SOME TRAVEL TIPS

Here are some travel tips that can help you travel with ease:

- **Research your destination**: Before you travel, research your destination to learn about the local        customs, culture, and history .

- **Pack light**: Pack only the essentials and avoid overpacking. This will make it easier to move               around and save you from unnecessary baggage fees .

- **Bring extra underwear and socks**: These items take up little space and can be a lifesaver when        you're on the road .

- **Carry a first-aid kit**: A first-aid kit can come in handy in case of minor injuries or illnesses .

- **Get vaccinated**: Make sure you're up-to-date on your vaccinations before you travel to protect            yourself from diseases .

- **Take cash with you and extra credit/debit card**: It's always a good idea to have cash on hand          in case of emergencies. Also, carry an extra credit/debit card in case you lose one .

- **Wear comfortable shoes**: Wear comfortable shoes that you've already broken into to avoid                 blisters and sore feet .

- **Use a VPN for travel**: Use a VPN to protect your internet connection while abroad and avoid            potential security risks .

- **Mark your luggage**: Mark your luggage with your name and contact information to avoid                  losing   it .

- **Take pictures of your luggage and clothes**: Take pictures of your luggage and clothes in case            they get lost or stolen .

- **Get to the airport early**: Arrive at the airport early to avoid missing your flight .

- **Go to the bathroom before boarding**: Go to the bathroom before boarding a plane or taking a          bus to avoid discomfort during the journey .

I hope these tips help you travel with ease!

Advance ReservationDate and Age calculator(type inside the yellow box)

Train Ticket Booking :Acche Din....

Upgradation work at IRCTC site is going on which will allow to choose the seat/berth by the traveller while booking.This will come into effect from 15th August.More than 4 lakh tickets are sold daily through IRCTC site. This server was too slow till a recent upgradation,which made the site faster .Senior citizens,women and children don't get their desired convenient seat,as it cannot be opted.This upgradation will cost 100 crores.
IRCTC made a record by booking 5.80 lakh tickets on a single day recently.

CHENNAI AIRPORT TO EGMORE / BEACH RAILWAY STATION:The Cheapest way to travel

If you are travelling by Air to Chennai with less luggage , and after landing if you wish to go to Chennai city/Egmore/Beach from Airport then opt for local train,Tirusulam Railway Station is opposite to the Chennai Airport(walk-away distance-subway).It only costs 5 Rupees to reach Egmore Railway Station.Ask for Prepaid taxi inside the Airport ,they will say 650 to 850 Rs.for Egmaore station.Take the train…save money and have a sumptuous meal  .

SIKKIM-BEST IN TRAVEL 2014:LONELY PLANET

 If you’re feeling jaded by the heat and hassles of India, Sikkim is the perfect antidote. It’s clean (plastic bags are banned) and the mountain air is fresh. Best of all the people are among India’s most friendly, with a charming manner that’s unobtrusive and slightly shy. To really savour some true Sikkimese atmosphere, visit a village tongba-bar for some local millet beer: it’s a bit like warm Japanese sake. Plunging mountain valleys are lushly forested, interspersed occasionally with rice terraces and groves of flowering rhododendrons. Tibetan-style Buddhist monasteries (gompas) add splashes of vermilion to the green ridgetops and are approached through atmospheric avenues of colourful prayer flags set on long bamboo poles.

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/sikkim#ixzz2o4zL5EJJ

Indian Train food:Now you can Complain if ....

Now you can call up a toll free number from anywhere in the country to complain about the quality of the food served on trains. Railways has pressed into service its nationwide, centralised call centre dedicated to food-related matters, which will attend to complaints in "real-time", which means immediately.

The number, 1800-111-321, will be operational all days between 7 am and 10 pm. The moment it receives any complaint from a passenger about food quality, quantity overcharging etc, it will contact the catering manager of the vendor on board the train to fix it during the course of the journey.

"We have also formed local squads to carry out surprise checks on trains for catering and cleanliness-related issues to see that the system is working perfectly," said Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal.

Railways may also come up with its first food-testing laboratory so that complaints of quality and hygiene can be checked.

Railways has decided to extend the catering contracts of all vendors serving food on premium trains like Rajdhanis, Shatabdis and Durontos for another four months, during which the ministry will firm up new contracts to be awarded with revised guidelines. The new contracts will be for five years extendable for another five subject to performance.

As per the revised norms, the number of trains each catering company can serve may be reduced further and this time, every catering vendor will have to operate out of modern, state-of-the-art base kitchens from major stations. The aim is to come up with around 250 such base kitchens across India. The base kitchens might take a year to come up.(Indian Express)

Better try making your own.....

The best Informative Site on Indian Railways

Here is the best on Indian Railways.Go visit and use.everything you need about railway travel in India.Availability/Trains/Live Train position? etc.It is addictive in Nature Be Cautious !!!

http://indiarailinfo.com/

ON THE WAY TO SIKKIM :monsoon 2010

 water fall

 TEESTA RIVER

 LIKU BHIR

DUCKS

Concession Forms for Air Travel(India)

To download concession form click the links below:
Air India
Jet Airways

TRAVEL IRON

A travel iron may be a terrific thing to pack to deal with wrinkled clothing. Although some hotels and motels may have irons available in their rooms, they aren’t always in the best shape. It isn't a guarantee that there will always be a courtesy iron available should it be needed.

There are several things that make a travel iron different from a standard iron used at home. First, these irons are typically smaller, usually about one-third to one-half the size of home irons. Second, the handle on these irons usually folds down, making it easier to pack them in a small space. Size usually means a travel iron is significantly lighter, weighing no more than a few pounds. Most also have convenient travel bags so you can cleanly store the travel iron when it is not in use.

Many travel irons can convert from 120 to 240 watts without problem. However if taking the travel iron outside of the country, it may not fit in the outlets available in other countries. Check your travel itinerary to determine if a plug adapter is necessary.

Quite a few travel irons have steam capacity, which can help get out stubborn wrinkles. They may not have as many settings as home irons, and some people find the smaller base of the iron difficult to use on large pieces of clothing like suits or coats. However, even at home, you can use a travel iron. It may be an excellent tool for ironing around buttons or other things on clothing that shouldn’t be exposed to heat.

There are numerous travel iron styles on the market and they can vary in price depending upon extra features. Very simple ones may cost around $20-30 US Dollars (USD),(this one in the picture is a free gift from a magazine subscription.) Prices can well exceed this when the iron has either a better brand name or more “bells and whistles.”

One thing to remember if the iron uses steam is to make sure to empty water compartments before packing the iron away. This will prevent water from accidentally leaking onto clothing packed with the travel iron. It’s also a good idea to empty any water out of the iron before putting the iron away after traveling. Another important tip is to pay attention to the fabric bag used to cover the iron. Some of these are made of nylon and will melt if you don’t allow the iron to cool before packing it away.

source...http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-travel-iron.htm

SIKKIM;cherry blossom

Winters arrival 2008

DIGLIPUR;North Andaman

Escape beaches of Andaman...

Dentam,West Sikkim

Lock and Key

During travels this kind of number locks are convenient,because you dont need to keep keys with you or search for them always.

Govt eases LTC norms for visit to North East

Govt eases LTC norms for visit to North East


Press Trust of India / New Delhi May 7, 2008

In a major decision to boost tourism in the scenic North-Eastern region, the Centre has relaxed Leave Travel Concession (LTC) rules for its employees permitting them to travel by air. The new rules will apply to employees irrespective of their grade or post and the order will be in operation for two years, sources in the Ministry of Personnel today said.

Under the revised rules, Group A and B employees of the Central Government will be entitled to travel by air from their place of posting or nearest airport to a city in the North-Eastern region. Employees belonging to other categories will be entitled to travel by air to a city in the North-Eastern region from Guwahati or Kolkata. All Central Government servants would be allowed conversion of one block of Home Town LTC into LTC for destinations in the north eastern region, the order said.

The Ministry said that data regarding the number of employees availing LTC to the north eastern region would be maintained. The decision will enable government servants in the junior grades to visit the northeastern region, which used to remain a distant dream for them because of high air travel costs and absence of official entitlement.

The north eastern region comprises Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, and also Sikkim — all having rich tourism potential.

Sikkim Road map

right click the map and save.

M.V.Nicobar-Ship

Ship at mayabunder jetty(Andamans) bound for Kolkata during this February(2007).It takes 4 to 5 days to reach.visit andamansikkim.blogspot.com for more details.

TURTLE GROUNDS-escape beaches

BEACHES OF MIDDLE AND NORTH ANDAMAN ISLANDS.BEST SEASON TO VISIT..DECEMBER AND JANUARY.

Travel like Mahatma Gandhi

Before taking up any tour to any country it is very important to know and read up about the country you plan to visit, you are more warmly welcomed if you take an interest and speak even a few words of the local language. Increase your vital imagination and also think on much smaller aspects when booking a holiday - for example bed and breakfasts, village houses and locally owned accommodation benefit local families. Travel like Mahatma Gandhi - with simple clothes, open eyes and an orderly mind to become the part of Tourism. Assist the local economy of developing countries by purchasing local products in preference to exotic items. It is important to understand that the people in the country your are visiting have different culture, time concepts and thought patterns from your own, it doesn't mean that they are inferior to others in any way just they are little different. Go for public transport where as possible- hire a bus, rickshaw or walk where convenient, you will be encountering with the local life and will get the opportunity to know the place.

Coming soon to India: Tickets for space ride

New Delhi, Oct 17

Mountaineering, skydiving and rafting are passé. It’s time for all Indian adventure tourism enthusiasts to don a spacesuit and whoosh off to a weightless state at thrice the speed of sound. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, a global commercial space tourism group, on Tuesday entered the Indian market with an eye to woo Indians out to space - albeit at a fee of $200,000 for a two-hour ride.

Virgin Galactic, in collaboration with Deluxe Travel and GD Goenka World Travel, has opened its Indian office in New Delhi and will act as a facilitator for Indians to book tickets to space. The spaceship will be launched at a height of 50,000 feet above earth and on release from the mother craft will take a vertical trajectory at three times the speed of sound.

Carolyn Wincer, head of astronaut sales of Virgin Galactic, told reporters that nearly 300 people including four Indians have bought tickets to travel on the spaceship. “India is a growing market and we are hopeful that people who are not astronauts will venture into space via our commercial spaceships,” Wincer said.

She said four Indians have already booked their tickets and one of them is in the top 100 list of voyagers-to-be. The Spaceship 2, as the commercial flight has been named, will be ready for a test run in January 2008. Santhosh George Kulangara, an Indian- based in the US, has booked a ticket to experience space in the first year of the commercial operation of this adventurous venture.

“It will take at least 18 months to start commercial operations. Initially, the spaceship will fly once a week, taking six tourists on board. In the second year of operation we may go for two flights a day,” Wincer said. The mother ship carrying the spaceship will fly to 50,000 feet and then the rocket will be switched on. In 90 seconds the flight will reach a height of 110 km from 50,000 feet (16 km). The flight will last around two hours including a period of weightlessness.

“The tourists will have the opportunity to leave their seats and enjoy the pleasure of weightlessness (micro gravity) for a period of four to five minutes,” said Bernhard Stingl, a joint managing director of Deluxe Travel Europe. People with a healthy heart and lungs will be able to go on this voyage.

Authorities explained that since these are short duration flights, tourists would not face space sickness. “Each flight will carry two pilots and tourists will undergo a three-day training under micro gravity situation to get accustomed to the space situation,” said Wincer.

Every passenger will have access to large windows to enjoy the amazing views of up to approximately 1,000 miles in any direction and the curvature of the earth, authorities explained. They said the spaceship would adopt unique wing feathering technology to slow and control re-entry and thus help in smooth landing on earth.

Extending good wishes to Virgin Galactic, Aviation Minister Praful Patel said: “I am sure with disposable income increasing among Indians, many will go to space. The adventure spirit of Indians will get a further fillip by venturing into space via commercial spaceships”.