I am not a travel buff. Most of my expeditions are of recreational kind, and family oriented trips. Love to sit and sip in a couch at a corner of my sweet home and I do travel through my mind, and try to reach across all depths of my inner world!

Kids do not listen. As and when they declare their holiday schedule, it has been mandatory for us to look out for various travel destinations. This year we were at Nashik during Deepawali vacations. The pilgrimage city Nashik is located in Maharashtra on the banks of Godavari River. It is at about 180 km away from my home town Aurangabad; about three and half hours drive in a taxi.

However, we decided to travel by train. We took the morning Jan Shatabdi express from Aurangabad that leaves at 6 ‘O’ clock and reaches Nashik at about 8.45 am. We had already booked rooms to avoid last minute anxiety and had hired a taxi for travelling around the city. We were there for only two days, next evening were back to Aurangabad by the evening train.

Nashik is gearing up for Maha Kumbhamela to be held in 2015. Everywhere in the city, we could hear the buzz about forthcoming Kumbhamela. A 13 km long flyover bridge has been built to control the major traffic. Maha Kumbhamela is a huge congregation of devotees to be held at river banks for a ritual bath. 

People belonging to all sects and traditions (not necessarily Hindus) gather at river banks for a bathing ritual that would be fixed according to Hindu calendar. This congregation takes place once in twelve years or once in six years. Kumbhamelas are held at four places in India: Haridwar, Allahabad, Nashik and Ujjain. It is a kind of ritualistic Yatra in Indian traditions.

Nashik is one of those cities in India that houses a ‘Jyotirlinga’. The ‘Jyotirlinga’ lies inside an ancient temple. There are twelve ‘Jyotirlingas of Shiva’ in India and one among them is located in Trimbakeshwar near Nashik city. This is situated at the foothills of Brahmagiri where Godavari River originates.

As we had already decided, we moved towards Trimbakeshwar directly from the railway station. The temple is located at 40 km distance from Nashik city. If you visit the temple during hot seasons, say for instance during festivals or holidays, you will have to stand in a long queue for the Darshan. Since it was a holiday season, we had to wait for about two and half hours to get the darshan.

It is an ancient temple built by a Peshwa King. Visitors are not allowed to take photos. We were moved by the beautiful stone carvings on the outer portion of the temple. There was huge crowd that day, so people were pushing us for quick ‘darshan’ of the deity. The ‘lingam’ is said to be invisible there. Actually, what we see as lingam is a hollow.

Trimbakeswar is best known for performing ancestral rituals of Hindus. We see people performing various other kinds of rituals also, especially the Naga Bali Puja. We dipped our legs and sprinkled the water on ourselves in ‘Kushavartha’, that is the pond from where Godavari River takes its further course.

It is such a beautiful place that we wished to stay there for some more time. One can visit the place all through the day, so a visit during evenings or in the early mornings would be more pleasant I feel. We returned to Nashik thinking about spending an evening at the temple to enjoy the sunset.

 

Image credit: Prajna L S

Kailash–Manas Sarovar Yatra is one of the toughest spiritual yatras of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist traditions. The author of this write up has been one of those fortunate pilgrims to accomplish the three day Kailash Parikrama successfully. So, in this series of articles, she would be sharing her experience. She would make an attempt to perceive the significance of this particular yatra.

The present series would introduce the destination by providing useful information and tips concerning the yatra. This series of articles is based on the Kailash Yatra 2013.

I begin by introducing the concept called ‘Yatra’ itself. It can roughly be translated as ‘pilgrimage’, but, a ‘Yatra’ for an Indian has wider implications. It is not just visiting the holy places and sites.

In fact, in Indian way of living a particular term called ‘Yatra’ is used for making a journey. Yatra means journey and it also means a particular kind of procession or gathering at some specific places at some specific time. Roughly, you could term it as ‘pilgrimage’ but no rituals are mandatory in Indian pilgrimages. Yatra is a ritual. A metaphor. A spiritual journey.

A yatra can be done by visiting ancient holy cities, birth places of deities, temples, rivers, lakes and mountains. These kinds of Yatras are usually known as ‘Teertha Yatras’ that means the journey to holy locations. It is a kind of ritual to be performed.

Hindus perform rituals at river banks for their ancestors. However, India consists of various other traditions also. So, ‘Yatras’ are done by devotees following other than Hindu traditions. Char Dham Yatra, Kailas Manas Sarovar Yatra, Amarnath Yatra, Shaktipeeth Yatra, Jyotirling Yatra, Kashi-Rameshwar Yatra…India consists of innumerable ‘Yatra’ locations.

Sometimes at river confluences rituals would be held, and devotes throng at the confluences in huge numbers. This kind of gathering at river banks is called ‘Mela’ and a journey to participate in such Melas is also a part of Yatra tradition. Kumbha Mela and Maha Kumbha Melas are two well known ‘Melas’ in India conducted at river banks.

Most of you must have heard of the Jagannath Ratha Yatra at Puri, Orissa. This unique kind of Yatra is held every year by celebrating a ritualistic journey of the deity. This is a celebration by pulling the Temple Chariot on which the deity will be placed. These ritualistic Yatras will be held in many other places of India.

Kailash-Manas Sarovar Yatra is considered the ultimate among all yatras in India. One needs to be fit both mentally and physically to ‘perform’ this yatra. I have deliberately used the word ‘perform’ since I see this yatra as a kind of ‘ritual’ to be performed.

It was by chance I joined the yatra. Usually the Ministry of External Affairs conducts this tour every year. But, this year due to the havoc created by Monsoon rains in the Uttarakhand region the Government had cancelled the yatra. However, we went by a private tourist agency named Nirmala Travels. This travel agency located in Bangalore has tied up with a Nepali travel agency named Shrestha Travels.

In the next post you would know about the route map of Kailash Yatra and about the things to carry for Kailash Manas Sarovar Yatra!

[To be continued…]

 Team Clear Car Rental is very happy to announce that, today, our founder & CEO Mr. Sachin Kate will be addressing the evolving entrepreneurs of North Karnataka at ‘Tie Connect 2014’ in Hubli, Karnataka. Mr. Sachin Kate is one of the keynote speakers.

‘Tie Connect 2014’ is a workshop organised by The Hubli Chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) on 22nd Jan 2014. The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) is a training institution to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship through networking, mentoring and lecturing. The institution is committed to fostering entrepreneurship.

Training sessions are held at Deshpande Centre of Social Entrepreneurship (DCSE) in Hubli. The intention is to bring noted venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs from Tier-2 cities on a common platform to share their success stories and thereby, to guide young entrepreneurs.

Our founder and CEO is one of the invitees to speak upon his success story of scaling a business being situated in a Tier 2 city. Hailing from a small city in Maharashtra, Sachin Kate has become a hero for the budding entrepreneurs in Aurangabad, Maharashtra.

There is Lao Tzu saying, “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”  As to prove this saying, Sachin Kate has climbed the ladder of success step by step. He has worked as newspaper by, has been an office attendant, and then became a computer instructor. He picked up the travel and hospitality line of business slowly, by indulging himself in website designing and developing. His blog post titled “Aurangabad Calling” inspired many unemployed youngsters of Aurangabad.

Clear Car Rental Pvt Ltd is his dream child. He has been able to scale the company to 250+ cities without raising a single penny of institutional funding. CCR provides local and outstation travel packages for round trip, one way drop and multi city travels.

He has set an example for the younger generation who think that the key to success in business field lies in holding a M.B.A degree from some or the other deemed institution. Our CEO is a self educated man in the field of business.

We congratulate Mr.Sachin Kate and wish a great success to TiE Connect 2014!

 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