Travel Tips

We did the "Call of the Wild" tour conducted by MPTDC. This covered Jabalapur (Bhedatghat), Kanha, Badhavgarh and Panchmarhi. Needless to say, Kanha/Bandhavgarh were the highlights of the tour. With an area of around 1000 sq kms, this is one of the biggest parks in India and famous for its tiger population. The jungles of Kanha were the inspiration for Rudyard Kipling novel, Jungle Book. Our arrangements were done at the Baghera Log Huts. This is a great property. The food and accommodation is ok but the location is fantastic. It is within the national park. You get the feel of living in the jungle.We were able to see gaur, deer and monkeys from within the property. We were really lucky with the tiger sightings at Kanha. We got sighting for nearly each safari that we took.  The last sighting of the tiger that we had was special. As we were returning from the safari, we came upon a group of gaurs which were witnessing a fight between two males. The males were rig...

For the last leg of our tour to Bali, we moved our base to Kuta. We stayed at Ramayan Resort and Spa. Check out the review here . This is a very touristy place and I guess it is the area which receives the maximum visitors in Bali. It has a number of hotels, restaurants (providing different cuisines), bars, etc. Kuta beach is a favorite amongst visitors and gets a number of surfers here. We witnessed the Mumukur ceremony here which is supposed to be similar to the Shraddha ceremony performed in India. We ate at the Queen's in Kuta which offers authentic Indian cuisine. We loved it so much that, we had all our meals in Kuta here. We did a short half-day site-seeing tour during our stay here. Our first stop was at the  Garuda Wishnu Kencana. It is a cultural center where you can see Balinese dance in its open air amphitheater. We saw the Barong dance performance there. Barong is a lion like mythological creature of Bali. Barong represents the good and is an ene...

We had read some great reviews on the climb to Mount Batur but were really unsure of whether we will be able to do it. Finally a part of the group decided to "go for it". (The youngest was 9 years and the eldest was 66 years). The climb to the top of Mount Batur needs to start early enough so that you reach the top to catch the first rays of the sun, which is a spectacle. We started from our hotel at 2:30 a.m and reached the starting point for the climb by 3:00 a.m. We arranged for a guide from the Mount Batur Guides Association for the climb, which is a must, given that the entire climb happens in the dark. The guide services come along with a package deal for breakfast which includes eggs, bananas and tea/coffee. These taste divine after the exhausting climb to the top. Torches are provided for, which prove useful. Carry sufficient water along, but ensure that it doesn't weigh you down during your climb. You can also get pull-overs on hire here as well. We opted ...

The start of our Bali tour was from here. We stayed at the Medewi Bay Retreat. Check the review of the resort here . Day 1 Bunut Bolong:  Literally means a hole in the tree. This is considered a holy tree. Its so huge that the road passes right through the tree. Situated in a forested area, this makes for a good stopover. Banjar Hot Spring : Natural hot water spring which is said to have medicinal values. The approach road has a lot of road side souvenir shops.  Brahmavihara-Arama Meditation Center : This is a Buddhist monastery. This has a terraced structure with various buildings and structures present at different levels. At the top most level, you get to see a miniature version or Borubudur  which is supposed to be the biggest buddhist temple. From the top, you get good views of the surrounding hills and the ocean. Entry to the monastery is free. You will need to cover yourself up properly for entry.  Long pants/saris are fine. Saro...

Dzongu is the untouched heaven in the northern Sikkim with a striking beauty. Mountains, streams, waterfalls, thick forests, tiny beautiful Lepcha hamlets, absolutely pollution free air and divine calmness is what characterizes the place.  It has been recently opened up for tourist and it is yet to attract hoards of the tourist as tourism is not well developed yet. Only 4-5 Home Stays are available.  This makes Dzongu a very memorable experience in itself. There are no standard itineraries available to explore Dzongu. You have to make the plan on your own with the help of Home stay owners. If you indeed want a non-commercialized nature stay, this is the place. Walking, trekking, taking baths in rivers/waterfalls/hot water spring, birding, running behind the butterflies, visiting tiny hamlets, enjoying local cuisine and staying in traditional Lepcha houses is what you can enjoy here. Below given information would help you plan your stay. You can plan a week's visit to this ar...

Gangtok and Around Gangtok:   Roam around on MG Road. Do visit Allen’s Kitchen for Tibetan delicacies. There are various other places in Gangtok which can be covered in one day. But we didn’t include in our plan. Changu Lake : Tsomgo(Changu) lake is situated 35 km from Gangtok on the Gangtok - Nathula highway which forms a part of the old trade route from India to China. Stop at lake while returning from Nathula Pass. Baba Mandir : A temple built in his memory  of a soldier in the 23rd Punjab Regiment, who drowned in a stream near the spot. Nathula Pass : Nathula is a pass on the Indo Chinese boarder The pass was traditionally used by merchants of India and Tibet for trading (silk route). It is covered with snow for most part of the year. It is open only on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. Its very cold place with temperature below zero even in May.   Totally covered in fog and snow around, do visit it. You can go right up to the bord...

It was a time for freak out tour with school friends. After quite a deliberations, zeroed down on tour to North Sikkim and Dzongu in Sikkim. Main destinations planned were Guru Dongmar Lake, Yumthang Valley, Dzongu and  Nathula Pass and stay in Gangtok for permits. When : May 16, 2013. Weather : Mix of cloudy and clear. Occasional rains in Dzongu, Lachung and Nathula Pass. Minimum temperature was 5 Degree Celsius at Lachen.  Nathula pass was very cold with temperature below zero and very foggy. Itinerary : Day 1 : Arrived at Gangtok from Siliguri. 120 kms journey takes 4 hours along the banks of river Teesta. Finished the paperwork with the agent for the permits of onward journey. Rest of the day spent wandering at MG Road. Overnight @ Gangtok. Day 2 : A days excursion to Nathula pass, Baba Mandir and Changu Lake. Started at 09.30 AM and returned by 06.00 PM to Gangtok.  Nathula pass is 56 kms from Gangtok. Overnight @ Gangtok Day 3 : Started  ...

After spending 3 days in West Bali, we moved our base to Ubud for the next part of our tour. Ubud is the cultural centre for Bali with lots of art shops related to gold and silver work, wood carving, stone carving and batik as well as a number of museums. We stayed at the Agung Raka Bungalows. The review for the resort can be viewed here . We had our lunch at the Indian Delights restaurant. Food was OK. Malai Kulfi was outstanding. :) Day 4 of our tour started with the Bali Bird Walk. Lonely Planet has mentioned Bali Bird Walks as one of the top 10 experiences in Bali. Hence we decided to try it out. We just loved it!! We are no birders, mind you. But we thoroughly enjoyed it. Check out their website at  http://www.balibirdwalk.com/ .  Su, who manages these walks has lots of knowledge about the birds and is good at spotting them.  Additional bonus is the information that she shares with you regarding the Balinese way of life, the crops, spiders, flowers, ...

I had seen some great photos of Bali and when RCI bookings for Medewi Bay Retreat were available for May we took the plunge. We did this booking and then started doing the research for the destination.  I bought the lonely planet pocket guide for Bali and Lombok for this. But while reading this realized that there is almost zero coverage for West Bali where the resort is situated. This got us reading more on the destination. Below are some notes Bali is a relatively small island. About 140 km west to east and 90 kms north to south. The roads in Bali are narrow which results in longer journey times. Eg from the airport in Kuta to our resort in Negara, it took us 3.5 hours. It lies 8 degrees south of the equator and has warm climate through out the year (between 23 and 33 degrees celcius). It is fairly dry between May to August. We did get to experience heavy showers in the evening on one of the days of our 8-day tour. ATMs availability is fairly good. But do carry cash...

It rarely happens that we decide to go to a place because we like a particular hotel or resort. The interest being more in terms of seeing and experiencing the place. But this is what we more or less did. The last time we had gone to Dapoli we had stayed here and the memories of that stay pulled us back.  Aryawarta is a collection of well maintained bungalows which are available for your stay. Staying in these bungalows has its own charm. The one we got - Atharva, was fabulous. The interiors are good but what is better is the tastefully done landscaping. A good lawn, lots of cashew trees, bird houses and a good veranda to enjoy your morning cup of tea. For more information on Aryawarta check  http://www.aryawarta.co.in/ .  The meals, part of the package, are also great. They have a white board in the dining area which announces what is coming up for the meals. The meals are so good that by the time you get up to wash your hands after the meal, you take a peek...

Dandeli was on my wish list after I read a travel article which indicated that it had the largest concentration of black panthers in India. This interest got me reading on Dandeli and I found out that it is also a fabulous birding destination and is also a good place for white water rafting. In addition to a number of birds (we saw over 100 during the trip), we also got to see the malabar giant squirrel. How to Reach: Hubli is the nearest airport which is around 75 kim from Dandeli. Direct flights from Hubli to Mumbai have been started by Spicejet. Train from Mumbai is also convenient. Take the Puducherry Express (11005) from Dadar  (DR) and get off at Alnawar (LWR).  This is an overnight journey and takes you to Alnawar by 10:30 in the morning. Alnawar is around 35 kms from Dandeli. We arranged for our pickup from the resort who charged use 1200/- for the journey which took around an hour. Stay: We stayed at Kali Adventure Camp is one of the several resort...

With no dearth of information available on famous hill stations like Kodaikanal, there isn't any need to write a blog. But would share "how to spend a week in Kodai" as I had a long stay of 8 days (!!) for a real relaxing holiday. Stay : Kodai By Lake. Recently renovated, rooms are spacious and well maintained, has a classy British Colonial look. Hotel is at a walk distance from Lake in isolated location, a real calm place. Activity room of the hotel is ok types. Superb food quality is worth mentioning. It being a Christmas week, each night had some themed Gala dinners which offered awesome delicacies of Malabar, Continental, Caribbean cuisines. Kerala Ayurvedic Center run by the hotel is also worth to soak your body in relaxing mood. Its run by professionally trained staff is Ayurvedic massage and offers various packages which you can use during a week long stay. When :  Last week of December 2012. Being a holiday season, I was fearing a mad rush, but th...

Keoladeo Ghana National Park (Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary) was always on my mind after I read about it in one of the travel magazines. With more than 200 species of birds and a number of migratory visitors in the winter months, this is designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. We got our booking for Club Mahindra, Kumbhalgarh and decided to take in  Bharatpur as well. Though the distance between Kumbhalgarh and Bharatpur is around 400km, it is a easy overnight journey by Mewar express from Bharatpur to Udaipur. Kumbhalgarh is around 90km from Udaipur. We stayed at the Bharatpur Ashok Lodge. Check out the review here . The park is a paradise for bird watchers. Even for a nature lover this is great. No vehicles allowed inside the park. You can get either walk, take a cycle richshaw or hire a cycle to go around the park. Cycle-rickshaw drivers charge around Rs. 70/- an hour. Cycles are available for Rs. 50/- per day. You can also opt for guides at the ticket counter. They charge...

Kavdipet, also known as Kavdi, is a small little village just about 20kms from Pune, on the Pune-Solapur road. The village interests a lots of birders so make their way in the early morning mist to reach the small dam. How to reach : From Mumbai, take the old NH4.. Do not take bypass at dehu road.. Instead keep going straight through dehu road.. chinchwad etc.. Keep following the directions for Solapur, which are pretty visible nearly throughout.. Once you NH9.. Keep going till you reach the first Toll booth.. Cross the toll and keep looking for a small little village name called Kavdipet (its not Kaavdipet).. Take a left and keep going straight.. You will reach a railway crossing.. Keep going straight till you reach the so called river.. This is where the birds are found.. One can walk on the dam type structure to go on the other end too.. do explore the area.. You can find lot of bird activity especially in the winters.. List of birds that I saw during my first vis...