TARGET 121024

THE WETTEST TOWN ON EARTH

^{Going to work.}

As a child, you probably sang the little rhyme, "Rain, rain, go away...." Well, here's where it went.

The village of Mawsynram in the state of Meghalaya in India receives 467 inches of rain per year. Laborers who work outdoors often wear full-body umbrellas made from bamboo and banana leaf.

^{Coming home from the market}

If you live in Mawsynram, you may not even own a real pair of shoes. It doesn't make sense to wear anything but open rubber sandals on your feet here.

<sup>The rain is relentless

Everyone in town owns an umbrella

The bus stop offers shelter to local dogs and sheep

The cemetary is an especially dreary place

But at least they have something to brag about.</sup>

THE LOCATION


^{The general location}

The village of Mawsynram is perched atop a ridge in the Khasi Hills of India's northeast. The village receives 467 inches of rain per year - thirteen times that of Seattle, Washington, thought by many to be the rainiest city in the U.S.A. The heavy rainfall is due to summer air currents sweeping over the steaming floodplains of Bangladesh, gathering moisture as they move north. When the resulting clouds hit the steep hills of Meghalaya they are "squeezed" through the narrowed gap in the atmosphere and compressed to the stage they can no longer hold their moisture, causing the near constant rain for which the village is famous.

FEEDBACK MAP



If you got impressions for which this feedback is insufficient, more information,
pictures and videos can be found at the following web sites:

The Daily Mail web site
Wikipedia
The Atlantic web site
YouTube video
Happy Trips tourist agency

Many thanks to Amos Chapple Photography for these pictures.