Travel Tips

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...

" SINGAPORE " OR " Sin-ga-pura " in Sanskrit meaning the Lion City and so the Lion head symbol "MERLION" Had planned to visit this beautiful Country in 2006 October but probably was not destined then ...After 6 years we chose the best time of the year to visit this LION COUNTRY ... The December of 2012 ..just before the Christmas Eve This is the peak season but I chose as it is also the season of deals My 4 year daughter was so excited with just the thought of sitting in the plane ... but we were curious as she had traveled on a plane as a baby but not as a kid so was unsure if she would get motion sickness or something similar..but all went superb .. kids have there way of adjusting she just avoided eating anything and we did not force.. :) Guys this writing is for those with family  and not for honeymooner or couple as they might want choose more interesting attractions in Singapore like the Clarke Quay, a romantic candle lit dinner in the cabl...

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 ...