Livemint: Not being dirty seems a rather odd reason for fame, but this condition is enough of a rarity in India in times of Swachh Bharat for tourists to make the journey to the village of Mawlynnong in Meghalaya, close to India’s border with Bangladesh, which advertises itself as “Asia’s Cleanest Village”. For at least a decade now, hordes of tourists have daily descended on this quaint little village with a population of approximately 500 people, almost all of them members of the local Khasi tribe, to see for themselves what spic and span looks like.
The road from Shillong winds over misty green hills towards the border post of Dawki. Clouds float into gorges below. Streams glisten like silver ribbons in the distance. Beyond the little town of Pynursla, there is a fork off this main road. The narrow village road becomes a corridor through a wall of green.
Betel and broomstick plantations lean in from both sides. A short drive through this corridor brings one to Mawlynnong.
Pretty much the first thing in the village is the parking lot for the tourist vehicles. It is surrounded by little shops selling curios, and small and homely restaurants and tea shops run by locals. Close to Mawlynnong is a bridge across a busy mountain stream built by intertwining the roots of a living rubber tree. It is one of two that are known to tourists, but there are more: Leader claims there are hundreds.