Vibsville

Looking for a walk down regal Rajasthan? Or are you a history buff looking to step back in time? Headed to Jaipur for a wedding/event and not sure what to do? If you checked off any one of these 3 options, the sights and locales of Jaipur are tugging for your attention.   I had just one day to soak in Jaipur, before leaving for Alwar the next morning, so I meticulously planned my day to absorb whatever I could. Upon arrival, went directly from the airport to the famed (over-hyped!) Taprri. There are many branches, but I was advised to head directly to Tapri Central (which has outdoor seating and a view of the garden greens). I reached around 9:30 am and was given a token and asked to wait in the queue! While the tea and service were good, I really didn’t see what all the hype is about! Having had tea/breakfast, I would advise you to finish all your city shopping since Tapri is located in the city centre. The shops begin to open their shutters by 10am, so spend 1-2 hours buying your cot

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

Africa – Kenya & Tanzania (July 29 th – August 7 th , 2012) Extraordinarily ‘Wild’ Time: First a big ‘Thank you’ to all those who assisted with itinerary planning – Shruti Mittal, Aiman Merchant, Gaurav Jain, Pooja Hada, Vasudha Mittal, Tushar Chandra, Nandini & Paresh Kapashi amongst others. Without your insights the trip would not have been so terrific! Pre-holiday- Lots of confusion about which places to visit in a week’s time. Main dilemma was whether we see Kenya only or combine 2 countries. Visiting Tanzania entailed 2 flights and a 4-5 hour road journey all packed into 1 day, making it a rather tedious. At the same time, combing a visit to a neighboring country and seeing something different is always tempting. Finally, after lots of deliberation and blog/website browsing we decided on both Kenya and Tanzania. We chose Masai Mara as our main safari destination given the density and variety of animals we could see. Also, 1 st August is when the

I intended to write a detailed travel description on Ladakh but feel that the place has to be experienced and not read about. Instead, I’m just going to describe our itinerary and provide basic tips on things not to be missed. Best season: July to mid September (If you enjoy music/culture the Leh festival is celebrated early September) Days needed: One can spend anywhere between a week and a month discovering new places in the region. We spent about 12 days total and were quite content but intend to revisit. Avoid large group tours and try and customize your trip. It is a place you want to discover at your own pace and truly immerse yourself in. Basic geography: J&K state has 3 distinct regions: Ladakh (Buddhist majority), Jammu (Hindu majority) and Kashmir (Muslim majority). This makes for complex politics in the region. Leh is the biggest town in Ladakh region and the only one with a civilian airport. This is a broder area also called a War zone. One will see several army/militar