacks and bombings seem to be over, and this is thought of as probably the safest state in the region. Some outsiders might advise you to avoid it during elections, as supporters of opposing candidates and parties can get rowdy, but locals don't seem to think this is a safety issue for travelers.

Cope
The vast majority of people in Meghalaya are Christians, especially in the villages, and they're generally very serious about it - on Sundays you should expect most shops to be closed, and much fewer transportation options.

title: Meghalaya


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Meghri

Meghri is a city in Southern Armenia.

Understand
Although the nearby village of Agarak is the crossing point into Iran, Meghri is the last major centre and the gateway for those entering. The sheer jagged brown mountains here jut up from the thick waters of the Arax River. The old mud adobe architecture of the city is crumbling, much of it replaced with Soviet, but parts of it remain for those who want a taste of a town with a very middle eastern flair. There are a few churches, 2 of them are in very good condition and absolutely covered in frescoes inside. A series of fortresses and fortifications above the city are some of the most recent in Armenia, only a couple of centuries old.

By bus

 * Yerevan – One per day, 9-10 hr. Though, it might not be available each day.
 * Kapan – Leaving for Meghri at 14:00 (or 15:00), 1.5 hr, and going further to Agarak. 2,000 dram for Meghri and Agarak.

Get around
The town is tiny, you will be good on foot.

See
The old churches, the older sections of town which surround them, the fortresses, the Arax River.

 * Ethnographic houses (17th - 20th centuries.)
 * Ethnographic houses (17th - 20th centuries.)
 * Ethnographic houses (17th - 20th centuries.)
 * Ethnographic houses (17th - 20th centuries.)

Nearby:

Eat
Food can be ordered in B&Bs and in a few barbecue joints along the road.

Go next

 * Jolfa, Iran – Take a taxi to Agarak border crossing. It is an 8-km ride and should not cost more than 1,000 dram. There is also one marshrutka per day to Agarak, coming from Kapan. Cross the border and arrange a taxi (US$10-15) or hitch a ride with an Iranian trucker to Jolfa, the first Iranian city having proper transport options.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Meghri


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Meißen

Meissen  (German spelling Meißen) is the oldest town in Saxony, Germany. Meißen was also once home to the local bishop and thus has a huge medieval cathedral and adjoining castle.

It is very close to Dresden and the adjacent landscapes of the Saxon Wine Region and the mountain range of Saxon Switzerland. It is part of the cultural area of Central Germany.

Understand

Meißen was the residence of the dukes of the March of Meissen which later became the Electorate of Saxony, before they moved to Dresden.

Later, the city gained cultural importance as the place where the first European porcelain was invented. The factory is still producing porcelain today under the Meissen brand and can be visited together with the porcelain museum.

The city was home to 28,000 people in 2020.

By plane
The nearest international airport is in Dresden. If you are arriving from further away it is more likely you will fly to Leipzig-Halle (near Schkeuditz, ) instead, as it offers more connections.

By train
Meißen has three train stops, Meißen, Meißen-Altstadt (old town) and Meißen-Triebischtal, all served by the S-Bahn from Dresden every 30 minutes. The Meißen station is on the eastern banks of the Elbe, across the river from the old town. It is best for tourists is to use the Meißen-Altstadt station. The old town and the tourist sights are within walking distance from there.

Meissen is part of the VVO transport executive, Tariff-zone 50. All VVO-tickets including this zone can be used on buses, regional trains and (most) ferries.

By car
Meissen is linked to the A14 and the A4 express ways.

By boat
The city has a steam boat (literally) connection to Dresden which is part of a larger steam boat network which connects places along the Elbe river in the wider Dresden area.

Get around
Walk. The old town of Meißen is not that big, but very pretty. Up to the Albrechtsburg it is rather steep though. There is a tourist bus doing several round trip tours daily, which might be an option if you're lazy or mobility impaired. A couple of years ago the city of Meißen built an escalator to the upper parts of town, but it has been out of order due to mechanic failures more than it has been in use.

Public transport
All information about public transport is available at the homepage of the Public transport authority Upper Elbe (VVO). There are three urban bus lines (A,B,C), many regional buses and a sight-seeing route (E). Here is a map of public transport.

S1 takes you to Dresden in 36 minutes. All lines (except E) are connected at Busbahnhof (central bus station) Meißen.

See

 * Besides this, it is also worth taking a look at the town and its old beautiful houses.
 * Besides this, it is also worth taking a look at the town and its old beautiful houses.
 * Besides this, it is also worth taking a look at the town and its old beautiful houses.
 * Besides this, it is also worth taking a look at the town and its old beautiful houses.

Do
Meißen is a rather quiet town and there isn't all that much you can do that doesn't have to do with either porcelain, wine or the castle and former residence.

Eat
Perhaps the weirdest local speciality is the "Meißner Fummel", a very brittle piece of dough that tastes of basically nothing and consists mostly of air. It was supposedly invented to be transported along with the famous Meissen china to prove that any breakage was not due to the recklessness of the coach-driver. Some bakeries sell it and you are bound to be told about them in any guided tour of the city. Tasting is often included.

Drink
Meissen is the easternmost wine area in Germany and on the northeastern edge of winegrowing in Europe. Meissen Wines are mostly white wines and they are, given their location, rather on the dry side. The most common grapes are Riesling, Müller-Thurgau, and Weißburgunder. Red wines are rather uncommon. As the wine area is not too large and hardly able to meet the demand, Meissen wines are rather scarce and therefore pricey.

Go next

 * Radebeul (15 km southeast; 15 minutes by S-Bahn) – villas, vineyards, steam railway
 * Moritzburg (18 km east) – fairytale castle and stud farm
 * Dresden (25 km southeast; half hour by S-Bahn) – capital of Saxony with palaces and art museums
 * Riesa (25 km northwest)
 * Freiberg (35 km southwest)
 * Saxon Switzerland (70 km southeast; 1–1½ hr by S-Bahn) – picturesque mountain region for hiking and climbing

title: Meißen


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Meizhou

Meizhou (梅州; Méizhōu in Mandarin, Mòi-chû in Hakka, Muizau in Cantonese) is a city of about a million in Guangdong. Meizhou is honored with the titles of Hometown of Culture, and Hometown of the Overseas Hakka Chinese.

Understand
The name Meizhou comes from the Mei River and the Chinese name for the plum blossom (梅; méi). Meizhou was established as the prefecture of Jingzhou during the Southern Han (917-971). It has a population of 4.3 million (2010), with about a million in the urban area.

Because of its mountainous location, Meizhou has numerous natural scenic areas and good air quality. Many visitors come to the Yannanfei Tea Garden to climb the mountain.

Hakka folk music is also a feature of the area. The songs sing of the Hakka people, their passion for their hometown, and of love.

Get in
The main airport serving the city is Meixian Airport. It is served primarily by domestic flights, with some international flights.

The second closest airport is Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport in Jieyang which is an hour and a half away by car, and is served by more international flights to other Asian countries.

High-speed trains are available from Guangzhou, Shantou, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Yichang, and Zhuhai.

It is a 5 hour journey by bus from Shenzhen. Getting to the correct bus station is the problem. Nevertheless you can get buses at Zhao Por Lu (literally grassy field road, ¥30).

The long distance bus from Meizhou to Hong Kong, which happens to stop at the border crossing in Shenzhen which is not that far from HK costs ¥100. The bus makes the trip in about 4 hours but with the border cross at two points each way it takes just about 6 hours on the dot. Rail is about the same but twice the price but if you get boogered sitting in the last row of the bus behind the reclining seats you will regret it. Plus there are no facilities on the bus and it only stops once on the journey.

Get around
Many private cars with driver will approach you for inexpensive travel within Meizhou and surrounding areas.

There are also three wheeled bicycles that are for hire. Usually for about ¥5-6 they will take you about two miles or so. They will try to get more so set the price beforehand. Taxis are a little bit more but not outrageous at all. Sometimes a private motorcycle will be waiting around on a street corner and they are for hire too for the adventurous. Traffic in Meizhou is a mind boggler and is just plain reckless. They will drive anywhere even the sidewalk and the wrong way on the streets and then mix the bicycles.

Talk
The local language is Hakka, which is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin, and only slightly with Cantonese. Nevertheless, most locals are trilingual in Hakka, Cantonese and Mandarin. The dialect spoken in Meixian is often considered to be the prestige dialect of Hakka, so this makes it a good place for those interested in learning the language.

See

Eat

During the period after August or September, a sea of pomelos can be seen, especially in village orchards. Salt baked chicken (盐焗鸡) is one of the most well-known Hakka dishes, which can also be bought in many other cities in China. Another local dish is Yong tau foo (酿豆腐), tofu stuffed with meat, of which it is said that when Hakka people first came to the south, there was no wheat flour to make dumplings so they used tofu instead. They put meat and some other ingredients into the tofu to create a special taste. This recipe was handed down and became a feature of Hakka cuisine. Pickled mustard greens with pork (梅菜扣肉) is a delicious local dish—try to get some meat and some greens together in each bite. Other foods including preserved pork and ginger candies are also popular locally.

This is Hakka country and generally speaking the bill of fare for the general public is rice, with noodles and congee popular too, especially for breakfast. In Meixian the typical breakfast is yammien (腌面, yānmiàn), a bowl of noodles served with a bowl of goji leaf and pork soup. The food tends to be a bit bland and stodgy. There aren't many egg rolls per se, but try fugien (腐卷, fǔjuǎn), tofu skin rolls stuffed with meat. There is dim sum to a point. As for eating street food, no stomach issues so be a little adventurous.

The bigger and better restaurants and hotels have a wider spectrum. Tofu from street vendors is quite good and sort of a distant cousin to scrambled eggs. There are plenty of places doing rice instead of noodles and although that is not much of a stretch it does help when you are noodled out. Fried rice is not the norm, usually it is a bowl of white rice with bowls of other stuff. Some of it, as at the Happy Restaurant on Ding Min Lu is quite tasty although the place looks like a warehouse instead of an eatery. The pork stuffed tofu is quite good but the pigs legs are not for the faint of heart.

Drink
Meizhou Hakka Tea(梅州客家茶)Usually based on Oolong tea or green tea.

Hakka Plum Soup（客家梅子汤）It is a refreshing beverage made primarily from locally produced plums.

Beef Offal Rice Cake Soup（牛杂粿汁）Guo zhi is a paste made from rice slurry, paired with the internal organs of beef, and seasoned with condiments.

Go next
To the UNESCO Heritage sites of the Tulous near Yongding, Fujian Province.

Also a transit point to Dabu, another Hakka area from where it's a hop to Yongding (by bus ¥35), then a local bus ¥11 to Hukeng Town (or if you miss the late afternoon bus, by taxi ¥100), the heart of the Tulou trails.

title: Meizhou


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Mekedatu

Mekedatu (a.k.a. Sangama) is a very well known place for people in and around Bangalore. Sangama and Mekedatu are actually two different places, but as they are located next to each other, people usually call the area Mekedatu/Sangama. It's a good day trip if you are staying in Bangalore.

Understand
Sangama is the confluence of two rivers – Arkavathi and Kaveri (Cauvery). This place is around 2 hours drive from Bangalore and can be done on a two-wheeler or a four-wheeler. Arkavathi will be just a small stream for most of the year and will have some water during the monsoons. It is best to visit the place in rainy season when Kaveri is running full of water.

The last 5 km of the drive to Sangama is quite interesting. The road takes a steep dip into a valley and offers a nice view of the running river. The waters here are shallow and wide, so you can walk around in the water or take a dip. When you are done, you can walk through the forest, along the banks of the river for around 3 km and reach Mekedatu. You also have the option to take a bus, but most people prefer to walk. As you move towards Mekedatu, you notice the river getting narrow, until at some point there is hardly a 20 feet distance between the banks. The river runs ferociously at this point and has formed beautiful soft structures on the rocky banks. Legend has it that the channel was so narrow that sheep would jump across, and hence the name Mekedatu(Meke = sheep, datu = cross in Kannada).

Get in
To reach Sangama, drive on Kanakapura road from Bangalore. You need to leave the highway after Kanakapura and take a left. Inquire once you reach the town. Another option is to take a circuitous route by driving on the highway till Satanur and taking a left from there. Once you are in Sangama, you can take a bus that keeps shuttling between Mekedatu and Sangama. But most people prefer to walk leisurely along the riverbank. To go to Chunchi falls, take a left turn around 5km before Sangama. There is a sign on the road which you will not miss.

By bus
There are lots of buses from Banashankari to Kanakapura; the time taken to reach Mekedatu is around 100 minutes. From Kanakapura, buses will start once every 2 hrs to Mekadatu (35 km streach). After 30 minutes of travel, you can start enjoying the beauty of the surrounding nature.

See
Around 5 km before Sangama is a waterfall on the river Arkavathi. You would not find much water most of the year except in the monsoons.

Eat
There is only one hotel near the Sangama. Not much in varieties, but okay and also not sure that it will be open all the days.so its best to bring it from home. Other wise there are lot of small shops are there to have some snacks.

title: Mekedatu


text:
Mekele

Mekele is in the Tigrayan Highlands in Ethiopia. It is the capital of the Tigray region and has a population of 200,000.

Understand
Mekele (or the smaller towns of Wukro and Hawzien to the north) can be used as a base to explore the many rock-hewn churches scattered across the stunning high-desert landscape of northern Tigray. The churches are as rewarding to visit as they are (often) difficult to reach. Abuna Yemata Guh is a particular highlight, although not recommended for those without a head for heights. The tourist office in Wukro can help to arrange guides and transport.

By bus
Coming from Axum there are three types of buses: public buses, minibuses and shared taxi. The buses depart from Axum in the early morning. If you want to go to Mekele in the afternoon you have to go by either minibus with a stopover in Adwa or by shared taxi. Ask at the bus station for certain taxi companies. The public bus should be about 65 birr, the minibus 90 birr and the shared taxi around 100 birr. From Addis Ababa buses depart early morning from Meskel square, cost around 600 ETB and take about 14 hours (July 2019). It is advisable to purchase your tickets a few days in advance (e.g. Selam bus has their office near Meskel square, but there are also other companies). The bus passes Yangudi Rassa National Park which gives you some scenic views during your ride. Buses leave Wukro for Mekele regularly.

It is possible to travel to Lalibela by public bus in a long day. You need to be at the bus station in town just before 6:00AM. There are some changes of bus on the way but everything goes pretty smoothly until you reach Woldia. There are direct buses from Woldia to Lalibela these do not go via Gashena but turn off the B22 before Gashena however the direct buses only run in the morning. Buses from Mekele arrive in Woldia in the afternoon so you need to either take a bus to Gashena and change or pay extra money (300 Birr per person, as of 2020) so that the bus goes direct.

Buses from the north terminate at the Northern bus station, about 4 km north of the town. Buses leaving for southern destinations leave from the bus station in the centre of town.

By plane
As of July 2011, there are daily direct flights to Axum, Addis Ababa and Lalibela. For other destinations you have to change flights.

See

 * Yohannis IV Museum, opposite the Atse Yohannis Hotel. Formerly the palace of Emperor Yohannes IV.
 * Sit on the balcony of the Atse Yohannis Hotel (situated near Ethiopian Telecomms building, on the roundabout that has a sometimes-on fountain in its centre) and watch the world go by while having a coffee, cold beer, fresh juice, lunch or dinner. It's a nice view and you're up on the first floor so you're away from beggars and street-stares.

Do

 * Walk around the town, the tree-lined streets are pleasant to walk around and observe life going on around you.
 * Chele Anka Waterfall - 8km out of Mekele, to the southwest - a nice hike to get there, more dramatic in the rainy season.

Eat
There are quite a few 'ferenji' restaurants in Mekele, serving pizza, meat, chicken, fish, vegetables and salads. There's also lots of national food restaurants and many cake/pastry/coffee shops.

 * Geza Gerelassie - eating/drinking/dancing venue, has great beef dishes such as shish kebab and shekla tibs. Live Ethiopian music and dancing at the weekend (or is it Thursday and Saturday nights - maybe someone else can confirm?). Everyone gets up and joins in, it's good fun. They have good food too and a bar.
 * Karibu Kitchen restaurant has European and national dishes. The pizza is great and you can eat outside in the charming garden.
 * Yordanos restaurant beside the Abreha Castle Hotel has European and national dishes. They have another branch down the road into the town, called Yordanos Blue (this one doesn't have pizza but has everything else).

Go next

 * Hawzien to the north, in an area with many rock-hewn churches
 * Adwa and nearby Yeha with its ancient temple, further north than Hawzien

title: Mekele


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Meknes

Meknes (مكناس) is a city in the Middle Atlas region of Morocco. Meknes is a vibrant, modern city bustling with nightlife, restaurants and an impressive imperial city created in the 17th century by King Moulay Ismaïl, with numerous historical monuments and natural sites; it is also the nearest city to the Roman ruins of Volubilis (Oualili).

Understand
Is Fez driving you nuts? Nearby Meknes is relatively ignored by most tourists. It's also free of the usual hassles (touts, faux guides, etc.) that plague the other tourist centers. The prices in Meknes are among the most reasonable.

By train
Meknes is on the Fès-Rabat railway line and has two train stations. The smaller one called is more centrally located in the new town (ville nouvelle), while the bigger  is a bit further east.

Meknes is connected by train to most major cities like Marrakech (6½ hr, 174 dirham), Tangier (3½–4½ hr, 85 dirham), Rabat (2¼ hr, 69 dirham), Casablanca (3¼ hr), Fes (40 min, 20 dirham) or Oujda (6 hr, 130 dirham). Specific times and prices can be found on the website of the Moroccan National Office for Railways.

By bus

There are buses to Meknès from almost anywhere in Morocco, including Agadir (11 hr; 200-230 dirham), Casablanca (5 hr; 80-90 dirham), Chefchaouen (5½ hrs; 60-80 dirham), Erfoud (10 hr, 100-110 dirham), Fez (1 hr; 13-15 dirham), Marrakech (9 hr; 140-160 dirham), Rabat (3½ hr; 50-60 dirham) and Tangier (6 hr, 80-90 dirham).

By grand taxi
Grand taxi arrive and leave from several places, the most popular being El-Amir Abdelkader train station. Opposite the road of the Institute Français is also a quite large taxi rank.

By car
Meknès is on Autoroute 2 (Rabat-Fès), which continues further east on N6 to Oujda.

Road N13 goes over the mountain range to Tetouan and Tangier or Ceuta to the north, in the northbound direction it goes to Azrou and At-Rachida.

Get around
Hamrya is a new town with all entertainment facilities. You can find all what you need there, but there is no monuments or things to see except if you like to chat with people. Medina is the other side is the ancient Meknes and it contains all the monuments of this wonderful city.

By taxi
Petit taxis (small blue cars of Fiat Uno or Peugeot 205 brands) abound, as well as an efficient and comprehensive, if cramped local bus service. The minimum cost for a petit taxi is 5 dirham (the price is calculated based on 1.40 dirham + 0.20 dirham/100 m but you should expect a surcharge of 50% after 20:00).

By bus
While the bus is slightly cheaper, buses are quite difficult to navigate, because they are, in the majority of cases, very crowded and operate to transport people between agglomerations and the ville nouvelle and Medina.

On foot
The ville nouvelle (new town), which is known as Hamrya in Arabic, is easily navigated on foot, as is the medina. The two sides of town are connected by a bridge over the dry Oued Boufekrane (river), with a McDonald's placed in between for weary (or wary!) travelers.

Buy
Meknes is not a shopper's paradise, but it is certainly cheaper than nearby Fez. The medina is chock full of traditional Moroccan clothing and rugs, as well as the popular Moroccan shoe, bilgha.. It is also known for its metallic articles; the local artisanal speciality. The best way to enter the medina is at the back of Place Hedim, next to Dar Jamai. Herein you can find many shops catering to tourists. If you sojourn a bit deeper into the medina, you'll find plenty of unique shops selling jewellery, household goods and other treasures.

Be sure to bargain! Don't accept the shopkeeper's first offer: not only does it ruin it for tourists who come after you, but it also goes against Moroccan custom. The easiest way to bargain, particularly without knowledge of French or Arabic, is to offer half of the given price (or 75% for expensive or large-scale items). From there, the shopkeeper will go down a bit; you are expected to raise your price slowly until you come to an agreement.

If you can't agree on a price, try walking out of the shop as this will generally lower the price significantly. And try not to be too stingy: the value of an item is your appreciation of it, not its price.

Eat
The market near the main place in the medina (at the Bab El-Mansur) has incredible fresh products. Lots of different kinds of olives, sweets, pickles, etc.

In Ville Nouvelle there are dozens of restaurants and snack bars lining the main road, Rue Antsirape offering the staples of harira, tagine, cous cous and of course rotisserie chicken. A few restaurants on Rue Ghana, just off Rue Antsirabi, are popular with travellers and offer 40-dirham set menus.

Ville Nouvelle

 * Label' Gallery – Restaurants vary; some open past midnight. The closest thing Meknes has to a shopping mall, this food court is the only place to find international cuisine, with Mexican, American, Thai, and Lebanese all on the menu. Prices vary greatly.
 * Label' Gallery – Restaurants vary; some open past midnight. The closest thing Meknes has to a shopping mall, this food court is the only place to find international cuisine, with Mexican, American, Thai, and Lebanese all on the menu. Prices vary greatly.
 * Label' Gallery – Restaurants vary; some open past midnight. The closest thing Meknes has to a shopping mall, this food court is the only place to find international cuisine, with Mexican, American, Thai, and Lebanese all on the menu. Prices vary greatly.

Drink
Those looking to find a watering hole in Meknes have come to the right place, in Morocco, anyway. For some reason, Meknes seems to have more bars than people. Only a few are suitable for the average traveler, however.

Budget
Most budget hotels are along Rue Rouamzine, just before the medina. Hotel Maroc and Hotel Regina are two such choices. Hotel Regina is very dirty and stinky, but very cheap.

Go next

 * Chefchaouen – A beautiful blue and white city in the mountains of northeastern Morocco.
 * Fes
 * Rabat
 * Volubilis – Roman ruins and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a short trip from Meknes. It is possible to go there by grand taxi via the town of Moulay Idriss, which is also worth a visit.

title: Meknes


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Mekong Lowlands and Central Plains

Mekong Lowlands and Central Plains is a region of Cambodia and includes the following provinces: Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Thom, Kandal, Kratie to the west of the Mekong, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng, Phnom Penh, and Takeo.

Other destinations
Silk Island (Kandal Province. The Khmer name is Koh Dach.)

Silk Island is just off the coast of Phnom Penh (to the east of Diamond Island). You can book through a touring agency or go to the port north of the river side (not the one immediately north of Titanic Restaurant/KFC, keep going for another five to ten minutes until a paved walking area opens up again and you can walk over the to sea wall). There you can negotiate with drivers who have anchored their boats and are waiting for customers. To go to Silk Island for four hours (1 hour each way, 2 hours on the island) and have one of the boatmen show you around should run around US$30. (He may begin with a price of US$45.)

Silk Island has many workshops where Cambodian women are hard at work on making traditional silk and cotton scarves and other fabrics. The raw silk is often brought from other provinces, but they refine, dye, and make the products here. You can buy them and other silk products for prices comparable to the markets in Phnom Penh. (US$4 for a silk kromah, for example). They will discount. A lot of English is spoken by the workers.

The boatman will also take you to a restaurant. Specify how much you want to spend to eat beforehand, or he may take you some place that is pricey. He may ask for you to buy him a drink while you eat. There is a local pagoda to visit. The option of visiting an island school will be suggested. You can swim in the water or pay US$3 to swim in a pool. The island is a nice taste of rural Cambodian life. It is very quiet and a nice escape from hectic Phnom Penh. Don't feel like you have to do what the guide suggests. Tell him what you want to do.

title: Mekong Lowlands and Central Plains


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Melanesia

Melanesia is a region of Oceania.

Countries and territories
Melanesia consists of the following small island nations:

Geographically, the Australian island territory Norfolk Island is situated in Melanesia, although no ethnic Melanesian people ever settled there:

The large nation of Papua New Guinea and the Torres Strait Islands in Australia are usually considered part of Melanesia, and sometimes its neighbour Papua (Indonesia) is, too. Though this is accurate, culturally and historically speaking, both are covered in separate articles.

Cities

 * — the capital of the Solomon Islands
 * — the second city of Vanuatu.
 * — the capital of New Caledonia.
 * ー Fiji's main tourist hub.
 * — Vanuatu's capital.
 * — the large capital of Fiji.
 * — the major hub for New Caledonia's "Grand Sud" meaning the Great South.

Other destinations

 * — the largest island in Vanuatu
 * — a small island in New Caledonia and one of the most beautiful islands in the Pacific
 * — a small island in New Caledonia and one of the most beautiful islands in the Pacific

Get in
There are flights from Australia and New Zealand to Melanesian destinations. Fiji and New Caledonia have some direct flights from Asia and North America too.

Get around
The main way to get around Melanesia is by plane, however, when it comes to smaller islands, boat is your best option. A car can't run in the ocean should that not be obvious.

See
Each country and territory of Melanesia has exactly one world heritage site. They include:
 * The Levuka Historical Port Town in Fiji.
 * The Lagoons of New Caledonia.
 * East Rennell in the Solomon Islands, the largest raised coral atoll in the world.
 * Chief Roi Mata’s Domain in the Shefa province of Vanuatu.
 * Australian Convict Sites on the Norfolk Island.

As much of Melanesia is unspoiled and untouched, natural sights are the biggest tourist attractions. From the reefs, lagoons and mountains of New Caledonia to the beaches in Fiji and Norfolk, much of the natural scenery is a unique sight in their own right. Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands are also nowhere near short in natural attractions; however, as both those countries get fewer tourists, the highlights of those areas are often underrated.

Although some indigenous villages are willing to take tourists in, others may not. Often those that take you in are the villages that are tourist spots.

Go next
Melanesia is well connected to the rest of Oceania.

 * Australia
 * Micronesia
 * New Zealand
 * Papua New Guinea
 * Polynesia

title: Melanesia