Detailed itinerary for upcoming trip to Bhutan

The much awaited winter trip to Bhutan is coming up soon. We will visit Central and Eastern Bhutan this time, with focus on the Bumthang valley, the cultural capital of the country. We will also camp in Phobjika to see the black-necked cranes, which only visit at this time of the year.

Here are the details.

 

Travel Trivia: Margherita, a town in Upper Assam

Why does a little town in Assam in the North East corner of India share its name with a famous Pizza?

When the ARTC ( thats Assam Railway and Trading Company) was building the first railroad to connect the area with the river-side town of Dibrugarh, it employed an Italian engineer named Roberto Paganini.This was way back, sometime around the second half of the nineteenth century, when the three industries – oil, coal and tea were being developed in Upper Assam by the British. Roberto Paganini made the bridges that allowed the rail to gain access to the coal filled region.

To honor this Italian engineer the British named the settlement Margherita, after the Queen of Italy.

 

Next up for GypsyGeet : The Fab 3 trip

Here’s your chance to explore on the the most undiscovered parts of the country. If you are a nature lover, or like exploring different cultures, then join us for 8 days for a nature and culture trip to the North-East.

We will take you to the lush greenery of the Khasi hills, to the plains of Kaziranga, to the largest river island in the middle of the Brahmaputra river – staying at interesting places that do their bit to serve the local communities.
We will sample local food, and we will do lots of nature walks and hikes.

There will be plenty of bird-watching and wildlife watching in Kaziranga and Majuli, the highlight for most people being of course an elephant safari to see the one-horned rhinoceros up-close. For the birding enthusiasts, Majuli is a haven – there are storks roosting in people’s backyards!

Date : 31st Oct 2009 – 8th Nov 2009

To know more about the trip,visit our Facebook page or email us at contactus@gypsyfeettravels.com

 

A short road trip

I was never a big fan of road trips.Because a) I get claustrophobic inside a car after some time b) I get bored.Also, I don’t love driving and I am bad with directions and reading the map,and I will keep changing the radio channels and flipping the songs ,driving the driver nuts.In short, I am a bad road trip partner.

Still it was my idea to do a road trip .We drove 533kms to the relatively secluded Tarkarli Beach,in Malvan- the heartland of Malvani cuisine.Yes, fish fish and some more fish.

It was a 12 hour drive through Western Ghats.More than the beach, it was the drive which turned out to be more breathtaking.I am yet to see anything more green than the Western Ghats during the monsoons.As if someone went up the hills and poured buckets of paint over . Various shades, carpeting the rolling hills, leaving not a square inch of earth bare.That freshest  shade of green that makes you feel healthy and good.

Leaving you with some pictures

I think a Konkan rail journey is up next.

Our faithful chariot.Great mileage and awesome legspace.

 

Cave Walking article by Gypsyfeeter Kanchuki

 

This blog has been accepted into Lonely Planet’s Blogsherpa Program

We are really excited by this, as it means we have a chance to reach out to a wider audience through the Lonely Planet Platform.Our blog will show up in the “Blogs we Like” section of Lonely planet’s web-site when readers are looking at a specific destination about which we have written.

For anybody interested in adding their own travel blogs to the LP site, here’s where you can start.

The end result on the LP page looks like this.

There is a chance to make money from the ads too.

 

Check out this Tata Airlines route in 1939

Interesting pamphlet for Tata Airlines ( the only one flying in India at that time) in the pre-Independence times. I am surprised that quite a bit of the country was actually well-connected – but seems like the East, not to mention the NE, was even then  a wee bit neglected.

Compare that, to this, a map of the major airports in India today, and its simply staggering.

 

We’re already thinking of our next trip to the North-East

The Fab-three tour is going to be a 8-9 days trip to three fabulous places in the North-East.

The first is Cherrapunjee, the wettest place on earth. We’ll stay at a resort overlooking the Bangadesh plains, glimpses of which we will catch when the clouds let us. We will hike to the living root bridges of the Khasis, the pre-dominant tribe in Meghalaya. We will chill.

The second of the fab-three is Kaziranga National Park and nearabouts. These two days are all about our four-legged and winged-friends. And some of them are really thick-skinned too! We will stay at a resort close to the park, walk about in the tea-gardens, ride on elephants, and play in the middle of nature.

The third is Majuli, the largest river island in the world. In the middle of the expanses of the Brahmaputra river, this island is a hot-spot of nature and culture. Birds like the adjutant stork are visible in people’s backyards. You can cycle through the village and do your bit for the environment while taking in the village life of the Mising tribe. You will also see the customs of the Vaishnavaite culture of the socio-religious teacher of Assam.

If you are looking for some relaxation, nature and culture – write to us and we will make it happnen. Our contacts are in the Contact Us Page.

 

Featured in LiveMint today

Gypsyfeeter Kongkona, usually inactive in the morning, is unusually perky today thanks to urgent phone calls from  Kanchuki sharing the exciting news.

Live Mint covered us in their Travel section this morning.

For those of you who donot know us, we are travel enthusiasts who believe that meaningful travel is possible through experiencing a place, rather than “seeing” it. We formed Gypsyfeet Travels, an alternative travel company that focuses on immersion travel to take this idea forward.

We currently focus on the NE of India and Bhutan, and do specialized tours for women travellers and couples with kids.

More about us on this page. Looking forward to hearing from you when you plan your next trip. To see our upcoming trips, or to receive notifications, visit our facebook page.

 

Do women traveller’s have different travel needs?

Its an interesting question, isn’t it? We are trying to find out what the truth is – do women travelers have different needs? Being women travellers ourselves, we tend to think yes ( well, if not anything else, we ask “Donde esta el Bano” than the boys do). At least I did that while travelling in Peru with my husband, truth be told, it was the one sentence I made sure I remembered before setting off. Apart from that, most of us seem to be intereted in the cultural aspects of things a tad more than the boys. And in the shopping side of things too.

But do other women think the same?

Let us know what YOU think. We”re interested in knowing your likes, disliked, concerns, things you like to do, things you hate about travel – everything. Your dream destination too!  Basically, we are trying to understand you, the woman traveller, and how you relate to travel.

You could be travelling solo, with your kids, with your hubby or partner, or in your girl group, does not matter, as long as you love and enjoy travel!