Rishikesh Archives -

2016 Long Weekend Travel Planner!

Let’s make a resolution to travel all through the year, and through all the years to come!

2016 comes as a blessing for all trippers with 16 long weekends! It’s time to make the most of your time and explore India! The pleasant thought of freshness, and zeal of going to a new place is enough to make you pack your bags and get going. Rather than sitting at home, or hanging out at some shopping mall, travel someplace you have never been to. As Saint Augustine once said, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page”. So break the barriers and start reading the book beyond just a page. This year’s long weekends will give you the chance to read this book called world.

If I had a choice, I would love to start my New Year doing deep sea diving in Andaman or wander off to the Himalayas to find a piece of my soul! What are your plans?

To make it easy for you, here is a list of a few places you can travel to in this year of perfect long weekends! So mark your calendars and start making plans with the long weekend travel planner.

January (23rd -26th – Republic Day + take a leave on Monday!)

Andaman – Kick-start your New Year in the Andaman and make it the best time of your life! Go scuba diving in the crystal clear blue sea of Andaman and escape winter sunbathing on the white sand beaches while losing yourself in the tranquility of the surroundings!

The picture perfect Radhanagar Beach at Andaman

20 Must Have Travel Experiences in India

“Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have travelled.”

The words are enough to inspire someone to travel the world. We live in a beautiful world full of adventures and enormous experiences. There is no end to the adventures and experiences that we can have in this small world; all we need to do is to seek them with our eyes open. If you haven’t started your journey yet, remember this famous quote by Ruskin bond “All glory comes from daring to begin”.

Traverse to savour those moments, for they will not come in your way very often! How about starting to collect these moments and experiences from India? You would be amazed to know that some of the best travel experiences can be had in India. We always try and find happiness in materialistic things but how about travelling with your friends to some place you have never been to! Make memories out of some of these experiences that are a must do in India!

Trek on the Frozen River
Walking on the ice sheet of the Zanskar River will be one of the most breathtaking experiences of your life! Ladakh has always been a dream destination for adventure and travel lovers, including me! Keeping aside the enchanting beauty of Ladakh, trekking in Ladakh on the frozen river can be a life-changing experience.

Planet Harmony

I’m going to be honest when I say that I had no idea what my father was getting me into. I had heard him talk about this project called Planet Harmony for really long and I knew he was really enthusiastic about it.

The plan was to get students (ages 15 – 18) and their teachers, from disturbed areas of India and to buddy them with a student from the National Capital region with whom they would stay for a few days. Students and teachers were coming from Shillong, Kashmir, Manipur and Chhattisgarh. My buddy’s name was Sonia and she was from Manipur. When I went to pick her up from the airport the first day, as soon as I met her, I knew we would both get along well. The first day we watched a movie and got to know each other. The second day we met all the other participants and went sightseeing in Delhi.

The day after that is when the real journey began. We all went to a camp called Camp Panther for ten days which is situated near the River Ganga in the Himalayas in Rishikesh. Thirty two of us students, our five teachers and the staff of Planet Harmony headed to the camp. The train ride was very enjoyable as everyone had already started bonding. We were all singing and having a lot of fun. The next ten days went in a jiffy. We did a lot of outdoor sports such a trekking, rafting and zip lining. I feel everyone enjoyed those activities immensely.

River Rafting – It’s that time of the year again!

“When you put your hand in a flowing stream, you touch the last that has gone before and the first of what is still to come.” – Leonardo Da Vinci
And so it is with adventure – no two experiences are alike!

The time to raft is here again. Come October and the rivers start to beckon! October marks the onset of winters in India and offers the perfect combination of ideal water temperatures and the right amount of sun.

Rafting, river rafting or whitewater rafting is a recreational adventure activity that pushes the participant to the limits. This pursuit is followed primarily on whitewater, or water of varying degrees of roughness, using a raft for navigation.