The Musafir Stories - India Travel Podcast

This week, The Musafir Stories speaks to up and coming instagrammer, Shikhar Lohia, who posts under the handle @upandmeandering. Shikhar is a recent graduate of Delhi university who works for an international property consultant and is based out of Delhi.

Today's destination: McLeod Gunj

Nearest Airport: Gaggal airport Nearest Railway Station: Pathankot railway station is located at a distance of 90 km from Mcleodganj and is the nearest broad gauge rail head to the city. The nearest meter gauge railway stations to the city are Kangra and Nagrota

Prerequisities - n/a

Packing - Some warm clothes and a camera!

Time of the year - Summer is the best time to visit the hills!

Length of the itinerary: 1 week

Itinerary Highlights:

• Shikhar sets out on this week long trip from Delhi by boarding a bus at the Kashmere gate
• Shikhar explores the city center and local cuisine on the first couple of days
• A chance encounter with an American couple led to one of the highlights of this trip - getting to attend the teaching of Dalai Lama!
• Shikhar spent more time reading about the Dalai Lama and exploring local cuisine and culture, photographing the city.
• Also on the agenda was a visit to the Bhagsu Nag temple, Bhagsu Nag falls and the famous Shiva cafe, spending time sipping on tea and talking about random things under the stars!
• Do not miss a visit to the Dal lake, the namesake of the one in Kashmir. It has a unique feel to it nestled in the Deodhar trees in th backdrop of mountains!
• Finally, Shikhar spent his final part of the journey volunteering with the Lha charitable trust, teaching conversational english to Tibetan refugees.

Must visit - Jimmy's Cafe for some amazing waffles, Shiva's cafe for some hot coffee by the calming waterfalls, Tibetan kitchen for some mouth-watering momos!

More about the Guest:

Instagram - @upandmeandering Tripoto profile - https://www.tripoto.com/profile/shikharlohia6049496

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This week, The Musafir Stories speaks to Prachi Kagzi, founder of Little passports, a travel company that curates travel for kids. Being an avid traveller herself, Prachi was bit by the travel bug at a very young age when she travelled extensively with her parents both within and outside of India. Prachi shares the concept and vision of the Little passports and how she aims to instill the love for travel early on with kids.

Prachi also shares her experience traveling the length and breadth of the country and beyond visitng wildlife sanctuaries, her love for the wild, some memorable moments from her visits as well as some top tips to consider while preparing for a visit to a wildlife sanctuary. Sit back and enjoy listening!

Highlights: - Prachi speaks about the concept of traveling early and how she picked it up from her parents. - How Little passports was born while she was on trips with her son - The concept that is Little passports, how she prepares for these trips, who goes on these trips - Prachi also discusses at length the process of researching and first hand visits she makes to the locations along with her son before deciding on a trip - The diverse activities that kids and moms enjoy during the trips ranging from theme parks to wildlife sanctuaries to adventure sports, hiking and cultural trips - Prachi speaks at length about trips she has made to wildlife sancutaries in and around India - How one should plan for these trips to the heart of nature, preparation - Memorable moments during the visits to the wild

Links: http://littlepassports.in/

More about Little passports:

http://littlepassports.in/#about

Email: [email protected] Facebook: Https://www.facebook.com/littlepassportsindia Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/littlepassportsindia/?hl=en Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/lilpassports

#India #travel #TheMusafirStories #LittlePassports #kid #family #wild #sanctuaries

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This week, The Musafir Stories speaks with a very dear listener - Amruta Dhalkar, a museologist and archivist, who takes us to a beautiful yet underrated part of Maharashtra!

Today's destination: Sawantwadi, Maharashtra

Nearest Airport: Dabolim Airport, GOI

Nearest Railway Station: Sawantwadi Railway Stn, SWV

Prerequisites: N/A

Packing: Pack light and carry extra liquids as it can get hot during the day in the summers

Time of the year: September to February is the best time to visit

Length of the itinerary: 3-5 days

Itinerary Highlights:

• We start off our conversation with a quick peek into the history of the Sawantwadi royal family and the contribution of the women rulers of the region in maintaining its sovereignty. Amruta explains the strategic location of Sawantwadi and how it was a significant location in the ancient trade routes.
• We begin by visiting the Sawantwadi Rajwada or the royal palace, its architectural structure, use of locally available colours and raw materials as well as the rich artifacts and interiors of the Sawantwadi palace.
• Amruta talks about the Ganjifa art form and the origins of Ganjifa, how it came to India from Persia and was Indianized to adopt the Dashavathar form of playing cards and artistic box.
• We visit the museum in the second wing of the palace, the paintings from the royal family as well as the beautiful interiors.
• From the royal palace, we move towards the beautiful views of the Moti Talav and Narendra hills. Further down is the popular Ubha bazaar which is iconic for its wooden toys, lacquerware and handicrafts. The fruit plate or the fruit basket is especially popular among locals and visitors alike.
• Moving away from the city, we start exploring the neighbouring towns and points of interest - the key amongst them being Pinguli village for Chitrakathi, Vetoba temple famous for offerings of kolhapuri chappals, beaches like Tarkarli, Devbagh, Nivati and Vengurla which is famous for beaches, dutch factory and Ganapati temple.
• Also on the agenda are the popular forts in the vicinity including Nivati fort, Sindhudurg fort, Vijaydurg fort and its connection to Mercury!
• Another unique point of interest is the Dhamapur lake - a 400-year-old manmade reservoir that is a UNESCO-recognized world heritage irrigation structure. One of the earliest examples of a sustainable irrigation system in the world.
• We wrap up the conversation with an overview of the iconic Sawantwadi and Malvani cuisine, the popular mangoes and drinks like solkadhi!

Links:

Link to Amruta’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amrutadhalkar/

Link to Amruta’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/amruta_dhalkar

Link to the Kolhapur episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4SHkw6h3NVYWcqoEA07bMv?si=oBL-7i0FRhKeg94MgkG5Ow

Photo by Makarand Sawant on Unsplash

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musafirstoriespodcast/?hl=en

website: www.themusafirstories.com

email: [email protected]

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This week, The Musafir Stories speaks with Prasenjit Sharma from Six Degree Adventures as we explore Nagaland on foot!

Today's destination: Nagaland

Nearest Airport: Dimapur airport (DMU)

Nearest Railway Station: Dimapur Railway station (DMV)

Prerequisites - Inner line permit, will be arranged by Six Degree Adventures

Packing - Good walking shoes, water to stay hydrated, warm clothing

Time of the year - Sept - Mar

Length of the itinerary: 8 days

Itinerary Highlights:

• In this unique episode focused on rural tourism, Prasenjit talks about the flagship Nagaland on foot tour that spans a series of villages in this jewel of North East India.
• The trip focuses on exploring villages, ways of life, culture, traditions of each village and tribe, all while also enjoying the bountiful natural resources that the region is blessed with.
• The trip begins in Dimapur where the group flies into, from here, the group sets off on the journey spanning 5-6 villages listed below
• Kiruphema village is the first pitstop, where the group spends the first evening, spending in bonding exercises and learning about their local hosts
• Khonoma is the next village on the itinerary and is one of the more populous villages - it is also known for the vicinity to the capital Kohima. It is also reknown as Asia’s first green village and the group gets to learn about the shifting cultivation practised by the villagers. The team also visits the tragopan wildlife sanctuary on the way to this village. The team also gets the opportunity to do a number of village walks, visit the Khonoma fort as well as learn more about the history of the region. We also discuss the concept of Morungs of the community center for the youth of the village.
• The group’s next destination is Dzuleke - renown for its streams and rainbow trout. The group also gets to interact with the Angami and Zeling tribe while travelling through this region.
• The group also covers other villages like Poilwa and Benreu. People do have the option to visit Kohima on request if there is interest.
• There are also extended options of covering the Hornbill festival and the Dzuku valley trek during the month of December.

Links:

Link to Six Degree Adventure’s website: https://www.sixdegreeadventures.com/

Link to Six Degree Adventure’s Instagram - https://instagram.com/sixdegreeadventures?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Other episodes on Nagaland:

Nagaland with Aakash Mehrotra - https://spotify.link/JPbQwGKoqDb

Headhunters of Nagaland with Ila Reddy - https://spotify.link/MRCGS5MoqDb

Follow the Musafir stories on:

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website: www.themusafirstories.com

email: [email protected]

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This week, The Musafir Stories speaks to Ayush Kumar as he takes us to the holy town of Puri!

Today's destination: Puri, Odisha!

Nearest Airport: Biju Patnaik International Airport (BBI)

Nearest Railway Station: Puri Railway station (PURI)

Prerequisites - NA

Packing - Pack according to the weather, dress code might apply at certain places

Time of the year - November - January

Length of the itinerary: 3-5 days

Itinerary Highlights:

Ayush shares his experience visiting the holy town of Puri, situated in the state of Odisha

We discuss the origins and history of the most prominent place in Puri, the Jagannath Temple, and its connection to King Indradyumna.

The temple is believed to have been rebuilt in the 10th century AD by the Ganga Dynasty. The deities of the temple include Lord Jagannath, and his siblings Subhadra and Balabhadra.

The unique feature of the deities is that they are all made of neem wood, unlike other deities found in prominent temples.

Ayush explains the key features of the Jagannath Temple, the connection to the Odissi art forms, and the temple kitchen which is believed to be the biggest in the world.

The temple kitchen is believed to have over 500 chefs and serves Chappan Bhog or 56 types of meals every day.

We also discuss in detail about the iconic Rath Yatra of the temple. The Yatra happens over a period of 10-12 days and is attended by lakhs of devotees

The Rath Yatra starts from the Puri temple and chariots of the 3 deities, Jagannath, Subhadra and Balabhadra travel to the Gundicha Temple situated 3 kms away.

There are several other rituals and ceremonies carried out prior to the yatra, including creating new chariots, bathing of the deities, quarantine for 14 days and many other interesting titbits.

We also discuss some very interesting mysteries around the temple as well as the important ceremony of Nabakalebara, or replacing the deities with new idols.

We cap off the conversation by including other places of interest, including the Puri beach, sand art by Sudarshan Patnaik, important Matthas in the vicinity, Chilika Lake, the artisan village of Raghurajpur among others.

Links:

Episode 81 exploring on Bhubaneshwar:

https://themusafirstories.com/podcasts/explore-bhubaneswar-with-ayush/

Link to Ayush's social media:

Instagram: @soul.traveller.kumar (https://www.instagram.com/soul.traveller.kumar/)

Follow the Musafir stories on:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/musafirstories?lang=en

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themusafirstories/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musafirstoriespodcast/?hl=en

website: www.themusafirstories.com

email: [email protected]

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