The United Nations
declared the last Sunday of September (27th) to be observed as world
tourism day. Being travel bugs ourselves, my husband and I celebrated it by
taking yet another trip, this time down nostalgia lane, reminiscing the various
journeys we have made across the globe over the years. Although we have been lucky
enough to see a bit of the world, India remains our most favoured destination –
simply for the diverse attractions it offers.
In short, India is well
and truly the land where, the journey never ends…..
Feeling elated over the diversity
and richness of India’s tourism potential, I set out to do a ranking of the
various destinations we have been to, and the unique experiences we’ve had.
Here’s the result – our top
14 travel destinations/unique experiences that I want to share with you. Also
included are some related places which are still on our aspirations list; these,
I’ve marked out in boxes.
Indian tourists have now moved beyond the
golden triangle (Delhi-Agra-Jaipur), Rajasthan, Goa and Kerala. So, my list
excludes these beaten tracks. It also excludes sports/adventure hotspots for trekking,
para gliding, river rafting, etc., which call for an independent ranking of
their own. Nor does it include wildlife destinations, as spotting wildlife can
be tricky with no assurances of sightings. The list also leaves out places like
Rameshwaram, Varanasi, Velankanni, etc., which are no doubt exotic travel destinations,
but pilgrimage centres first.
Thirdly, this compilation is not a travel guide and is not designed to help you with your travel planning.
The basic idea is to create interest for these places and urge you to explore
these destinations for yourselves.
So, ladies and gentlemen,
pack your bags to get set go…….
Narara marine national park off
the coast of Jamnagar, Gujarat apparently offers a similar experience, where one
can walk on the sea bed during low tide and take a peek at a wide variety of marine
life that lives there.
For more info: http://www.gujarattourism.com/destination/details/12/319
Is it a ship, is it a boat, no…it’s a fort
#
13) Murud-Janjira Fort complex, Maharashtra (man-made wonder)
With
an African connection, this sea fort is existing proof of our subcontinent’s
complex ethnic and cultural history. Hooked?
Travel advisory: 1) For Mumbaikars, it’s highly doable as it’s only a stone’s throw away from Alibagh. 2) The ferry service that can take you to the fort from the coast may not be operational in the monsoons. And summers can be smelteringly hot. That leaves the winter months, which would be ideal to do this destination.
Fort trotters, check this link to
know about other sea forts in Maharashtra.
http://www.walkthroughindia.com/walkthroughs/top-5-amazing-sea-forts-in-maharashtra/
Oh, what might’ve
been!
Imitation is not always
the best form of flattery, especially when it’s a poor copy of the original. Bibi-ka-Maqbara was built by Azam Shah,
Aurangazeb’s son, in memory of his mother, in what proved to be an unsuccessful
attempt to copy the Taj Mahal.
Although the chief
architect of this monument was the son of the principal designer of the Taj Mahal, severe budgetary constraints
imposed by Aurangazeb played havoc with the aesthetics and proportions of the monument.
Go, check what might
have been! Catch the next train to Aurangabad!
Experience nothingness
(No, I’m not talking of vipassana here ;))
Well, the happy news is that such a place does exist, and
it is called the Rann of Kutch (RoK).
A geological shift that cut off a connection to the Arabian
sea, and a change in the course of the Ghaggar river created miles and miles of salty
marshland that form the RoK, counted among the most inhospitable terrains of
the world. Small wonder then that you don’t find much life here, save for the
tenacious wild ass and the occasional wild swine.
Btw, sunset here is quietly beautiful and if you go
during the winter months, you might have the migratory flamingos for company.
If
you want to experience desolation of a different kind, head for Dhanushkodi in
Rameshwaram, Tamil Nadu, a sort of India’s Hiroshima. Unlike the Japanese city
though, Dhanushkodi was a victim of nature’s fury, when a terrible cyclonic storm
in 1964 washed away the entire town and its people. What remains is a ghost-town,
a tragic reminder of man’s vulnerability to nature’s whims.
Aamchi Scottish
Highlands
#10) Sahyadris in the
monsoons, Maharashtra (scenic beauty)
‘Of rolling hills and wooded vales….’ is how a poet
describes the Scottish Highlands. Wanna share his experience? The good news is
that you don’t need a UK visa to do that. Just hop on to the next flight to
Mumbai and hit the Mumbai-Pune highway or the Mumbai-Nashik highway in the
monsoons.
The moss on the dusty hills that go all dry and brown in
summer suddenly come to life in the monsoons and weave a magic carpet so
stunningly beautiful that you’ve got to see to believe.
Overnight, small meandering streams and tiny gushing waterfalls erupt, and dry grasslands metamorphosise into lush green meadows, adding a finishing touch to the dramatic makeover of the Sahyadris.
Overnight, small meandering streams and tiny gushing waterfalls erupt, and dry grasslands metamorphosise into lush green meadows, adding a finishing touch to the dramatic makeover of the Sahyadris.
Come,
experience this wet green paradise and be charmed!
For
other scenic routes to experience the Sahyadris in the monsoons, check: http://mumbaimag.com/monsoon-travel-driving-through-the-sahyadris/
Incidentally,
the Indian monsoons are an attraction by themselves. Considered the single
largest weather phenomenon in the world, the monsoon winds that originate off the
coast of Kerala travel 2,500 kms inland up to Kashmir and bring rainfall to
most parts of India for nearly four months in a year. That’s big!!
Sare jahan se achcha…
Yet another ‘what
might’ve been’ emotion is sure to strike your heart when you stand at India’s
Berlin Wall— the Attari (in Wagah) border check post in Amritsar, Punjab – and
peer 100 metres across into the breakaway land, the prodigal nation called Pakistan.
This dramatic border
check post, marked by two imposing gates demarcating the territorial boundaries
of the two warring nations, is a grim reminder of a people thrown asunder by
the misplaced aspirations of their leaders.
‘So near and yet so far…’,
are the words that come to one’s mind as the gates to both the countries are
opened for a very short while during the ‘lowering of flags ceremony’, when two
soldiers from either country exchange a brief handshake before the gates are
sealed once again, shutting out all hopes of a borderless world.
Go to shed a tear or two for the
people who lost their land and loved ones so these gates could come up, and to
mull over what might have been…..
Travel advisory: Reach the check post in good time so you get a
vantage position on the galleries erected to watch the lowering of flags
ceremony that takes place in the evenings every day. (Check with the local
guides for the correct timings.) A word of warning— it can get extremely
crowded here, so be careful with your kids and things.
Get set for time travel
Just
80 kms off Ahmedabad sits an industrialised urban settlement known for its bustling
economy, efficient town planning and best-in-class
sanitation, the kind that would put modern Indian cities to shame.
And
it is just 5700 years old!
That’s
Lothal for you, a Harappan city that has lived to tell the tale of India’s
glorious past.
Once
a busy commercial centre that traded with the Sumerians (present day Iraq
and Kuwait), the highlight of the place is its dockyard, the oldest in the
world, that suggests a prosperous economy led by robust maritime trade.
Among other larger Harappan sites
in India are Dholavira in Gujarat, Kalibangan in Rajasthan and Rakhigarhi in Haryana,
which are pushing the antiquity of the civilisation even further. These excavations
will hopefully help us decode the Indus valley script!
Poetry in stone
India is home to several
sun temples, but the most prominent among them is the Konarak temple in Odisha,
eastern India. Envisaged on a grand scale and built in the form of the sun's chariot drawn by seven horses, this 13th century temple turned out to an
unfortunate casualty of its own vanity.
Archaeologists believe that the ambitious size of the main vihara caused it to cave in under its own weight.
Archaeologists believe that the ambitious size of the main vihara caused it to cave in under its own weight.
Although what remains is
a mere phantom of its original, it is enough to leave one awe-struck and
struggling to imagine the grandeur of the earlier structure.
While Konarak receives
the sun’s first rays on the east coast of India, there is yet another temple in
the extreme west of India, which pays obeisance to the Sun God in its
own grandiose way. The sun temple at Modhera, off Ahmedabad, which actually predates
the Konarak, may not match up to its eastern cousin in size, but is no less in
terms of architectural splendour. Indeed,
the intricate carvings on the temple walls and the ornate step well at the entry
are fascinating, and can give Konarak a good run for its money.
A jewel to hold water
The artists didn’t stop there.
They made the mundane task of carrying water an aesthetically enriching experience for the women. The result—stunning panels carved exquisitely on the walls of the wells in mind-blowing detail and perfection.
They made the mundane task of carrying water an aesthetically enriching experience for the women. The result—stunning panels carved exquisitely on the walls of the wells in mind-blowing detail and perfection.
Incidentally, Kallanai or the Grand Anicut, built across the river Kauveri in Tamil Nadu by a Chola king nearly two millennia back, is considered the world’s oldest water-regulation structure that is still in use. Would love to check this one out!
Paradise on earth
When Jahangir burst out
into poetry, equating Kashmir to paradise on earth, he probably wasn’t just
talking about the place. He may well have been thinking about the people here.
Blessed with insane good looks and the gift to make infinitely intricate art,
the people of Kashmir are proof of God’s kindness (Allah-e-Reham!) to man.
And, when man decides to work
alongside God, the result is... the enchanting city of Srinagar. Be it its famous
Dal Lake dotted with flower-laden Shikaras
and house boats, its beautifully manicured Shalimar gardens, the green canopy of the Chinar
trees or the majesty of the snow-capped mountains that meet the eye everywhere you care to look, the bewitching beauty of
Srinagar is certain to haunt you for a long, long time.
Travel advisory: The city takes on different dimensions in
different seasons. So anytime that is not prohibitively cold is a good time to
visit it.
A walk in the clouds through
the bridge and the rainbow
Fascinated?
Wait! Meghalya’s awesomeness doesn’t end there.
Wooden bridges that are necessary to cross the endless streams and rivulets that erupt with the rains, can’t survive the incessant downpour. So, the locals have found a simple and natural solution to it – they simply grow (!) their bridges by guiding the living roots and vines of large old trees across small rivers and streams, thus creating navigable over passes that do not rot but actually strengthen with time.
Land ahoy!
To
borrow the catchy Bollywood phrase, there are two types of people in this world
- those who suffer from a lack of water
and those who suffer from its surplus. Clearly, the people of Assam in North
East India belong in the second category.
For
its sheer scale, a boat ride on the mighty Brahmaputra can be a humbling
experience for you, when you surrender to the force of
nature, accepting its sovereignty over you.
But
then, you would be absolutely wrong in reading the river’s emotion!
For, there’s
nothing gentle about the Brahmaputra- which notoriously snuffs out hundreds of
lives and decimates several livelihoods every year during the monsoons.
In any case,
don’t make the mistake of sharing your Bengali fantasy with your Assamese co-passenger, as it could
really upset him. For, the Assamese have a vibrant culture independent off the Bengalis
and are very proud of it. Otherwise, they are a gentle people who have learnt
to navigate the whimsical waters of the river to make a living whenever
possible, or simply surrender to it when not......
Well not exactly!
The island has since lost nearly two-thirds of its lands to erosion caused by floods! And it is shrinking further....
If
you can disregard this disturbing fact momentarily, you can enjoy the quaint little emerald
isle that is Majuli. Lined with green bamboo trees everywhere you choose to
look, the island is also home to the various satras or monasteries associated with the neo-Vaishnavaite culture.
Go, take a
plunge into this remote water world.......
In the lap of divinity
When you arrive at Tiger Hills, disregarding the chill weather, you find the world around is still shrouded in darkness. Sunrise is still some time away, and you can spend the minutes either counting the stars in the supremely clear sky or securing your vantage position on the viewing deck as the crowd starts to swell.
As you keep looking
expectantly at the distant dark spot, where you’ve been told rises the gigantic
Kanchenjunga, the third highest peak in the world, the sky slowly starts to light
up. You wait with bated breath as the light grows brighter. The world around
you has fallen silent and you can almost hear the seconds ticking away....
An equally overwhelming experience
is the sunset at Somnath temple, Gujarat on the Arabian sea. The thing about
Somnath that makes an everyday sunset over the sea a special happening is the
temple’s unique geography.
It is a land’s end of
sorts.
Believe it or not, there
is no discernible landmass between the Somnath temple and the south pole;
nothing but 6,150 miles (nearly 10,000 kms) of water till Antarctica!
Interesting?
Travel advisory: The sunrise at Kanchenjunga can be tricky and depends entirely on the weather
of the day. On most days, dense cloud cover over the peaks can ruin the chances
of a good show. However, the skies are relatively cloudless in the months from
mid-October to December and in March and April. So plan your trip accordingly.
Some breath-taking moonlight experiences: Still awaiting
an opportunity to savour the surreal white landscape of the Great Rann of Kutch,
Gujarat, the largest salt desert in the world on a full moon night, and watch the
marble rocks lined along the river Narmada at Bhedaghat, Madhya Pradesh glisten
in the moon light....
Oh, how blue is my
sky!
#1) Ladakh, Jammu &
Kashmir (scenic beauty & endurance game)
What would you call a land
that receives little or no rains, is barren, frozen and starved of oxygen
through most parts of the year – hostile territory?
Then, that is what Ladakh
is.
Ironically, while being
all the above, Ladakh is also so heart-wrenchingly beautiful that, like the
brave prince Sindbad, you don’t mind taking these challenges head-on to soak in
its ethereal beauty.
Located on the ancient silk
route, Ladakh, the land of high passes, is a cold desert on the Himalayas with a
terrain so forbidding that you could well be on planet Pluto.
But, then, that’s the key
charm in travelling to Ladakh - challenging human limits......
And, there
is more.....
For one, it’s a
photographer’s dream! The pollution-free air that gives the clear blue skies,
the panoramic view of snow-capped mountains and their reflection in the lucid water bodies below make for great
photo ops.
Then, it’s a biker’s
delight! Ladakh stakes claim to the highest motorable road on earth at 18,380 feet
on the Khardungla pass. A drive up this road is sure to give you a high, literally!
Plus, the Ladakhis make excellent hosts. Allow them to
indulge you! Not in a flamboyant Punjabi kind of way, but in a warm,
unpretentious, family kind of way.But, Ladakh is more than just dizzying heights, endless snow, sparkling blue skies and crystal clear lakes. It stands for the indomitable spirit of man to live, love and serve in a hostile habitat.
There is an old Ladakhi saying that captures the essence of
this place, “The land is so barren and our passes so high that only
our fiercest enemies or our best friends would want to visit us.”
Go visit this land and its people as friends, and they are
sure to win you over. That’s a promise!
Two things here that you will not
fail to notice:
First, the ubiquitous army
presence. But, unlike in the Kashmir valley, it is not
intimidating. On the contrary, it is very comforting as life in Ladakh would be
impossible today without the infrastructure created by the Indian army.
Second, the interesting sign
boards put up by Border Roads Organisation.
Some samples here: http://ladakhroadsigns.com/index.php?option=com_easygallery&Itemid=28
Go for yourself and for the Ladakhis who need you, and also for the army men who you need.....
Travel advisory: 1) Ladakh’s
terrifying altitude needs time to get used to. If you fly down to Leh, the sudden
descent into an oxygen-starved terrain can cause acute altitude-sickness. So
plan your stay accordingly, leaving enough time for acclimatisation (1-3 days).
On the other hand, if you took the Manali-Srinagar-Leh highway, you would gain
altitude gradually. In which case, the sickness may not be so acute.
Most medical shops there sell canned oxygen and are happy to
take them back if they remain unused.
3) Ladakh can be
stressful for children and elders and people with travel sickness. Roads are
windy and weather-damaged in certain pockets, despite BRO’s best efforts to
maintain them. So, the drive can be really, really bumpy at times!
