Planning an international holiday across multiple non-English speaking countries is always a challenge. The tradeoff is between Experience, Cost and Flexibility. This was the first challenge I faced while planning a European Holiday to Vienna – Prague – Budapest – Amsterdam. Do we stick to group tours or do we plan it on our own? …

I feel energised visiting ancient Shiva temples. Having visited the Pancha Bhootha Temples and most of the Jyotirlingas I have had a deep desire to visit Kailash Mansarovar. This materialised between July 30th & Aug 14th in 2018 – a great advance 50th Birthday treat for me. A long and challenging trip that was executed …

How is Jordan different from other countries in the Middle East ? It has no OIL A liberal modern country with no dress regulations. That is credit to the royal family. Diverse landscape – from the depths of the Dead Sea to the highlands of Petra & Amman where it snows in winter. The country …

I recollect that some years back Kolkata came to the news for all the wrong reasons – it was christened the “Dying City”. This after many many years under the administration of Jyoti Basu. From 1977 he held the CM post for 23 years without a break – a tough record to beat. But Bengal …

Nature rewards you after hard work. Getting to the Valley of Flowers in the middle Himalayas is a long and tedious journey – almost 3 days from Bangalore. Its a trip that requires planning and getting in shape – but eventually the reward is worth the effort. For anyone wanting to make a trip to …

April is our holiday season. Over the years we have had wonderful holidays across Bali, Krabi, Cambodia, Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and many more exotic locations. Each one has been memorable and we felt like staying on and on ….. However, this year was different. Driven by my daughter’s desire to go Scuba diving we decided …

SE Asia is a travellers paradise – nature has showered its goodness on the region, its reasonably economical and everything works with clockwork precision. Singapore is normally the 1st international destination for most Indians. Then they graduate to Bangkok, KL, Phuket, Krabi, Langkawi, …… we did all of this and it was now time for …

This is a rare list of the most unique offbeat resorts, villas and home-stays across India. I have travelled to many of them over the years. The common link to all these is Exotic, Nature and Serenity. So make the most of the long weekends in 2021 and plan your holidays now. Finding a good …

When most Indians thinks of Europe for travel  – they  think of London, Paris, Rome – Italy , Switzerland and maybe Amsterdam. All these are great cities and I have loved visiting them but Krakow, Prague and Budapest have been on my to do visit list for long – and finally I managed a weekend …

Langkawi is a small Island located 1 hr flight from KL. Our Flight landed by 9 PM – and were in our hotel by 9.45 PM – its a 30 min drive. The Westin Langkawi is a wonderful property – located close to the Jetty and the Fair Mall its a beautiful property with excellent service. …

KL airport is small, empty and efficient – drive from the city is fast – 45 min (50 Km distance). Our flight from KL reached Siem Reap in 2 hrs at 1.15 noon , there is a 1 hr time lag , so we leave KL at 12.15 and reach Siem Reap at 1.15.   Basic …

SE Asia is great for holidays – its close – very reasonably priced and the quality of service is excellent. This year we planned a 9 day holiday across Malaysia & Cambodia – 3 nights at KL, 3 Nights at Seam Reap and the last 3 nights at Langkawi ( back to Malaysia). This was …

A gurgling river, chirping birds, a himalayan cliff that rises majestically a few thousand feet – and no sign of humanity. Some places cannot be described by words they need poetry. Soulitude by the Riverside is one such place. A place that is black and white – a place you will love and give a …

Always on the lookout for offbeat locations it was by pure chance that I bookmarked “ Soulitude in the Himalayas” many month back. The minute I visited the website I knew I wanted to go there – and that’s what we did for the Christmas Holidays this year. On a cold winter day the flight …

 “Gar firdaus, ruhe zamin ast, hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin ast.” If there is ever a heaven on earth, its here, its here, its here.  Anyone who has seen Kashmir Ki Kali (1964) would have dreamt of visiting Kashmir . We finally translated our dreams to reality and spent 9 days in Kashmir on a family …

Palace on Wheels is a luxury train  operated by Indian Railways and Rajasthan Tourism. Its been around for 30 years. The trip is organized with precision and every activity happens punctually on the dot. We took a trip on this fabulous train between April 4 & April 12, 2012. Information here will be of help …

  A trip to the Himalayas has been on my agenda for a long time. It finally happened in May this year when I took off for 9 days with my daughter. Day – 1 : We reached Delhi from Bangalore on 20th May and stayed at the Ginger hotel opp the railway station. Ginger is …