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Showing posts from 2016

Bhutan - land of monks, meditation and monasteries.

When u start planning your trip to Bhutan, the first issue you will confront is flight bookings. The Druk Air (monopoly for flights in Bhutan) has a terrible website, making it difficult to understand options. Web check in still remains a distant possibility. When flying into Bhutan it is suggested you get a window seat on the LHS and the opposite on the return, since you traverse Mount Everest on your flight and can spot it on a clear day. Flights are sporadic and if connecting from bombay you have to fly the day before to Calcutta or Delhi adding on more travel time. Daily flights to bombay are launched around mid-May so do check on the dates with your agent before you plan your travel. While May is still considered "high season, perhaps since the monsoons will hit in June/ July and August, the best months to visit if you want to see the flowers in full bloom are March and April. These months also bring the cultural festivals to Thimphu and Paro, making advance bookings a m

Holy Hampi

This trip came about since my close childhood friend, also a history buff, wanted to get a taste of ancient India on her express trip from America. We knew little to nothing about Hampi; the prospect of discovery excited us. I began my research through the usual websurfing and found http://hampi.in/ , a pretty useful resource to get aquainted with the basics. Special shout out to Ambika Vishwanathan and Karen Rodriguez for their insights as well! I will keep the length of this post short. The more obvious things about Hampi can be found online quite easily. I will focus my piece on the ‘not so obvious’ things to do/see and general tips for someone traveling from Bombay to Hampi. How should one get to Hampi? Three prime options in order of preference: 1)    Fly to Bangalore and take the Hampi Express to Hospet. Bangalore is a large hub airport and has several flights connecting easily to the city. More importantly, the train leaves Bangalore daily at 10 pm and arrives