MP B & B

In October 2013 MaplePine Farm Bed and Breakfast celebrated its ‘official opening’. For many years i had been hinting that our family should have a gathering in India. In 2013 many of our family took me up on the hint, 2013 was a year that marked 50 years since my parents had come to Shillong in 1963, along with 7 children under 10 years old and my mother pregnant with me, I was born in 1964.

A little slide show below of some of the time in October 2013 with family, Brothers, Sisters, nieces, nephews and their spouses.. What a time we had, So many friends of family came out for the occasion..

Restart 1, July 3 – RESTART

Restart 2, July 4 2021 post..

Throughout the early year – 2009 – 2013 we slowly started a name for ourselves. Having operated ‘CULTURAL PURSUITS ADVENTURES’ since 1997 we set out to offer a simple get away for Travelers, a place they could stay for a few nights, either before (thus getting some advice and options for their travels), or after (a place to share their stories), their travels in other places.

We had traveled to remote parts of most of North East India in the early days of Tourism development.

Below are just a few pics of some of our first experiences, friends and guests that stayed with us and some of our own fun while building and developing

MaplePine Farm Bed and Breakfast..

Last Post, July 3 – RESTART

July 4 2021 post..

It was a cold night in the winter of 2010, that we made our first wild adventure to set up the first structure on this property. Our Mahindra Armada, We had bought the Armada from a Catholic Bishop in Manipur, it served us well over the years we had it, in fact only weeks after we bought it in 2009, we did a 1 month trip of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland with 8 Belgium Mountain Bikers. Now it was serving us again by pulling our Kitchen on a Trailer,at night, to avoid traffic to this empty property and a village called Lynkien, in Hima Mawphlang, just a short hike of about 2 km up the hill one would find the famous: Mawphlang Sacred Forest.

Part of the whole move to starting this project was, as our family was growing, we felt the need to be based in one place. Since 1998 I would be away most of the time from Sept till April, on trips through out North East India.

This was the beginning, overnight and a Kitchen was on the property. We woke up the next morning, cold and tired; but we actually had an indoor kitchen.

This was the start, an 8 month old Imryie, two older brothers my wife and I.

We spent 2 months,as we got a visions of what we wanted, and I built the first Cabin. Each morning at about 5 am, I would get up and dig a small portion of garden, just to get myself warmed up. Days would warm up by 8 am or so, and be mostly sunny. Nights were cold, but we were always warm in the tent. Baths were in the river.

After a good breakfast, I would work the day on the Cabin. No Electricity at that time, so all hand tools.

MaplePine Farm Bed & Breakfast

July 3rd 2021

Today we will start a journey into our short History.

It is much like starting over, so we will start from where we came from to where we are ready to go, as we anticipate a return to business.

We will start this series and continue at least every other day till we finally can host our guests again at

We start today’s post with a Blank property and will continue with the history of our place: Please support us and other businesses that have taken the full brunt of this ‘Lockdown’.

MaplePine Farm Bed and Breakfast

‘nothing to do but enjoy the outdoors’

We are a small Bed and Breakfast offering a place to get away from it all, Tranquil and quiet. Please if you are asking about bookings and a place to stay, read about us, understand the different cabins we offer and the services we are able to offer and that which we are not able.

Travel Agents: we ask that you not just request a place for your clients, on MP or CP basis. We are for business and relationships and have nothing against commission. However we need you to understand what type of place we are and to have a long term understanding with us. Our place is not for everybody.

We ask that travel agents follow this example for bookings: note we don’t offer commission on the first two clients you send. Once we understand that you as a Travel agent understand us and what we are doing and send clients that would appreciate our place we offer an understanding of ongoing relationship that equals more than most give in commission, but it means we have a long term ongoing relationship.

Example: Accumulate 6 Cabin nights (Cabin nights – means number of nights in a particular priced cabin) – ie: first booking is Cabin 1 for 2 night, next 1 night in Cabin 2, next 3 nights in Cabin 1 – that is 6 nights. The seventh night booking is Free. And so on – you accumulate again.

This basically means you are committing to a long term relationship and sending clients that appreciate and understand our place. If by chance you don’t tell your clients about our place and they come, imagining all the services of a resort, then we have not accomplished our goal – as we say often: our place is not for everybody – the ones who appreciate it really appreciate it and usually come with a knowledge of the place. The ones who don’t, were likely not informed about the place.

If your first question is what is your TAC, when making a booking for the first time, we wonder about your thoughts for a long term relationship..

An example of a request for stay –

Hi: This is ________________, we would like to know if there is availability for our clients in one of your cabins at MaplePine Farm Bed and Breakfast. The clients name is _______________ and he or she is aware about your place. The number of adults will be ___, and children ages _____.

We have looked at your website and would prefer Cabin ______, if it is available – if not you could suggest which cabins are available.. As for food for the client, they will have dinner on the day they arrive and again we have seen the choices on your website and would like order a _________________. Thanks you, and look forward to your response.

We often have visitors arrive, either to come and stay, or just drop by out of curiosity. One of the first questions, after driving on a short 300 metre rough road and seeing a stream to cross, “is this the only way in??” – no of course not “you can always come by helicopter”.

You look around, see a quiet piece of property, don’t see a bridge nor a paved road and you still wonder if there is another way in. Sometimes just accepting is the most freeing privileged of travel, rivaled by no other experience.

If each place you arrive or go to is prepositioned by a wonderment or disturbance of some other offering; the actual experience of that moment has already been lost forever.

The moment the time the place, can only be experienced fully by letting go. We have seen and heard it all: mostly redundant comments that we already know, the words just blow over and we wonder, ‘why are you traveling.??’

Ah, yes we could make it easy to enter or to find. One older gentleman once looked at me and said; “You have an amazing place here, quiet, tranquil and beautiful, but you need to put a Neon sign on the road side’ I leave it at that, my friends. Don’t get lost by the ‘Neon’ sign, for it will not lead you to our place.