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Food is a gray area and a matter of personal choice for everyone. My struggle is being vegetarian and picky when it comes to food. Our failsafe plan always is to carry Ready to Eat food packets from India. Today MTR, Haldiram’s packed food list is huge and there is no end to it. Even bread like Naan, Rotis, and Paranthas are easily available. In terms of bread, you can leverage tortillas as well, they taste similar and work well in an emergency. Apart from carrying food, croissants and coffee make a brilliant munching combination which is very easily available in European nations. Our find of the trip was Greek Salad, we are so hooked up on Greek Salad that even today it has become part of the weekly breakfast routine. Greek Salad with potato fries on the side appeared frequently on our lunch menu throughout our trip. Some of the restaurants that we explored and found publish worthy are: Athens and Corinth: Efcharis, Athina: Vibes and food are undoubtedly “exquisite” when it comes to restaurants in Europe. Efcharis’ pizza and pasta, are something to crave for. There are many chains in the vicinity and we are sure you will find something that hits your palate at the right chords. Thiseio Bakery: When it comes to fresh croissants, cookies and it was a delight to have some hot and fresh croissants late in the evening with a cup of coffee Café Gardenia, Loutraki-Agioi: This place gives similar vibes as of a countryside diner as shown in Hollywood movies. We went ahead with the easiest option that is Greek salad and it was one of the best Greek Salads we had and the team was super friendly and supportive. Mykonos: There is no end to food options in Mykonos. Evening in Mykonos, unquestionably, must be near the west coast with windmills of Mykonos. Every second outlet is a restaurant and bar. Our preference was an open-air meal so we opted for Niko’s tavern, food was of our liking, remember picky and veg. To satisfy your sweet buds, there are multiple gelatos, crepes outlets in the vicinity. Do try Trio Bambini for ultimate gelato or crepe. Nightlife: I am not inclined towards night parties, and found no connection whatsoever. Accidentally, we found there is a nightlife Paradise beach which is a never miss in Mykonos, so we thought before wrapping up the day why not try it out. That one moment in which we decided to give it a shot was one of the best travel decisions. There are multiple restaurants & bars in the vicinity, but spontaneously we went to Tropicana Beach Bar (actually, we went ahead with the least crowded :P). That one moment when you don’t want to dance, yet your feet move on their own. Music is not just going to the brain, it is moving in veins just like oxygen. Our only reason to visit Mykonos is just because of this experience. More than the food you will enjoy the ambiance, freshness, and breezy environment. You will surely struggle to choose for your tummy fulfillment. Folegandros: After night high @Mykonos, Folegandros was a pleasant surprise. Starry night, soothing lights, low humming music, food that is smooth on the palate. You can make a trade for such dinner before a blink of an eye. As you enter the main market, there is an ensemble of restaurants, and sitting arrangements look like a commonplace for all. But that‘s not the case, there is a demarcation that is invisible to the naked eye of a common man. We tried The Coupon (Greek name conversion) this time and we were not disappointed. By that time our taste buds had fully adapted to Greek food, and the icing on the top was the staff and their courteousness, they recommended some of the best dishes in veg they were offering (of course Greek salad was one of them) Another restaurant worth a meal is Restaurant Melissa, again in the same ensemble. Santorini: As we stayed a little far from the main center our food options are a little off-route from the main places. Crepaki Santorini: The food fragrance and the sitting arrangement pulled us right from the road. The host prepared a lovely meal for us keeping our food preferences in mind. Our food journey here was completed with an amazing waffle in the end. Nick the Grill: First time we tried outside our comfort zone and what better than Nick the Grill. Pita wraps, sticks, burgers you name it. The food was so great that we went for another round. Erotokritos, German Bakery: This is the truest form of bakery that we have tried in a foreign land. The amazing thing was it was open as early as 4 AM. We cannot express in words how amazing the croissants were. We felt so content and ate till our heart's desire. In the end, it is worth mentioning that food options at Athens International Airport are good as well. In case, you are in a hurry and need a quick bite, do try without a second thought. So much food discussion leads to cravings. Till the time you go through all other blogs on Greece, I’ll grab some munchies. Adios!! Planning your greek itinerary: Greece: Mesmerizing land ean Sun Making logistics arrangements for Greece: Budgeting for Greece Trip

Picking resorts and evaluating how much it will burden your pocket Welcome to Part II of knowing Maldives better. If this is your first read on Maldives, kindly read about Part I from this link – The Maldives Affair: Part I Going by statistics, Maldives is mostly visited due to private islands which disconnects you from the rest of the world physically for the duration of the stay. As soon as you enter Maldives’ airspace you will see a collection of beautiful islands all over. From the sky, all the islands are almost similar, a little green patch covering the whole island and properties connecting to the island as a caterpillar trying to enter its nest. Every property offers almost the same luxuries on a platter and it’s just a matter of how architecturally and creatively they have been assorted. In our research before visiting the Maldives, we were informed that marine life is better in north atolls as compared to south atolls, so we chose North, and still, we were a little disappointed. Maybe our expectations were high or the corals at our resort were not that aesthetical as compared to others. If you google Maldives you will get umpteen results. When every small island is a resort and Maldives is a group of more than 100 small islands, you have a choice problem. Not only that every resort will have 4 stars at least. From various perspectives like beaches, spas, and restaurants, all resorts give very similar vibes, this is excluding the likes of Taj or Hard Rock high-end resorts, if you have the budget for supreme luxury then you have already made up your mind. Then how do you choose which resort has your calling? It is easy, if you are doing your research, try getting a better deal whether from CRED, Agoda, Booking.com, or any other travel website. If you are taking a package deal from an agent, ask at least for three to four options. All the resorts have two basic property offerings with luxurious add-ons: Beachside properties- located on the island grounds and a big opening right on the beach. Water villas- giving the vibe of floating houses supported by a wooden structure built on the ocean floor. When you stand in front of these, they don’t look like huge property, but as you open the door, it’s like down the rabbit hole. Luxury water villas- premium category of water villas with private pool/water slides/ bigger carpet area. Water villa properties look exquisite and are comparatively expensive. If you are booking through an agent, they will give you an option to have your stay split into both. Water villas from photographs look exquisite, appealing and give that wow feeling. To be honest, we found beach properties more comfortable and enjoyable. As water villas tend to sway and may make feel you are in some ship in the sea. Also, the water level is max waist high and not enough for diving from the villa floor ;P Resorts additionally have cuisine-based restaurants, spas, water sports to offer. Prices for these services may vary a lot and should be critically considered before choosing a resort. Cost Breakup Now, with that thing covered, let’s look at the spending spree for Maldives. There are two major cost heads: Flights and Resort (Includes meals) and Miscellaneous – Transfers (Sea boat / Plane depending on the booking) and Water sport activities. If you are booking through an agent or resort directly, the transfer cost is covered, else you will have to bear an additional one (Check it out before booking). Pre covid, travelers used to do island hopping however in Post Covid era, Island hopping had been discontinued by Government. If you book at least one to two months in advance, it will cost you around 40,000 INR for a one-way flight for two from India/Delhi NCR. A 5 day stay with a mix of both beach and water villa will be around 130,000 INR in stay for two and generally, this includes meals, basic water activities like snorkeling, kayaking, and pedal boat. For other water sports, you will have to shell a few more bucks and this depends on the resort. Some resorts charge exorbitantly for scuba and other activities like whale watching/ turtle watching separately. Check these costs on the resort’s website before finalizing. Another factor in the pricing is the meal plan. You can go full board (all meals inclusive) or all-inclusive plan which includes meal and drinks both or happy hour drinks access. Above pricing includes full board i.e. only meals. Depending on your choice of property your majority expenditure will be decided. In case if you go for a full stay at a beach villa it will come around INR 100,000 and a full water villa stay around INR 150,000 with around 20% standard deviation for 4N/5D Some good options Some of the good resorts that you can pick from are – Centara Ras Resorts, Kuramathi, Sun Siyam villu reef, Adaaran club, Kihaa, Ohuveli resorts among many others. Ensure to check the food menu and water sport activities beforehand. You can also drop a mail for the same and the resort representative will share the details with you. We finalized Centara Ras Fushi and we returned elated with our choice. Its hospitality had been outstanding and worth every penny. Right from the time we reached Centara Ras, the housekeeping staff was standing for our welcome, and even when we left, the whole staff was there to escort us, and it was not just for us, it was a time routine. We were visiting after the first Covid wave in November 2020 and all resorts were struggling with a shortage of staff. We saw the property manager picking plates as they were running short on staff during all meals. Among all this, there was one more coincidence we met one of my collegiate and friend who was visiting at the same time. One thing that went in our favor was the temperature. Given its geographical location, we expected to etch sun rays however we got rains during peak afternoon cooling the weather and leaving us with cool sunsets. In the whole experience what left us dissatisfied was the scuba diving cost, it was exorbitant. The experience was good but not valuable for money. We have seen people question if you are going to spend time in a resort why not pick a luxurious resort in Goa or any place near to the beach in India? And that is a valid point if your objective is to have a good time with the company, roam around, then yes, no point going to the Maldives. The only thing the Maldives is adding on top of the company is the disconnection from the rest of the world in the best summer place to be. If this is important for you then you have the answer if the Maldives is for you or not. Hope this was a good read and clarified your doubts related to Maldives. In case you have any queries reach us on social media, and will be happy to assist. Till next time – Adios!!

Time to look into the purse, bank balance, and credit card whether you will be visiting this year or next? Have a look, Greece dream may get fulfilled this year :) Greece is considered as one luxurious honeymoon destination in India and people prefer to spend lavishly given the occasion. In our case, it was the Greek experience that mattered. We tried our best to find a normal routine logistical arrangement. If I look at the overall break up, I believe the following sections will help you plan better: Transport (Reaching Greece and within Greece) Stay (Hotel, Airbnb) Transport: Plan Book Travel Repeat The most important factor for transportation is your travel dates, Greece hits its peak season during summers (Mar – June) and if you want a less crowded yet enjoyable time, prefer late August – Early September. Start with Skyscanner and you will find suitable flights and prices for your travel from your country to Greece Internal flights are best booked through Skyscanner, our preference was to consider air travel over ferries but that is again a personal choice. For island hopping in the second and third leg, we leveraged letsferry.com for our bookings. There are multiple sites and we found comparative pricing and suitable timing from the site. We booked a month in advance and the following was the cost breakup: New Delhi – Athens (Air): This was our round trip and we paid INR 77,828 ~ EUR 1,000 Athens – Mykonos (Air): Volotea flight thoughtfully booked for late-night travel INR 14,200 ~ EUR 182 Mykonos – Folegandros (Sea): Seajets ferry and we shelled INR 7650 ~ EUR 98 Folegandros – Santorini (Sea): Again, Seajets ferry and cost same as above INR 7650~ EUR 98 Santorini – Athens (Air): As for the final stint we went ahead with the flight and paid INR 17500~ EUR 224 One challenge with sea travel is, ferry routes are dynamic and keep on changing till the time you board. So even if your reservation clearly states it is going to take xx hours for your journey, it can be less than that time or more than the stipulated time by a factor of 4 or 5. We were informed Mykonos to Folegandros is a 4-hour journey however it took us 8 hours as the route was modified (for a seasick person like me, it was one horrible journey but I persevered somehow) Overall, we spent INR 125000 or EUR 1602 for two in major transportation Logistically, the most important thing today as you land on foreign soil is communication so as soon as you are in Greece and moving out of Airport, get yourself a local sim card. Vodafone services are very good, and we were happy with the connectivity we got. We paid around EUR 20 and got ourselves a data pack with some local call options. The data pack was enough to survive our trip without using social sites extensively. For your intra-island or Athens transportation need, some of the renting companies like Avis or local operators accept Indian driving licenses as is. However, if you want to be doubly sure, you can get International Driver Permit from your RTO. So, we got ourselves a comfy Fiat Panda on EUR 50 approx. with insurance and paid EUR 15 approx. on fuel for a single day. Rental charges are similar when you are hiring a car on an island. Another option is you can go for public transportation which is frequent, economical, and comfortable (40-seater Volvo buses) and the catch is, they operate on a fixed route and are time-bound. We did not find any challenge on public transport on islands as the frequency was good and the schedule is available on charts at common places throughout. Volvo charges a max of 10 EUR and on an average 5 EUR per person. Stay: What happens in Greece, stays in Greece Hands down our first and last priority were to book through Airbnb, and we found some great and some good options throughout. Of course, Mykonos, Santorini hotels would have been a jewel in stay but that was not our priority after we checked how exorbitantly they charge. It was a payoff we were willing to ignore. Athens: We preferred to stay near the historic landmarks in Athens which had good public transportation connectivity and circled down to Thissio / Thiseio as it was at a walkable distance from Acropolis and metro both. We found this lovely apartment which was very cozy and had a great neighborhood. We paid INR 6300 ~ EUR 80 for a two-night stay Mykonos: It was a hard find and little compromise booking as everything we looked for was very pricey and after much deliberation, we decided to stay a little far from all the action and in compensation we got access to private beach (YaaaY!!). Comparatively, it was the most expensive stay on the Greece trip. We locked onto this property, it was secluded and required public transport hopping or you can leverage a car on rent for travel. We paid INR 13100 ~ EUR 168 for a two-night stay. Folegandros: The beauty of this secluded small island is you don’t have to spend time on secondary research. We decided to stay near the main hub of the town which is well connected throughout the island. Our Airbnb host at this place was very cordial and ensured we had a good stay. We had to shell out INR 8100 ~ EUR 103 for a two-night stay. Santorini: In terms of compromise, we settled for very little here, though the property was extraordinary however it was very far off from the main events/attractions, we were walking 2 Kms one way to reach the bus stand and 2 bus stops away from the main market. As we were staying only for a night, we were very picky in terms of what to see and what to skip. This place charged us INR 5000 ~ 64 EUR for a night. It was a boutique hotel, but it was good. So overall we spent INR 32,500 or EUR 415 on accommodation. Overall, 80% of the spend was INR 161,000 or EUR 2080 for our six days itinerary. Ball is in your court whether Greece will see you there or not. By the way, to read more about Greece, you can go through this links from the site: Greece : Mesmerizing land of Aegean Sun Dine and Wine in Greece

Transcending from Rajasthan to Gujarat can be an eye-opener experience. We had heard so much about fluid roads of Gujarat, however, our experience was a complete 180 degrees opposite. We never expected so bumpy roads while entering Gujarat from Jaisalmer towards Bhuj. Though highways were “Work in progress” around Bhuj but coming from Rajasthan, our expectations were at an all-time high and so was the disappointment level. Sitting on many crown jewels, Gujarat has numerous reasons for tourists to pour and celebrate its man-made as well as natural marvels. This is where you feel the struggle of what to cover and what to skip. Given our constraints, we had Diu as the last stop so the whole itinerary was planned such. Quick Links: Food Options Stay Options Spend Breakup And the trip continues: Day Wise Itinerary Day 5: Land of Kutch – “Kuch din to bitao Gujarat me” astonishingly simple yet powerful advertising by Gujarat tourism keeps on playing in your mind as soon as you move towards Kutch. Kutch festival extends from Dec till Feb every year and at every turn, one will see promotional hoardings/entrances while crossing swamps on way to Kutch. It is suggested to plan in a way to reach Kutch around 1:00 PM and still be able to enjoy all things and if you reach earlier than that, you will be tired by sunset (weather is too hot and humid) even at the end of December. Kutch's visit can be segregated into four segments. and most of the time we kept on roaming in between Segment II and Segment IV throughout. Segment I – Tent City, Dhordo The first man-made structure that you will come across will be Tent City, Dhordo a magnificent temporary yet luxurious structure in Kutch where people stay back to enjoy white sand lands. They are highly expensive and confined only for the people with prebooking or booking for a stay. You can maximum go till the entrance and car parking. Segment II – National Trade Fair and Food Bazaar Please do not confuse Tent city with the Kutch festival as only after crossing the tent city, the beauty of Kutch and its festival begins. You will have to enter the restricted area as this is very near to the border so permissions are required (it can be applied online to avoid waiting in the queue through this link). Just after the barrier, there is a setup similar on lines of “International Trade Fair” with multiple outlets below one roof, and adjacent to it is the food corner. Food options are average to good (nothing will be amazing but good enough to fill tummy). Gujarat govt. is heavily promoting local tourism and it dedicates one section to growing tourist locations like Statue of Unity, Narmada river camping among others. The shopping arena is good and economical. You can shop from clothes to house decor, handmade to machine-made, stitched to unstitched everything is available in the fair. You can even try your bargaining prowess as well. Segment III – Fun Activities and Cultural events The next section after the trade fair is some more campsites and adventurous activities like ATVs, jeep-led paragliding. A temp stage has also been constructed for cultural activities which start around sunset time, Segment IV – White sand beauty This is where the road ends and on the horizon is nothing but white salt and nothing else. Govt has built a four-story podium for people to enjoy the picturesque beauty from atop. One can walk on the sand swamps but has to be very cautious as at places swamps tend to cave in and you may land deep into the marsh. Hence not at all places can venture one into the salt marsh. It's better to observe people and decide where one can venture into the white lands. In Segment IV there are multiple activities like horse riding, camel riding, and buddy ride one can try. Do try snacks and shakes here, it's amazing. Around Segment III, there is space to venture with cars (on the west side, and makes a perfect spot for sunset) however think twice before venturing deep onto salt land as many cars/travelers get stuck in marshland. We observed more than 10 cars being plowed or pushed to just get out of the swamp muds. Around sunset, the beauty level magnifies to 100x and as soon as darkness takes over, electrical decorations all along the road leading to marshes are astonishing and will force you to take the camera out. Kutch tents from appearance were nothing like Jaisalmer tents and extremely expensive, so we decided to stay back in Bhuj. Therefore, when we were done and dusted, we went back to Bhuj. However, it is totally up to you, where to hold your ground, if you are interested in sunrises, you would like to stay back in tents nearby. Day 6: It's Relaxing, It's Beach: This was more of a relaxing day as we tried to avoid heavy-duty traveling and get some rest by enjoying the sunny side of the beach. There are multiple options to explore, around Kutch there is a lake and Bhuj fort (going under some serious renovation in Dec 2020) that can be explored. Considering our options, we opted for a beach i.e. Mandawi beach with unrealistic sunset in the Gulf of Kutch. It is at max 2 hours drive from Bhuj and the roads are good but not great. Mandawi beach is not like a typical Goa beach however it offers some good snacks and water sport activities. They are very general but quite appealing to the local audience. If this is your first time on beachside sports, do try out Thar/Jeep motorized parasailing. It is fun and gives immense pleasure when sailing right next to the ocean, sun, and windmills (though non-operational). Beach is not very clean and tourists do not take responsibility for keeping a public beach clean which at times is disgusting however as you move along with the beach, after covering some distance crowd will be left behind and bringing in the beauty Around mid-evening, we were back to Bhuj and spent the rest of the day with good food and great company. Day 7: Roads of Gir and Diu Glance: After a refresher day, we were all set to leave for our final stop, Diu. We again left early in the morning with a light breakfast. We planned to reach Diu by lunchtime however we got excited when we learned that we might cross Gir in between and decided to go for a jungle safari. Google maps took us to roads which were interior of Gir forest, we got lost and spent hours traversing jungle roads at 10kmph. Thankfully, we were put on track by a group of local lads on our route to Diu. After spending more than 3 hours in Gir with few sightings of deers and bad roads, we were back on road to Diu. It was around 4 PM when we reached Diu, roads were pathetic from Bhuj to Diu (or maybe Google maps took us for a hellish ride). Inside Diu, everything was different as if the city was charged up and decorated better than a Royal fort. All these preparations were done for the Indian President visiting the UT during the Christmas days. Diu was given a shape lift overnight and it looked like a gem as the sunset approached. We had our supper and quickly freshened up and went on to Nagoa beach that was nearby. The Beachline has a walking path slightly similar to Mumbai’s Marine Drive that looks so amazing in the evening and people were having a family get-together to have picnics around the path with sealine singing melodies in the backdrop. To our astonishment, we reached the end of Nagao beach where we found a beeline of snack centers and a lot of recently inaugurated seaside food eateries, and the whole street decorated with Christmas lights. We were teleported to whole another world in Diu, even though we were tired to our core, we spent more than three hours just roaming on the streets and enjoying delicious snacks. Diu has that European touch and you get similar vibes as soon as you step into Diu. Day 8: Exploits of Diu: We started our day with a visit to Naida caves to explore it in tranquillity. These caves hold historic importance as they provided natural cover and shield to the Indian army to overcome the Portuguese army in annexing Diu. These caves are photogenic and provide amazing background to have some amazing clicks. Though cave restoration is always a work in progress be wary of roaming in places marked for no entry. Also, as there is a minimal charge so maintenance is on the lower side, and dark corners will be full of mosquitoes so carry a mosquito repellent with you. Our next stop was INS Khukri Memorial that was very recently renovated for mass gatherings and public events. To our luck, President inaugurated that place a night ago. The transformation was surreal in comparison to the photos that Google had before the new upgrade. INS Khukri’s scaled model is amazing and covered by hard glass making it visible yet untouchable for the audience. On all sides of the glass, you can read about Indian heroes that were part of the INS Khukri crew. Though the sun was shining in its full glory, every moment spent there exploring the rocks around the memorial was worth it. With the temperature rising, our next stop was to relax on the beachside. Of some great beaches, we finalized on Goghla beach as it was clean, less rocky, and less crowded. Recently it was given a shape lift and it now has the cleanest changing and shower area that we had ever seen in India. We spent a good few hours enjoying ourselves on a sunny beach before we left to call it off. Our next stop was Radhika beach, however on reaching that beach we found it was a waste of time, the beach was really dirty and had a heavy stink of fish. So we went towards Nagao beach while enjoying sunset en route. There is a sunset point just along the roadside, giving a perfect over the hill view of the Arabian Sea. Sunset experience from here is enthralling and surprisingly beautiful. Day 9: And the descend began: It was time now to return to the nest, and we began early in the morning as we missed an important monument in Diu – The Diu fort. We went again with Google maps which mentioned that the fort opens early in the morning around 6:00 AM however on reaching the fort we found it was not open for business. It was very disappointing as we were looking forward to spending some time in the fort. We altered our plan and decided to watch the sunrise from the outskirts of the fort. Diu fort has rugged hills overlooking the sea and the terrain is graded. It is different from all other locations we have been to. Throughout the trip we only spent time looking at the sun setting after a day’s travel, now we were able to start our day with the sun rising as we start our journey back. We planned to reach Mt Abu/Udaipur by end of the day so most of the day we were traveling via pathetic state roads. Till Ahmedabad, we were just praying for the road nightmare to end. You will not find any good options for food from Diu till Ahmedabad, so we suggest you pack along something before starting the journey. The only food options available were limited to Gujarati fried snacks. It was only in Ahmedabad where we could find decent food and a place to sit. Post heavy lunch we were back on road and reached Abu road just a little over sunset where we stayed the night. Day 10: Fort roads and glimpse of home We again left early and reached Chittorgarh fort mid-morning. Astonishingly, all the forts we visited on this trip are unique, different, and amazing at the same time. Just like Jaisalmer fort, it’s a living fort. You can apply online or pay at the entry, and again like any other Rajasthan Fort, you will be swarmed by guides or pretend guides. Selecting a guide is a personal choice. All the noteworthy places inside the fort, like King’s palace, Queen’s palace among others are approachable by vehicle, and google maps are near perfect. Chittorgarh fort proudly promotes their royalty. Queen Padmavati belonged to this heritage. Fort has lineage and heritage that is visible from every stone in the fort. Inside the fort's museum ancestry has been beautifully explained. It is worth going through the details to learn how Rajasthan got what it has. At the bottom (near the entry and exit) of the fort, you will find restaurants offering authentic local delicacies and they are all worth a try. After brunch, we resumed our journey back home. We took a night halt in Jaipur and resumed our journey to a place called "home" the next day. Food Options: Gujarati snacks like Dhokla and Thepla are some of their gifts to the world and we do enjoy them (sorry but our inclination is more towards Rajasthani delicacies) so we went with basic food and easy accessibility: Bhuj: Our stay had amazing food offering so did not explore much outside except for Domino’s Pizza Kutch: In Kutch, food options are limited and as mentioned in Segment II you will get multi snack multi cuisine food at this place. Diu: Diu is a small UT and there are some very good restaurants. Our first option was O’coqueiro where we had lunch, food was amazing as well as the ambiance, but a little pricey. Food shacks at the end of the Nagao beach were also good, try the drinks and snacks. We also tried the food at Hotel Sea View Bar and Restaurant and it was not worth it. Neither the ambiance nor food. Ahmedabad: There is no end to food options in a metro city, you can try as per the food liking, we ended up at Crush Coffee and Burger king en route Chittorgarh: When in Rajasthan, Dal Bhaati Choorma is a must. We did not spend time searching for a good restaurant however luckily we got a good option at the fort exit. You will find people distributing restaurant pamphlets in the fort and they will accompany you till the time you have made a decision. We opted for Rajasthan Restaurant and we were happy with the our choice both on flavour and pocket. Stay Options: Bhuj: Bhuj has good hotels due to its industrial complex, we were in the mood of little luxury so we went ahead with Regenta Resort. It is an amazing resort, though our rooms were not that good due to their small size. Other than that we had no complaint with the resort. Food is next level, location is good, it have hilltop swimming pool overlooking Bhuj and then the best thing: It has "10 Hole" Mini golf course which we enjoyed thoroughly. We also spent another night at Tulsi Residency and it was also strategically located for our itinerary, rooms are good and the food is also good. Diu: We chose to go ahead with Rainbow Resort, its façade perfectly hides the package, and as soon as you are inside it gets incredible at all levels. There is a swimming pool in the center with a huge glass-top aquarium around the pool. Abu Road: During our return journey we took a halt. We opted for Hotel The Hind and found it cost effective stay with good food. Jaipur: We opted for Airbnb in Jaipur and got an amazing 2BHK apartment with all amenities and excellent upkeep. The hosts were amazing and cordial (unfortunately it’s no more listed on Airbnb) Spend Breakup: Our journey spend totaled up to INR 80k for this trip for three Fuel spend: We spend around INR 15.5k on fuel and INR2.5k on tolls during this journey Stay spend: One of the major cost head and we spent around INR45k where we mostly had two rooms and out of this INR 20k were spent in Bhuj (Regenta Resort) where we had three rooms. Misc spend: Misc in this case included food, beach sport activities and souvenirs After 10 days, 5 cities, 3250 KMs, multiple places, and countless memories wrapped one of our longest road trips across west India. Transitioning back to routine life gets difficult when you conclude such an amazing trip. Till next time!! Stay Safe and Travel, Mi Amor!!

Irresistible hidden beauty spreading warmth through sunshine Another jewel that must be covered when in Kashmir is the land of golden mountain aka Sonamarg. Its name is derived from the first sunlight that turns the mountain golden hence the whole valley is called Sonamarg. Sonamarg is around two to two and a half-hour drive from Srinagar depending on what time you leave. As again we request you to leave around 7:30 – 8:00 in the morning to enjoy locations with a thinner crowd (something we learned is a good thing during Covid-19) There is a saying that it's not the destination but the journey, which is better, however, in this case, Sonamarg proves this statement wrong. Sonamarg valley is now attracting more and more crowds as the last scenes of “Bajrangi Bhaijaan” were shot here (some of the scenes were shot in Pahalgam as well). Reaching Sonamarg Sonamarg, situated in the northeast of Srinagar also acts as a gateway to paradise lands of Ladakh. Sonamarg has multiple hotels located on the bank of the Sind river and very few public food eateries. When you reach Sonamarg it will not feel like a destination as it’s a moving road and you are sitting on one corner and thinking is this it? Have we reached? But then if you observe closely you see ponies, snow bikes, and then everything starts making sense. Struggles here are the same as in Gulmarg. (attach a photo here) Things to cover Few tourist points have been identified and marked for everyone’s convenience. Locals call them base 1 is “Suicide point and “Sonamarg base” then at the second level is “Thajivas glacier” then little ahead is water stream and we heard about the cave as well but our guide said that was closed ( not sure whether it was true or not). When you are in these locations you get ample time to spend with snow-laden land, mesmerizing mountains and fun activities like skiing, sled rides, here sled slopes are bigger than Gulmarg, so do have fun sled rides as seen in western movies, cartoons, it makes more sense here. (attach a photo here) You can reach these points either by trekking or ponies. Pony rise will cost you around 1000-1500 INR (heavy bargain required) Keep things in mind: One very important fact is, at the tourist locations on the top, there is no public convenience available, so it is better to have tummy and bladder check done at the parking spot. Unlike Gulmarg, all the hotels, restaurants get closed if there has been snowfall or prediction of heavy snowfall in the next few days, so booking your stay in Sonamarg can be risky. It is better to book your accommodation for Sonamarg (if you are planning to stay) only when you are in Kashmir. We found Country Inn by Radisson only hotel open in Sonamarg valley for the time we were there and it was also closing operations as heavy snowfall was predicted the day after. Sonamarg is also starting point for many Kashmir treks like Kashmir great lakes, Vishansar trek among others. Good luck to you all trekking lovers, hope you find an amazing adventure on your visits. That’s all folks for Sonamarg. Time to move to next destination. You can read about the rest of the locations from the following links: Gulmarg: Land from Frozen Pahalgam: Adventurous soul of Kashmir Hidden gems of Kashmir Srinagar : Roti, Kapda aur aap Kashmir: Planning your trip Piousness of Kashmir

One place that is synonymous with Kashmir Valley - Gulmarg Gulmarg is one of the top skiing destinations in India and hosts many international competitions. It is a must-see for everyone visiting Kashmir. There are some divine places on earth and when you visit these places, you are left speechless. You spend a few minutes wondering “Is this real?” and then the chill in the air will bring you back to your senses. Gulmarg is nature’s way of making you believe in heaven. A place where you can sit back and watch a landscape unfold in front of your eyes. There are high chances when you are here in January, you will experience snowfall and you observe snowflakes making their way into your hands and you observe closely those flakes slowly melting into one another. This soft snow and light crunch below your feet as you move is music to ears. You walk, run, and fall and you forget about time. Reaching Gulmarg: Gulmarg is approx. two, two, and a half-hour drive from Srinagar. If you have booked a cab from Srinagar, there is a hidden catch, a taxi from Srinagar will take you to Tanamarg first. Depending on the weather, if it is snowing, you will have to change taxi and get a new taxi which will take you from Tanamarg to Gulmarg. You can either opt for a private taxi, for which taxi driver will start from INR 2000 and it can be brought down by hard negotiations (and do negotiate) or you can collaborate with other couples/tourists. As time passes, crowd size will grow, and you will experience peak crowd around 1-2 PM. So, if you start early in the day around 7:30 AM – 8:00 AM you will find a thin crowd on the top. Also, at Tanamarg, some shops will provide you an extra layer of a jacket, and gumboots at around 200-350 INR (if you are paying INR 300 or above, negotiate). You will need an additional clothing layer only if there is too much snow in Gulmarg. Else you can just take boots, however, boots are recommended if your shoes are not waterproof as there are high chances that you will get snow inside your shoes and you will have a lot of traveling to do. Challenges and having comfortable time in Gulmarg: The story of Gulmarg is like sugar for ants. However, there are a few things you must know. Firstly, cab drivers will ask you to hire a guide that will help you have a good time in Gulmarg. Guide, at very basic, will fulfill the following responsibilities: 1. Get a gondola ticket for you by getting in line (Only getting ticket service, ticket prices will be borne by you) 2. Click pictures and videos for you 3. Tell you what sport and ride you can do 4. Stick with you on your entire stay in Gulmarg (if you are there for a day and returning by evening) For this service, Guide will charge INR500-600. Guide services are not that essential however every other person will convince you that you should get one. In the end, it is your opinion to get a Guide or not. Journey to Gulmarg A taxi from Srinagar / Tanamarg will take you to a parking spot (let's call it Phase 0). As soon as you are outside the cab, you will be hoarded by sled owners, local photographers, street hawkers among others. You are proudly welcomed to land “Paradisio”. As you start walking towards the valley, you will find Gulmarg hotel chains on your left and a huge golf course on your right. As you walk for another 1-1.5 km you will reach the Gondola bookings counter. Gondola opens around 10:30 – 11:00 AM and its charge is around INR 750 it will take you to Phase I and Phase II. Phase II is not that frequently open, however, if you find it open then surely visit Phase II (charges are around INR 1000) as there is a thinner crowd and a better time for why you are visiting Kashmir. Also, if you get clear skies, you can see neighbors’ bunkers with help of binoculars. From the parking lot to the Gondola ticketing center, you can travel by foot, sled or ATV. For sled, price ranges from 1000-3000 INR and ATV will cost around 2500-4500 INR (we recommend you to bargain heavily at every point) On reaching Phase I, again local people will bombard you with different snow activities. Following are the activities which you will find at least: Skiing (Hardly 100-150m skiing on flat land, with support for 10-15 min). Charges are around INR 800-INR 1000. Our rating: 6.5/10, and try out skiing at a location away from the crowd for a better experience, you may find your calling) Sled ride: Same as Phase 0 and charges are around INR 400- INR 650.Our rating: 2/10, there is better sled experience in Sonamarg. If you are unable to walk then only go for this option Snow bike ride: This will be a good experience as they allow you to drive as well, and you may not experience it in any other location in India. Charges are around INR 800 – INR 1600. Our rating: 8/10, one of the must-have experience All three activities are within a 1-1.5km range, depending on the snow levels. One thing you must know for all three activities is the tactics of the service offeror. They are very seasoned and will ask for very steep prices. For example, in Snow bike ride there is one shorter and one longer route and they will show a standard rate chart of around INR 1000 and INR 2000. Do not ever agree to their first price as they are more than what you should pay. So negotiate and re-negotiate well As far as Phase II goes, we were unlucky as Gondolas were non-operational for Phase II. However, we heard Phase II has a nice restaurant and an amazing ski destination. Apart from these activities, you can enjoy Maggi and other limited menu items at countable outlets with sitting arrangements. And yes, there is a restroom available. Apart from these things, find an undisturbed corner, relax and enjoy a beautiful view of your heart’s desire. If you have hired a guide he will keep pushing you to end the tour and head back, however it's your time and you should enjoy it. If you reached around 11:00 AM then we believe you will be able to head back around 2:30 – 3:00 PM. On reaching Tanamarg, you can cover one more destination that is Drang waterfall also known as Frozen waterfall which is in another direction from Gulmarg and takes about 15-20 min to reach. Drang waterfall is an amazing site (attach a photo here). During winters, it gives vibes of being in a distant land. And you just want to sit and watch the water turn into icicles and still manage to stay in liquid form at another place. You can do a little hike or you can just sit back, relax and have a photography session. All the images that we have captured are from the first or second snowfall at the location. Just imagine how it will look like when Kashmir valley has experienced more snowfalls. Surreal!! As you head back to Tanamarg, you can have a meal there or in Srinagar. If you are looking for food options in Srinagar, read more about it from our Srinagar blog and you will not be disappointed. Read about what else to do when in Kashmir: Pahalgam: Adventurous soul of Kashmir Sonamarg: Land of Golden Mountain Hidden gems of Kashmir Srinagar : Roti, Kapda aur aap Kashmir: Planning your trip Piousness of Kashmir Have a great read. Travel, Mi Amor.

If you have heard about the famous “Amarnath Shrine” then you might have heard about Pahalgam, as it is the base for Amarnath shrine visitors. All the way: When you start your journey from Srinagar, before you reach Pahalgam you will find many hidden gems en route. Starting with the Saffron land of Kashmir. You will cover the infamous Pampore district which is the Saffron capital of India, in the Summer months you can see Saffron flowers in the laid out fields clearly but winters are for sowing and preparing for harvest. Just after crossing Pampore, you will cover Avantipore, which hosts temple ruins dated 9th century – “The Avanthiswami Temple”. These temples are easily accessible by road and they are magnificent even today. From the temple ruins, you can easily imagine how grandeur these temples would have been in their time. The entrance of the temple is the majority of the structure standing as of today and these temple structures are completely different from what we have seen anywhere else in India. Generally, these temples are not visited that frequently so you can cover them very easily in less than 45 mins. After you have crossed Awantipore, another destination with a similar vibe is Anantnag Martand Sun temple, and you can reach it by taking a very small detour (approx. 5-6 km). Martand temples date back to the 8th century. In case you are short on time, prefer Martand Sun temple over Avantipore. The Lidder Valley is also en route to Pahalgam and it runs parallel to the highway to Pahalgam. For those interested, one can take a short break and spend some time on the curves of the river. Pahalgam : Chapter I Your vantage point in Pahalgam is the local taxi stand. Hotels, local viewpoints, restaurants are all located near to it. As you start your journey to a tete-a-tete with nature in Pahalgam, you will see there are about 8-10 places that you can visit, if you want to cover them on foot it is a mixture of trekking and lots of walking on a treacherous path, so if you are a trekking junkie this is nothing short of small heaven for you and it will take an almost full day to explore all the places. Yes, you will be elbowed and forced by horse/pony owners to go for a ride rather than walking and it will take a lot of willpower to say no to them all. They can be very persuasive and sticky. Now if you choose for a horse/pony ride, then again it will take 5-6 hours to cover all the places, and though you can pick and choose your locations, at the least, covering important ones is going to take 3-4 hours. One place that you should not miss in Pahalgam is Baisaran valley, locally known as “Mini Switzerland” it’s like as shown in the photograph below with endless valley with pine trees as boundary and shadows of faraway mountains. Advisory: If you choose for pony/horse, you will experience the same thing as all other places, prices quoted by them, irrespective of viewpoints (valleys), will be exorbitant and you will sarcastically laugh for sure. So go by the rule of 50%, where at the very least you should ask for a 50% reduction in the price. If you bring prices lower than 50% that means you have good negotiation skills. Now pony ride in Pahalgam is one adventure sport with little risk involved, so trust your guide and follow their instructions for a safe and happy trip. Pahalgam tourist spots are very beautiful when they are snow-laden. In absence of snow these locations come out generic and not worthy, so we will suggest in case there has been no snowfall at the time of you reaching there, do not take the pain of covering all the spots. Pick one or two and that will be enough to experience Pahalgam. You will not find any public convenience in any of the tourist spots here so again be sure that you have done the bladder check before embarking on the journey ( some restaurants or public conveniences can be found at the start of the journey) Eating joints are very limited here, you can try Punjab restaurant which offers quick service and average food. Or you can try Maggi/Tea from the small temp outlets at tourist spots on your tour. Pahalgam: Chapter II From Pahalgam taxi stand, You can further visit Aru valley, Betaab valley, and Chandanwari ( another base camp for Amarnath yatra). If you are traveling via a private vehicle then you are permitted to take your vehicle however if you are on a commercial vehicle then you will have to hire a new commercial vehicle from Pahalgam Taxi Stand. A Commercial vehicle with the least price here is Maruti Omni and then it goes till tempo traveler depending on your group size. Prices are standard for these hired vehicles, it is recommended to hire from taxi stand only. Chandanwari and Betaab valley are on the same route whereas Aru valley is on a different route. Due to time constraints, and failure in our planning we had to drop Aru valley and we went ahead with Betaab and Chandanwari. Chandanwari came across as one of the exquisite locations of our trip as we encountered snow and very low temperatures, though we did not reach the main entrance of Chandanwari as the road was slippery with snow so we took a short walk till there and had some good time enjoying the valley and snow. On our return, we observed Betaab valley from a height and as there was snow fall in the Betaab valley it looked like an exotic garden our tuning with Betaab did not set on the same frequency so we dropped it as well ( it was around 6 PM and the sun was setting so did not make sense for us to visit Betaab late in the night). Though we were not able to visit Aru valley, we recommend that you visit this valley. In our research, we found Aru valley as a must-see place owing to its beautiful landscape and picture-perfect environment. Read more about Kashmir Gulmarg: Land from Frozen Sonamarg: Land of Golden Mountain Hidden gems of Kashmir The Srinagar Jewel Srinagar : Roti, Kapda aur aap Kashmir: Planning your trip Piousness of Kashmir

Aharbal / Yousmarg: Kashmir’s Niagra falls and Meadow of Jesus So far you have covered must-visit places and though choices to visit are endless. If you have additional days or someplace you do not want to cover from the previously provided details, Checkout these options as well: Both Aharbal and Yousmarg are in the same direction, but we observed taxi drivers can take you to one of them only. Maybe if you negotiate and plan better they may agree to cover both. We also heard Doodhpathri is also a good option however our taxi operator had no idea about the place so we had to completely drop that option. We went ahead with Aharbal waterfall as we had covered a lot of valleys already. Reaching Aharbal Aharbal waterfall is again a 2 – 2:30 hr drive from Srinagar and crosses the ancient Mughal Road (Road from Srinagar to Delhi) which was used for commuting in the Mughal era. If you go through Aharbal waterfall videos on youtube, you will find this place irresistible as it makes you wonder if there is such a place, why everyone is not talking about this place. Aharbal is very beautiful when there is a good snowfall, otherwise, it is a "good to visit" place and not a "must visit" place. From parking lot to the actual waterfall, there are good 200-300 steps you have to cover. You will find two “shahi” streams or natural spring streams which are drinking water streams with medicinal effects. Once you are near to Aharbal waterfall, you will observe how splendidly the Veshu river is cutting across and leaving behind this out-of-the-world landscape. With its clean, sparkly water, it just attracts you to take a dive and emerge as one with the water. You can easily spend around 2-3 hours here as it provides the perfect “picnic” spot. Another option : Yousmarg Moving to the other choice, Yousmarg, though we did not get time to visit this place, however, our research showed that Yousmarg is on similar lines as Sonamarg and provides scenic background that you come across in postcards and paintings. Unfortunately, we don’t have details for you to offer and if you are interested in Yousmarg, you may want to rely on other information sources. That concludes our journey to locations around Srinagar, so the next stop will be the crown of Kashmir, Srinagar. Read about other places from following link: Gulmarg: Land from Frozen Pahalgam: Adventurous soul of Kashmir Sonamarg: Land of Golden Mountain The Srinagar Jewel Srinagar : Roti, Kapda aur aap Kashmir: Planning your trip Piousness of Kashmir

City with historic significance and becoming major economy contributor Srinagar, the capital city of J&K is very similar to other capital cities of the country. There is one side of the city that is getting influenced by modernization and social media platforms and then there is another side of the city that is still dwelling in the past and struggling with the adversities left behind by our elder generation. Struggles and harmony co-exist in this city and you get to experience both. In our observations, things are changing for good in Srinagar valley, as you observe education hoardings, hostels, PGs advertising IITs, NITs for the next generation to grow and contribute to society in a transformative way. It was a good sign that the education sector, which holds the key to bringing ever-lasting peace is now at the center of the city. Stay options When you are in Srinagar, as your base camp, you may opt for staying in a hotel ( mostly located near and around the city center), houseboats, or Airbnb as per your convenience. Generally, an option which is most explored is to keep 1N stay in houseboat, few days stay in a hotel and few days stay in other locations. We took a slightly different approach to stay in Airbnb throughout as we found houseboat stay a little discomforting. We are not particularly cozy in a closed, confined kind of stay. Let’s discover what we can do in Srinagar and how many days at least need to be spent in the city. Locations to cover It is advised that you keep at least two days for Srinagar, and you can split it in a way like if you reach early on the day of your landing you can cover the Shikhara ride on Day 0 ( it takes around one hour to complete the ride (basic ride) though you can extend it by shelling few more bucks). Also, you can cover the Hazrat Bal shrine which is second to Jama Masjid (oldest Masjid in Srinagar), however, its historic significance is second to none. You can visit it for its beautiful peaceful surroundings. One full day can be kept for Srinagar to cover the rest of the tourist spots and do some shopping as well. When it comes to tourist attractions, most of the tourist attractions are located in a 25-30km Dal lake semi-circle. You can start from one end of the lake and unravel all the locations in a single visit. All of the locations start opening up around 10:00 AM so you may be the first one to reach one of these locations if you are standing at the gate right at 10’o clock. The Dal Circle Most of the locations here are “Bagh” or Gardens and they were curated during Mughal times. The centerpiece of attraction in these locations is “Chinar” trees and their leaves are very similar to maple leaves. During December – January most of the “Chinar” trees shed off all their leaves and you can bring back some leaves for decorative purposes. If you enter from one side of the Lake, you can start with Nishat Bagh, which is seven layers of gardens beautifully maintained and curated. As soon as you are through the entry door, a royal feeling is imminent to take over. As you progress further in the garden, you respect the way the garden has been maintained over the years and how magnificently they stand just on the corner of Dal lake. Yes, it’s true, in winter garden will not be blooming with budding flowers, yet the garden aura can be expressed in contrasting colors which represents a very important phase of transformation. As you move out from Nishat Bagh, you can next visit the Shalimar Bagh / Botanical Gardens. They are very similar to Nishat Bagh and again very beautifully maintained. Given the time of the year, they all have very similar vibes, so you can pick and choose which gardens you want to cover. You may not find anything different here. All the gardens are spread across acres and if you are interested in spending some quality time in open spaces, there is nothing better than these gardens. Next, you can cover Chashme Shahi and Pari Bagh. Roads leading to Chashme shahi and in particular, Pari Bagh are breathtaking. If you are lucky, you may come across some amazing fauna and possibly some of the wild animals as well. We decided to go to Pari Bagh first and though the gardens are very well maintained, they had those old rocky formations of the wall and looked like a painting out of a history book. Views of the Srinagar valley were stand out of Pari Bagh. Area wise Pari Bagh is smaller than Nishat Bagh or others however “layered garden” architecture is common. On our return from Pari Bagh, we stopped at Chashme Shahi and the major difference here is the natural spring water around which this garden has been developed. You can drink natural spring water and it is said that it does have medicinal properties. For all the gardens that we have mentioned, there are a lot of stairs in all of them. So if you have elderly in the group, they may struggle with all of the walking engaged. If you have to pick with least stairs, we recommend Botanical gardens and Pari Bagh as one can enjoy enough at one level. The last stop in Dal lake circle is going to be Shankaracharya Temple, located on the hilltop and near the famous TV tower. Govt has created multiple viewpoints on the hill where you can stop and enjoy the valley from different locations. Due to very limited traffic police near temple premises, traffic jams are pretty common, so you have to keep a good buffer time. Another important thing here is you cannot take any mobile phones, cameras with you. So you have to keep them in your cars/vehicles or deposit them with security at the entrance of the premises. As Shankaracharya temple is located on the highest point of the hill, you will be greeted with 250 steps stone bases stairs. So be ready for your cardio exercise of the day. As soon as you reach the temple entrance and as you look down from your location, all this exercise will look worth it. You will then see Dal lake is not just a lake in a big circle, it has a snake-like tail and goes for miles. When you visit the prayer site of the temple and think about how this temple was built, you surely will experience goosebumps that it was built centuries ago when engineering was not at its prime. On the side exit of the temple, you have a small temple dedicated to Guru Shankracharya, where he meditated for years. It is a small cozy place and you keep wondering how is this possible to stay let alone meditate in this. With this, we have covered must-visit locations in Srinagar check out the food and local markets and other places from the following links: Gulmarg: Land from Frozen Pahalgam: Adventurous soul of Kashmir Sonamarg: Land of Golden Mountain Hidden gems of Kashmir Srinagar : Roti, Kapda aur aap Kashmir: Planning your trip Piousness of Kashmir

Shop till you drop and then reenergize with supercilious food options Now its time to cover local markets and food options If I recall from my last visit to Srinagar in 2008 only shopping center I knew was near Lal Chowk however on this visit there were so many stores and outlets that have popped up every here and there. A new market location – Polo view market has come up with all the brands that are available locally in metro cities are now available in Srinagar as well. However, when you are in Srinagar, the expectation is to shop for local products and something which is not available in our hometown. Luckily we went shopping on Sunday and we recommend that you do shopping on Sunday only. As on Sunday, all the brand shops are closed and these market locations that is Polo view and Laal Chowk have small vendors lined up in front of shops. You will get amazing clothes and that too at economical prices. The winter apparels we got from here are very cozy and warm. Apart from that, another clothes market which is open throughout like a Tibet market is very near to Laal Chowk and there are multiple souvenir shops in that market as well. Now if you are interested in buying electric blankets or something similar then again Laal Chowk is the place to be. Moving from shopping to food, Srinagar has so many utterly delicious food options. Do try one of these restaurants when you are in Srinagar. Shwarma Hut near Hazrat Bal is the most sought restaurant for students nearby, and it offers veg and nonveg options. We were taken aback by the sheer quantity of the food. Their one bowl of veg or nonveg is enough for 3 and 4 people. Yes, their quantity is the first thing you will notice but then you will be happy with the flavors they add to food. You will surely be licking your fingers. Krishna Vaishno Dhaba: One of the oldest restaurants in Srinagar and located near to the city center, it is the most visited restaurant in town. From its façade, you will not believe that how come this restaurant is so famous and when you are inside then you will see how chaos can be managed. Restaurants have sharing tables concept and the fastest food service we have come across. From the time you place the order to the time food is on the table you can count minutes on your fingers. You will be thinking that food will not be that good if the service is so quick, but this is where you will be proven wrong. You will be comparing and maybe keeping Krishna Dhaba higher on your list than most Dhabas in Murthal (Sonipat). I am sure you will be eating more than you thought when you made your first order. Mummy Please: Yup, you read it write, there is a restaurant in Srinagar by the same name and offers fast food from various outlets. We tried their veg burger and it was good though not at the same level you expect in Delhi or Mumbai however it was good to fulfill your fast food cravings. Some of the nonveg options which are very sought out are Ahdoos and Mughal Darbar. They were highly recommended to us by our guide and they both are very near to Polo View market. If you are a nonveg fan, you may want to try these restaurants to satisfy your taste buds. Finally, it's time to wrap up the Kashmir visit. We have tried to be as comprehensive as possible for you to make travel plans accordingly. Hope you have a good read. Enjoy your next trip to Kashmir. Till next time!! Adios!! Read more about Kashmir from following links: Gulmarg: Land from Frozen Pahalgam: Adventurous soul of Kashmir Sonamarg: Land of Golden Mountain Hidden gems of Kashmir The Srinagar Jewel Kashmir: Planning your trip Piousness of Kashmir

Things to consider on planning your visit to Kashmir Good now you are thinking about arrangements to be done for Kashmir and for the ones who have directly landed on this page, you may want to read the introduction and can read it from here. Directly jumping on the topic, Kashmir trip can be planned according to your expectations and seasons. If you are interested in snow (like us) best time to visit is in Jan-Feb, its highly unpredictable in December to experience snowfall. Some of the places will have fresh snow like Gulmarg and Sonamarg but same cannot be said for all the locations. Though everyone in Srinagar claims that general snow weather starts by Mid-December. As Srinagar valley have amazing tulip gardens, and it can be experienced in Mar-April season (preferably April) However, if you want to experience blossoms and greenery, plan your travel for June-July month (just before rainy season) and everything will be bright and colorful. Logistics arrangement: There are multiple hotels available from ultra-luxury like The Lalit Palace (which was Maharaja Hari Singh Palace before and now with Abdullah family (J&K ex chief minister)), Taj Vivanta among others to very basic hotels. In Srinagar standard hotels offer basic amenities like hot water, electric blankets at the least, but no harm in confirming. Do also confirm electricity backup as Srinagar experiences lot of outages. Then you have options in Airbnb as well to choose from. We opted for Airbnb and chose Valley Heritage. Valley heritage resort is nestled in local dwellings very near to Hazratbal and Nigeen lake, however there is struggle for electricity hence when city faces power cuts, you will face difficulties to keep room warm and to overcome this challenge they have paid bukhari’s available. For more details on you can read through the reviews of the property on Airbnb through this link Another option in Srinagar is to go for Houseboats. On the contrary from their Kerala counterparts, these houseboats do not move and rather stay in one location. As most commonly known to everyone that houseboats are in Dal lake, it gets crowded and you may not get tranquillity experience as expected. To find solace, prefer Nigeen lake houseboats as they are few in numbers, gives similar experience and if you are here in summers, you can go for a swim in the lake as well. On top of that, you can easily take a Shikara ride from Nigeen lake to Dal Lake, which we found more serene and relaxing. Mobile network: We were informed all postpaid networks work in Kashmir. In our observation apart from Jio Postpaid, no other network worked, not even Airtel postpaid or Jio prepaid. Jio postpaid works fine even in locations like Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Pahalgam and many others. Taxi / Local Transport: If you are travelling within Srinagar, you will find autos and taxis available from multiple locations (hotel receptions can provide you sources details to hire a vehicle and it depends on your contingent size which vehicle suits you) however we learnt the hard way that taxi prices are too steep (generally taxi owners will quote very high prices like 3500 per day for a couple) however it will be test of your negotiations skills to bring that price down to 2000-2500 per day for car like Indica. Toyota / Innova will charge equivalently. But in any case do negotiate and try to bring down charges to half ( yes 50% reduction) that is the margin locals keep and it is applicable for everything ( you can expect limited negotiation possibilities in food and apparels) When you are planning for Kashmir trip consider following cost heads 1. Flights 2. Stays 3. Activities like Horse riding, Snow biking, Sledging, Skiing (optional spend but shall be considered) 4. Shopping and food – totally depends on you Flights from Delhi, if booked in time can be booked around or below 8k per person roundtrip. Staying locations – All the tourist destinations places like Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Pahalgam have hotels, some places like Pahalgam have plethora of options whereas in Sonamarg options are limited. In winters, as locations except Srinagar, have more snowfall days, some of the hotels shut their operations due to freezing water and hotels open for business will keep a hefty charge for stay (around 5k or more) If you are interested in waking up to snow covered trees and mountains, you can of course plan to book them. For a 5N stay in Srinagar your cost of stay will be around 15k on an average for one room. Choosing a hotel location is also critical as Srinagar has become crowded now, and if you are looking for peaceful locations then try for hotels and stay around Dal Lake / Nigeen lake and you will wake up to birds chirping and prayer offerings For details around the activities, shopping and their costing refer to location pages for more details. Read more about Kashmir from following links: Gulmarg: Land from Frozen Pahalgam: Adventurous soul of Kashmir Sonamarg: Land of Golden Mountain Hidden gems of Kashmir The Srinagar Jewel Srinagar: Roti, Kapda aur aap Piousness of Kashmir

We have a flag off!! Welcome to our journey to Greece mainland. Heavenly beaches, an ode to the world’s history and encapsulating aura, is how we summarize Greece. It is this one place where we would like to spend at least every alternating autumn season for the rest of our life. Day 0: Settling Down We had done prior research and decided to book a place that was walkable distance from Athens’ historic soul (The Pantheon / Acropolis) and easily accessible through Metro. When we landed it was already dark, we obtained a Sim card (Vodafone Sim cards are economical and can be obtained from the airport) and boarded the metro to our stay location. Grocery shops, good restaurants were all nearby, so we had no trouble making food arrangements. Day 1: Walking through History Boulevard Athens art hub is within a 10-15km radius and there is a lot of walking engaged. Stay ready to be on your feet and decide places to explore which are in proximity depending on your walking strength. There is also another option to rent a bicycle. The Acropolis of Athens is the center point for tourists as everything is built around it. It attracts tourists like bees to nectar, and its tickets can be bought online or through the tourist centers spread across the city. As a suggestion, do not wait to buy tickets right at the Pantheon or you will be spending more time in lines rather than enjoying what you came to see. To make it easier, get the tickets at multiple ticketing centers available around the Pantheon along with a map of historic places to see and mark before you begin as on every nook and corner there is a heritage site. The complex Acropolis of Athens have multiple sites like the Theatre of Dionysus, Odeon of Herodes Atticus at the bottom ( it’s a beautiful sight from the top), Temple of Athena Nike at the entrance, and multiple temples like Hekatompedon Temple, Temple of Rome and Augustus, Eretteo on the periphery with the grandest Parthenon at the center. Of all the Historical places, Parthenon sits atop the hill glaring at the center of modern history and where it all began. It has seen so many invasions, destruction events, and still, it survived. Its magnanimity can only be experienced when you are there, standing in front of it and trying to understand how it began and questioning how it was built. From the top of the Parthenon, you can see whole of the Athens city and a true amalgamation of past and present. It is good to begin your day early as the crowd (huge, really huge crowd) generally reaches Parthenon an hour before noon so try to cover it before the crowd hits. To cover all the places and learn about them you will need more than a day and you are in charge of the planning committee. Apart from Parthenon we also covered the Ancient Agora of Athens (It's Wonder Woman connection :P). In addition, we covered Hadrian’s Arch and the almighty Temple of Olympian Zeus. Multiple restaurants around offer amazing delicacies as you walk through the history lane. Soulful music and people dancing around amplify your good mood. We traversed around 20km that day and though we were physically tired, mentally we wanted to drink more of Greek History. As we had planned for exploring Athens shoreline for the next day we booked a car and went back to our stay location by evening. Read about the next day from: Tete-a-tete with the Sun and the Sea Planning your greek itinerary: Greece: Mesmerizing land ean Sun Making logistics arrangements for Greece: Budgeting for Greece Trip