Travel Tips

Tawang was brought in to limelight of Indian tourism by Madhuri Dixit Nene because of the movie Koyla. Though the movie was below par, the beauty of Tawang shot during its making soon made it a popular location. But given its distant location, it still doesn't see many tourists.  We decided to go to Tawang and plan our tour around it. The nearest airport with good connectivity, is Guwahati. We booked our airline tickets in advance and then started planning for the tour. The initial plan was to go to Guwahati, travel to Orang National Park and then go Tawang using Pawan Hans helicopters. Orang National Park is around 2 hours drive from Guwahati airport and is famous for its Rhino population. Additionally, park has good bird sightings, the highlight being the Bengal Florican which is on the critically endangered list. The below link from Assam Tourism has more information about the park http://assamtourism.org/wildlife.php We tried to get in touch with numbers for Div...

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...

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  ...

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...

Day 6 & 7 - Pangong Tso Day 8 - Leh - Tso Moriri Well, today was the day to start for another expedition..Tso Moriri, (official name Tso Moriri Wetland Conservation Reserve), a lake at an altitude of 15000 + feet at a distance of 240 Kms from Leh towards south east. It is considered to be one of the best lakes in India and there is lot of discussion on net amongst tourist making comparison of Pangong Tso and Tso Moriri. We were waiting for our own judgment. We planned our journey as Leh-Karu-Upshi-Chumthang-Mahe-Korzok. Korzok is the small hamlet on the banks of Tso Moriri. Estimated travel time was 6 hours without break, so we started early at 8.00 AM. Indus . First 36 Kms leg of travel is same as that goes to Pangong Tso. 13 Kms ahead and you are at Upshi from where you can drive straight to Manali or take left turn for Chumthang/Mahe. And from here the totally different landscape starts. While the journeys to Nubra Valley and Pangong Tso were marked by uphill dr...

Hotel : SeaShell Portblair.. I booked a total tour package 9 days at seashell .. both PB and Havelock.. The hotel in PB is at a good location provided you are taking the Deluxe Sea View rooms.. I suppose those are the only rooms from where you can get the awesome view of the ocean.. The staff over there is courteous but but but they are very very slow.. If you order something to the room, they might take an hour or even "forget" to send it up..                    Check if you are going in the offseason.. if thats the case then you can always ask for discounts.. I was not offered a single penny discount as I was there during the peak season 25th dec to 1st jan.. The only complimentary stuff that they offer to a couple is a "candle light dinner" at havelock.. Are you going to Havelock also? Havelock is great place to be.. Seashell Havelock is also an amazing place to stay at.. The view from ...

We started our tour with a visit to one of the most important religious places for Hindus - Krishna Janmasthan. Mathura, Vrindavan & Govardhan are places where Krishna spent his childhood and these places find mention in various stories related to his childhood and youth. Mathura is around 150 km from Delhi. It took us around 3 hours by road to reach Vrindavan (which is around 7 kms from Mathura).  Vrindavan was the site of a forest where lord Krishna is believed to have performed his Ras Lila with Radha and the other gopis. The forest cover not longer exists. Sewa Kunj still has a patch of forest where Krishna and Radha still perform the Ras Lila. A temple room is prepared daily for the divine couple to rest. The Banke Bihari temple is the most popular temple in Vrindavan. The idol in the temple was found by Swami Haridas (who was the guru of the famous 'navratna', Tansen). During the reign of Akbar, the ban on building new temples or reconstruction of temples des...

Tel Baila is an old watch tower which makes for a good 1-day trekking option. It consists of 2 sheer walls of rock separated by a column in the center. Climbing the walls would require a technical climb, but the climb to the column in the center also makes for a great experience.  We took the Lonavala exit from the Mumbai-Pune Express way and proceeded along the road towards INS Shivaji. Because of earlier trek to Korigad, we were familiar with road. We stopped at the Lion's point for some photos and refreshments and made our way ahead. Telbaila is very well covered by GPS. We had enabled Google Navigation at the start of our journey to guide us to the fort. From Telbaila phata, the road started to worsen gradually. By the time we reached the Telbaila village we were worried if the i10 would be able to make its way back.  We parked the car under the shade of a tree in the farm and started on our way up. We had some difficulty finding the way and almost gave up. ...

Just discovered another birding spot in Mumbai. Got my first spoonbill sighting in Mumbai here. It has a vast area through which you can walk around. Saw a number of birds and butterflies here.

Day 3,4,5 - Nubra Valley Day 6: Leh - Pangong Tso And here we were ready at 8 AM for the 170 km drive to Spangmik, a village on the banks of Pangong Tso. Apart from the final destination, crossing of Chang La, second highest motorable road, was another attraction which kept us excited. First 50 kms of journey towards south east of Leh is fast paced but then a steep ascent for Chang La starts. Road to Chang La Unlike the journey of Khardung La, the ascent is more steep and road is zig-zag crossing one mountain by another. At the top of Chang La, there are couple of army posts and a restaurant and you can take a comfortable break. May be we were well acclimatized to high altitude by now, we didn’t face any trouble due to oxygen deficiency. After Chang La, a descent starts crossing beautiful sceneries around till you reach the village of Tangste, a comparatively big town having shops and hotels. One can stop here for short tea break. First Glimpse of Pangong Tso From...