Jaipur is the city in Rajasthan state of India. Jaipur; the pink city of India is the royal place to stay. When we see the city roam around the city we come across many palaces most of which have converted into Luxury hotels, we fall in love with the city itself. The old palaces, heritage hotels, lakes keep holding you back here in this city. One more thing which couldn’t be missed out in Jaipur is shopping market. Jaipur market is a heaven for shopaholics. We can experience shop till you drop tagline here.

Kundan style jewelry found in Jaipur market is world famous. As well as other famous attractions which are the specialty of jaipur are blue pottery, bangles and jewelry with lakh work, tic and dye fabrics, Mojri, latik paintings etc. It is the city for artists and traders.

Jaipur gems and designs have gained the international fame. Cutting, polishing, setting of the stones is done here itself and the work is miraculous.

We can see large number of collection of antiques near Hawa mahal. Market near Hawa mahal is famous for antiques.

The specialty of Jaipur market is we can get variety of stuff in affordable range and with the great quality.

The local market articles are the typical specialty of shopping trip in Jaipur.

Local markets such as Johri Bazar, Bapu Bazar, Nehru Bazar, and Chaura Rasta Bazar are important from local market shopping point of view.

One of the impeccable things found in Jaipur is the Brasso work.

Many high designers have understood the value of Jaipur market and have opened their concept stores here. There are anokhi and hotpink stores which are quiet famous.

Anokhi is a store which is one of the top places to buy handicrafts and clothes in India.

Hot pink is another concept store and its name itself stands by the theme of the store. It is one of the famous theme stores in India.  

So whenever we plan to go to Jaipur don’t forget to full your pockets with extra bucks reserved for shopping here. It is one of the important to do list here in Jaipur.

Delhi, the capital city of India, one of the happening and a major metro city. When we talk about Delhi, images running through our minds are Red Fort, Humayun’s tomb, Delhi gate which is seen in many Bollywood movies, Parliament of India, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Lotus temple and many more ….

Being world’s second most populous city Delhi serves a home for many people situated there for earning their bread and butter.

Many of the people tend to have weekend getaways from Delhi to nearby places which are very famous from tourist point of view too. These places are sure to add on your list when you are planning a trip to Delhi.

Mathura

 

(Image courtesy: indianpiligrimtours.com)

It is one of the important pilgrimage places in India. It is a birthplace of Lord Krishna. The holy city where you can plan a trip with you family and have a peaceful time. It is 145km away from Delhi. We get to see many temples here Dwarkashish temple, Iskon temple and also the museum like Mathura museum. We can reach there by bus or book cab from Delhi.

Agra

Taj Mahal, Agra Image courtesy:Dennis Jarvis

Lansdowne

When you work really hard all the week generally nobody is in the mood to go to the heritage place; what you seek at that time of weekends is a relaxing outstation where you can go and a have a peaceful time with your loved ones. And hence Lansdowne tops the list here. It is a town in Puri Garwal in Uttaranchal. The cantonment town with zealous scenic beauty is 17000 ft. from the sea level. Adventure activities like trekking, boating, paddling and also bird watching attract the tourists over here. Lansdowne is 250 km from Delhi and once can reach there by bus but for convenience it is really advisable that one should either go by own private car or the best suited option is hire car.

Jim Corbett National park

Jim Corbett National park Image courtesy:netlancer2006

When you are already in Delhi or nearby Delhi this is a place one should at least visit once. Jim Corbett being India’s first National park established in 1936 it is the world’s largest tiger reserve. This striped wild beauty blows your mind with its elegance and ferocity in looks at the same time. Jim Corbett is 295 km away from Delhi. A weekend trip or a small tour of 3-4 days is really good to go here from Delhi. These days tourism has realized the importance of this site and has been developed accordingly vastly with beautiful, luxurious resorts like Corbett getaway spa and resort.

When we travel with our family it has its own perks. We Indians have the strong emotional and moral support from our families and family values are passed from generation to generations. We may whine about restrictions at some point, we may sulk about the unavoidable functions that we have to attend no matter how important our plans with friends must be at the end of the day it is our family because of which we can strong and move on confidently with our lives, come what may challenges appear or the crisis situations we have a family to stand by us and we can sleep peacefully in the night.

So when it comes to travel with a family many advantages are hidden here. Bonding develops more than before, we get to know the different new places in a secured atmosphere of family and so and so.

So how can we make our family trips more interesting??

Let it be a short trip somewhere or a long tour with relatives tagging along with you some games and activities together will always encourage the spirit of travelling.

Old school games like dog in the bone sort of games that we played during our school time can be played bringing back the childhood memories to cherish and going back to your childhood era.

This is fun game which we can play while sitting in the car while moving along the road. It is a game to be played as in participants should guess the state and district code of the car passing by , those who guessed wrong is out of the game and the game is continued till the last participant survives.

It is one of the famous card game enjoyed among all the age group. Each card has a different no. and colors and some cards have the special benefits. That who can’t finish all the cards till the end of the game is lost.

I spy is a game where one is supposed to give the hints of a thing or the place which we are passing by along with the hints those who will guess the answer right with minimum clues wins the game.

A famous Indian game played very often and enjoyed to the core. People are divided into teams and a name of the movie is given to any one of the participant from the either of the team and he is supposed to do give his team clues while acting according to the name of the movie is given.

There are lots of cards games involved here which we can play and enjoy with our family then housie also. If we are going on an outdoor location and spending quiet a good time there we can do kite flying too and badminton as well as antakshri of songs or names or cities.

A travel with family can be made more memorable by doing some fun activities together rather than being lost in tabs or smart phones which have already ruined our family time in daily life. One can think of many games on his own to enhance this family trip spirit by introducing games on his own. 

Are you planning to travel with your family?Then I would higly suggest you use Clear Car Rental. You may explore our website to learn more about ClearCarRental.
 

image courtesy:www.sputhindiavacations.com

In backpacking one is interested in whole journey itself rather than just hitting the destinations from tourist point of view. The journey may be the simple camping trip in a forest area for two-three days or it may be the long tour consisting of hotel bookings and roaming in public transport. I am saying here public transport because it needs low cost and safe too.

Backpacking includes a heavy bag which can be carried on the back which includes many utility things that we need in the trip. In backpacking trips it is advisable to carry your own things as well as the safety majors but also we shouldn't overdo it by carrying extra loads.

This backpacking trip can teach you a lot of things. We can get connected with nature more here and we can relax and free our mind from stress that has become inevitable part of our lives.

It can teach you to be confident when you travel like this and can make you realize the worth of spending and giving the time to own self.

There are backpacker groups also which can guide us with directions and hotel or lodge bookings and their experience can definitely is more useful to us.

These days backpacking trips have become easier than before because of the increased resources and the help groups which have formed to help each other through sharing their experiences and guiding us. GPS, Smartphone, steatite phones (in case of emergency) have eased up the situations.

If we are going for a long duration backpacking trip we should book our lodge or hotel bookings in advance which will be less time consuming and if we are booking a quiet earlier we can grab some additional discount. And it is all time fail proof thing to book our shelter in advance so that in crisis situations we have our planned place to stay back, it will save the stress factor here.

These trips are mostly concerned with where there is adventure involved as in trekking trip or a rafting and camping combination weekend surf. Adventure is the spirit of these backpacking trips.

Easy, low cost, adventurous, exciting these trips may sound but we need a proper planning of such a trips. If it is well planned and executed accordingly without falling for distractions coming along the way backpack trips can be the most memorable trips of your life.

Here is the list of some important things that we get to include in our bags while on backpacking trips.

It is the best product any backpacker can buy which has everything that we need in an emergency situation to survive. It includes compass, sugar pouches, tea bags, soup packets, whistles, fire starter etc.

Now these following things are optional if you are going for camping or trekking where you prefer to stay on your own

Essential list is as follows

These small stuff look like are not important among the list but if we forget to carry them we get to know the worth of it

One should always do their research about the places we are planning to go to for backpacking trips and take help of the experienced ones if they have been to the same place before.

So pack your bags, plan your trip cleverly and neatly, take safety majors into consideration and Get Set Go for backpack trip these holidays.

 The most joyous moment in young couple’s life is the arrival of a baby. Lots and lots of preparations and arrangements are done for that phase. Routines are changed, priorities are changed and somehow your the sense of responsibilities is increased by cent percent, one got to be a parent to understand when it comes to being protective about your baby.

Parenthood is the challenging and tiring at a times. When we get tired from office work, we have weekends to chill, after fulfilling your career years there is retirement era where we are freed from busy schedules and workloads till then sufficient amount is earned, spent, invested and utilized but parenthood is something which you cannot turn your back to or plan retirement for that job. The compromises, happiness, teaching and learning complete the whole equation of the marriage.

It is assumed and right to some extent, that traveling when you have a baby is tedious job. It is heck of circus platform where you have to enjoy the journey, wish to see the places where you have gone at the same time maintaining your baby’s naps, mealtimes, hygiene and so and so. Well in our India, one cannot be happily traveling in a public transport with the baby because of the overcrowded scenes, uncomfortable for baby hence inconvenient to parents since baby will be crying and crying and cribbing and so they have to face annoyed, angry looks by co passengers. Hygiene issues are obviously there too!

So what can be done to make the journey with the baby comfortable and enjoyable? First of all lets vote for the need to travel even though you are having a baby.. I mean is it really worth it to think a lot and cancel the travel plans since you have had a baby? After some years it’s a kid’s preprimary school which cannot be missed and that’s why we can’t go traveling, then school and classes routine which shouldn’t be missed to sustain in the rat race of success.. The reasons and problems will always show up when you get out of your comfort zone. The point is are you ready to take a step forward and make a difference against the mainstream? Yeah, I guess so, that we can.

Where there is will there is way, and so if we plan perfectly our journey with the entire considered possibilities journey with a baby can be the most memorable trip of your life.

Rent a Car:

As we said the problem with the public transport like buses or trains for short distances is a questionable option, better go with the hire cars. You can travel at the speed you desire, no disturbance when the baby is sleeping, you can stop the cab whenever you want and of course you can take car seat for the baby. It’s a chair which is portable you don’t have to hold all the time; once the chair is fixed in the car you can enjoy your ride happily. You don’t need to hold the baby all the time. 

Carry on with Rash Cream :

One of the other things that you got to take care of is rash creams. Temperature and humidity conditions at different places plus the travelling may cause some rashes so as a precaution we must carry some rash creams with the consult of your pediatrician.

Bring plastic bag set of Diapers:

Diapers, wipes and the plastic bags one shouldn’t forget. It’s better to carry own plastic bags because the time will be saved of buying them at each required places.

Blankets. No mother would forget her baby’s favorite blanket in traveling. But let it be a short trip or a long one spare blankets should be packed too in baby’s bags as a spare, and for baby’s hygiene.

Feeding Utensils and Accessories:

 Baby’s bowls and utensils like spoon, bottles are important too, and which nobody can forget while traveling with a baby.

Toys/ Music videos :

 At the same time, one should definitely pack your baby’s favorite toys, you never know when and why baby can get cranky and the feel of her favorite toys may give her homely impact and calm. Even if baby doesn’t get cranky, we must carry 2-3 small toys; don’t we need our favorite book to read while traveling or favorite songs in mp3 player? Then let’s be fair with babies too!

It is definitely not that impossible or hard to travel with the baby. Book all of your traveling modes as in airplane tickets or booking of the cab which nowadays can be done online also. And they offer a great variety in the packages, your hotel rooms and you can give the idea to the hotels too that you will be travelling with the baby.

So don’t waste your time in thinking how can I travel now I have a baby or let’s wait till baby gets older a bit… because that waiting list of years will just go on and time won’t stop for us.

 

   

Image courtesy: wikimedia

  After making plans 1000 times to go to Hyderabad with all of besties together to Sia’s place wasn’t executed. This time all four of us planned to be there since it was going to be Sia’s 30th birthday and we surely have been missing our pal in our hangouts and weekend parties in our daily life. Indeed marriage makes a lot of changes in your lifestyle.

But plan was not to go there and visit Ramoji film city, Birla temple, Lumbini Park, Hussain sagar, Salarjung museum and all those heritage places. We decided to enjoy our get together in our own way with Hyderabad flavor in it. Of course I am talking about the world famous 'Hyderabad biryani' and other dishes.

Every place has its own history, flavor in their local cuisine, peculiarity. We decided to have the safari of Hyderabad tasting its very famous and well-known dishes along our get together with long lost best friend Sia. All of us planned our dates and booked our flight tickets and moved for Hyderabad. As we had discussed the theme for this get together with sia she knew we gotta utilize this one weekend as much as we can and she had made the arrangements so.

To our surprise, a cab was waiting for us as a pickup service on the Hyderabad airport. Sia had booked the car online and made the deal for better convenience and time saving sake. Our cab dropped us to sia’s place where all greetings were there, gifts sharing and excitement for our plans lead ahead on the way. Parth, sia’s husband accompanied us for a bit and then went on with his prior meetings arranged earlier.

Sia told us that she had booked the car online for our small road trip inside the city and also the cab was booked to pick us up from the airport. She had booked it from CCR-clear car rental. We can book a cab in advance and choose our ride and the option from various options given to us for our travel plan. Ours had been booked for the one whole day and to our surprise the car was in very well condition too. Well I am mentioning this particularly because there are many problems in rented cars in their attire and all. It was well in condition and the driver was polite and understanding. Many times staff on the rented car is also an issue about their arrogance and stubbornness. Here thankfully we were spared from all that drama, thanks to CCR! Roaming in the whole city is not that easy as it sounds, you should know the routes and your car should be in well condition to give you the value for money service. Since we were 5 people an Innova was booked for us. We had planned to travel in local markets in Hyderabad and have street shopping and street food of Hyderabad so booking your ride in advance was a brilliant choice.

Hyderabad is known as the Deccan cuisine of India. It has been changed and updated according to the kingdoms that ruled this city. The cuisine has the mixture of Mughlai, Turkish and Arabic flavors. Special kinds of herbs, spices are used to add up that magic x factor in Hyderabadi dishes. Mom has instructed me to buy those special spices on the street market for masala rice/pulav to make at home. There are people in the world and there are Moms, always know the best of everyone and everything. 

When we used to travel some years back with our parents, relatives and family friends do you remember there used to be lots of discussions and planning of dates that who is free on which dates and then the destination and dates of travelling had been fixed. This all used to be mostly for long vacations here in India like Diwali holidays or summer holidays where children have holidays and elders can tag along taking the leaves from offices. Before some years a concept came of weekend traveling, why one should wait for Diwali or summer holidays to pack your bags and be ready for roll, why not travel on weekends also to the places nearby our town. These days Airfares have been affordable for common man and cheers to that! Due to affordable airfares one can actually travel a bit away from the city you are living in and go to outstations. Getaways from the main city are small vacations which can be utilized as the stress boosters.

We work all the week and wait for weekend, some may use it to sit and relax at homes and then there are hardcore travelers who do the same thing of relaxing going to outstations. These days’ getaway vacations are popular since they are short and sweet. It needs not to be planned months back and can work out perfectly. 

Image Credit: www.sarahaustinart.com

• Goa

Image Credit: tamarindtours.in

• Puducherry

image credit: thehindu.com

image credit: www.puthuchery.com

• Alibag

image credit:www.journeymart.com

When it comes to vacations, usually a lot of time is spent on planning and preparations. Generally once we decide the place it is explored according to the gathered information, experiences of others (family friends, relatives etc.) and famous tourists’ spots that we read about on internet. Usually we don’t opt for offbeat destinations.

We can enjoy the perks of visiting these offbeat destinations.

Image Credit: trawellguide.com

We have seen sizzling kareena kapoor dancing here in “Raat ka Nasha “in movie Asoka, this is bhedaghat. The main attractions are marble mountains as we can see in the pictures. Narmada River makes its way through these marble rocks making the amazing view. Especially the boat ride here in moonlight in enchanting. While you are riding in a boat a point comes which is known as “Bandar Kodini”. 


At this point mountains come so close that monkeys can jump across them easily and hence the name of a point is Bandar kodini. The other point that we shouldn’t miss is dhunvadhar waterfalls. The meaning of dhunvadhar is “dhunva” meaning smoke and “dhar” means the flow of water and it truly stands by its name. The roar if this waterfall is heard from far distance.

Bhedaghat is in Jabalpur district of MP. We can hire a cab once we reach Jabalpur and reach Bhedaghat. For accommodations there are plenty of hotels and MPTDC guest’s house available.

This is a place in Alwar district of Rajasthan. It is on the way from Jaipur to Alwar. It is a prehistoric site. This is included in our list because it is the only legally haunted place in India acclaimed by Indian Govt. Every heritage site has an Archeological office in India but this is the only place where ASI office in not present but quiet a far from the place. The ASI has put the board around the site saying that the entry is prohibited from sunset to sunrise. The fort was built in 1613 and the town was established by King Madho. There are many stories behind this town being haunted but the travelers who have been there claim that the place makes you feel restless and hyper, may be the mindset becomes so due to the tales and ASI boards. Rajasthan is known for heritage palaces and their beauty, so while you have plans to travel in Rajasthan one should definitely visit this strange place, of course during the day.

Malana is a town situated in valley called Parvati in Himachal Pradesh. It is also known as the little Greece in Himachal Pradesh.

It is an ancient village 3029 meters above from the sea level. We all know the mesmerizing beauty of Himalaya Mountains and hence the famous destinations in HP such as Shimla, Manali then why Malana? It is isolated from the outer world. The citizens of this town consider themselves the descendants of the Alexander’s Army. Every city has its own tale and cultures but this town seem to have many stories. When Alexander came in Asia to his quest of conquering the whole world he was defeated here and while going back, some of his army found solace in Malana and stayed back. These people consider the outsiders inferior to them, so when you travel here you should not leave prescribed path and follow their rules strictly. They have kind of strange concepts which they follow till the date as in even if unintentionally if you touch any person there you have to pay the fine. This goes for any walls, houses and people there. Malana had the one of the oldest democracy in the world. It is a quiet yet strange place because of its customs and their beliefs to visit. Treat for nature lovers to go and relax. It is also infamous for the Malana cream which has the large amount of demand internationally. This is considered to be one of the finest Hashish in the world and that’s why drug mafias and some foreigners seeking for malana cream come here and stay. Indian govt. had to interfere here to control the acts which have not been proven successful so far. People being isolated from the other part of the country had the main occupation of growing the cannabis plants. Gradually things will change here that is what we hope for and the hydro electric power plant is raised here by the govt. which serves as one of the effort for the employment option for the localities here. Exclude the cannabis plantations here from the picture and this is one of the beautiful places to visit when we go to HP.

There are many more places in India to consider as offbeat destinations. The best way to reach all these places is reach to the main city near by from these places by any mode of transport which is favorable for you as in by train or air or travel buses and then hires a cab for your journey. The benefit here is it is convenient as well as safe since the hired cab will be at your service all the time. For an ex. CCR Clear Car Rental where we can book our cabs online in advance, can book our ride, I mean the car that we want since they have many options for cars too and plan accordingly. They also have the different packages, as in pick and drop services or destination packages by which we can book it right from picking us up from the airport or railway station and then taking us to the desired destination and drop us back to the stations from where they picked us.

Lest pack our bags for some of the offbeat destinations this year and “hatke” tours but safe and sound. What are offbeat destinations in your list? Reply for this post with the names of the places that you have in mind.

Ciao.