Some unknown but exotic Indian tourist destinations

Most of the people want to go on vacation and recharge their body and soul for further hectic life.But in a country like India finding a place where one can relax and enjoy peaceful vacation as well is quite a challenging task. During the vacation time most of the known places are full of people. So I am searching some places which are less crowded and peaceful. There is always a other side of such places and that is- these places do not have good infrastructure and facilities. So if you are ready for such places then find some of the places below :

  • Location : Solang Valley
State    : Himachal Pradesh
Distance : 14 kms from Manali
Attraction : Ski school (winter),Paragliding school(Summer)
How to get there :
- Well-connected roadways from Manali and Shimla make Solang Valley easily accessible.
- All transports will be stopped a few kilometres before the valley. One has to completely rely on terrain vehicles or your own legs to reach the heart of the valley.



Remember: To check out the government-operated(HPTDC) tour operators in the base camp before booking your guides as private operators charge you triple the amount.

  • Location : Valley of Flowers
State : Uttarakhand
District : Chamoli
Distance :  595 kilometers (370 miles) from Delhi
Attraction : The stunning landscape of The Valley of Flowers National Park in northern India's state of Uttarakhand, bordered by Nepal and Tibet, comes alive with the monsoon rain. This high-altitude Himalayan valley has around 300 different varieties of alpine flowers, which appear as a bright carpet of color against a mountainous snow capped background.The Valley of Flowers was “re”-discovered by a British mountaineer (Frank S Smythe) in 1931 by accident when he lost his way while returning from a successful expedition to Mt Kamet, he subsequently wrote a book on it titled “Valley of Flowers”. The park is open only in summer during the months between June and October, and is covered by heavy snow for the rest of the year.
How to get there :
- The nearest airport is in Dehradun, 295 kilometers.
- Nearest railway station : Rishikesh, 276 kilometers (170 miles) away.
- The closest you can get to The Valley of Flowers by road is Govind Ghat. This requires around a 10 hour drive to Joshimath, then another one hour to Govind Ghat. From Govind Ghat it’s a 13 kilometer (8 mile) trek along a steep, narrow, but well defined mountain trail to base camp at Ghangaria. This will take between 4 to 8 hours, depending on your fitness! The start of the main valley, where all the flowers are, is a further 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from Ghangaria.



One Itinerary sample from New Delhi :
day1     Start from Delhi and take Mussouri Express to Haridwar
day2     Arrive at Haridwar and onward to Joshimath by bus
day3    Joshimath to GovindGhat by bus and trek to Gangaria (3048m)
day4    Trek from Gangaria to Valley of Flowers (3962m) and back
day5    Trek from Gangaria to Hemkund Sahib (4329m) and back
day6    Trek from Gangaria to GovindGhat and onward to Badrinath by bus
day7    Badrinath to Auli and onward to Birahi by bus
day8    Birahi to Rishikesh by bus and catch train to Delhi
day9    Arrive at Delhi
  • Location : Auroville
State    : Pondicherry
Distance : 6  kms from Pondicherry



Attraction : The Auroville(which means the 'City of Dawn') is an international experimental township. It was inspired by the evolutionary vision of Sri Aurobindo and founded by Mirra Alfassa, known as the Mother. This place is interesting because of the different concept of living adapted by the people of this town. They build community-based housings and the whole township is planned around the Matimandir which is located in the centre of the Auroville.


  • Dhenkanal : 
State : Odisha
This is Odisha's very own hill station about 1600 km from Delhi.It is home to a variety of temples dedicated to Hindu deities with Lord Shiva reigning supreme in worship rituals.Dhenkanal is home to a variety of temples dedicated to Hindu deities with Lord Shiva reigning supreme in worship rituals. At 2239 metres from sea-level, situated at the north east corner of Dhenkanal, the Kapilash temple with its Kalinga style of architecture leaves you spellbound. Believed to be the second 'Kailash', you need to climb a fleet of 1352 stairs to get to the temple. During monsoon,the place is truly a visual treat as the surrounding jungles turn a shade of sapling green withpeacocks dancing.If you wish to be welcomed by the cooing of birds, ticking of woodpeckers, chuckling of chimpanzees, silent yawns of alligators, grunts of elephants and occasional roars of tigers, then Satkosia Gorge is the place to be in. A boat ride in the turbulent Mahanadi River with a cluster of ghariyals on the periphery will bring about a sense of adventure to your otherwise quiet holiday in Dhenkanal. 



Weather : The overall climate is hot, with humidity reaching a peak in April and May. Winters are short and hit the town between December and early January. Sporadic breakout of monsoon keeps the weather breezy and comfortably cool through the year. 
How to reach : By Train- there's no direct train except the Hirakud Express (from Delhi) that runs 3 days a week. By air: Flight to Bhubaneshwar (from Delhi) followed by a couple of hours journey by road to reach Dhenkanal


List will be updated as I get to know more such places .....Keep coming :)



what is Cowparade and Elephant parade ?

Sometimes somethings attract us and we connect to them so intimately that we can not describe the feeling and that is exactly what happened when my plane landed on A gate terminal of Copenhagen airport at Kastrup on last monday morning. As it was morning 7.30 am so I was in hurry(want to know why in hurry then please read book rich dad and poor dad ) to reach client office at christianshavn.

Suddenly my eyes got stuck on a status of a cow outside of a airport shop and I could not help but to stop and appreciated the art. My was surprized to notice that whole shop is filled up with cow and elephant statues some with ceramic some with metal and some with paper too.

I asked the girl at the counter about the companies who are producing such an art and she gave me the aautomn catalog of both the following companies which are doing such a remarkable work in the field of art.

http://elephantparade.com/
http://www.cowparade.com

Great work by renowned artists working for these companies..

Bianco Rosso Latte at Baresso

MV is fond of coffee and so I am afraid that a ardent tea lover like me is at the verge of changing religion.....We both together ventured out to the nearest Baresso outlet in evening(+6 degree) Today. Initially I thought to just accompany but it turned out a different experience.Though I tried to avoid the opportunity because of calorie conscious week but when she(find her in picture) recommended Bianco Rosso Latte as very different fruit coffee so I thought to respect her recommendation and ordered one for myself. This is grand caffe latte with raspberry and white chocolate(stick). I never heard a coffee with berry so was bit surprised.The Girl at the counter was kind enough to understand my calorie conscious thought and made coffee in skimmed milk.




I was not disappointed ( so it is proved that I need to ...) as it turned out to be a tasty coffee where the last few bites were good enough to remind me the flavor for next 30 minutes......courtesy MV.

Mini Switzerland of India

After visiting the Switzerland , I was thinking that though it is special place but our India has got some places which are similar to it and then I started my journey on internet. Soon I was reading it somewhere :) and got to know about the Khajjiar. It is the place where people can find peace and enjoy the nature and also be happy that their own country is offering the same view as world famous Switzerland.It is 24 km from Dalhousie (famous hill station ) but lies in Chamba district of state of  Himachal Pradess,India.

Khajjiar is among the 160 locations in the world that bear topographical resemblance with Switzerland and that is by one famous swiss it is named - Mini Switzerland of India.

One more place that has caught my attention was Mcleodgunj - Home to His Holiness Dalai Lama.It
is a small town near to Dharamshala, with not much to offer when it comes to number of places to visit. But there will be lot to explore if you want to see the lifestyle and the vibrant atmosphere on the streets.

2012 : An attempt to check the fitness level...

Life goes on hour by hour,day by day,month by month and year by year ; so we crossed 2011 with the hope that 2012 will be a better one than 2011.Started my first working day in Copenhagen with Nordea capital market project.This was a different kind of project where challenges are being thrown from day one. In the same spirit , I was thinking to do something new(as people do when a new year starts) and then somebody send me the following lines .....

" Having thoughts of 'I could do' or 'I should do' leads you down the path of DOING NOTHING! Stop rationalizing your thought process of I could or I should and choose to take the positive initiative to do! Lead others to do the same and remember there is no try! Do it and DO IT BIG!!!"
 
and while in the hotel lift I saw the ad of stylist gym at Radisson Blue ; An idea struck to take above words into action ; Decided to check the fitness level of my body and so started doing some exercise in evening and noting down some of the stats...(just for self introspection...) and so I continued daily to see what is easy for me( of course and quick ). After 4 days of short routine I had some stats to review and take it from there and here it is .........


Monday : 
Treadmil ; 2 km - 110 kcal - 2.5 degree
Lat machine : 15x25 kg,15x30 kg

Tuesday :
Treadmil ; 3 km - 250 kcal - 2.5 degree
Lat machine : 15x25 kg,15x30 kg

Wednesday :
Treadmil ; 2 km - 100 kcal - 2.5 degree
Arm curl  : 2x(20x25) kg
Lat machine : 15x25 kg,15x30 kg
Chest Press  : 2x(15x25kg)

Thursday :
Treadmil ; 3.5 km - 300 kcal - 2.5 degree
Arm curl  : 30x25 kg
Lat machine : 15x25 kg,15x30,15x35 kg
Chest Press  : 3x(15x25kg)

and the BMI is 25( height 167 and weight 69.8 kg).....Just overweight :) :(
I never ever thought that some stats can declare me OVERWEIGHT but stats are stats. 
This was not what I expected out of my body as well but considering the work schedule I had no reason to complain.....but to do better in the next coming days of 2012.

Magnetic heart

“There is a magnet in your heart that will attract true friends. That magnet is unselfishness, thinking of others first; when you learn to live for others, they will live for you.” - Paramahansa Yogananda

Blog Archive