Visiting Kenya on a Budget

Africa. A continent I had been meaning to visit for as long as I can remember. But somehow all my plans were shelved during the planning stages itself after seeing the initial estimates of costs related to the trip. You are right, it just seemed very expensive. Stories from friends and online articles showed such large numbers that Africa seemed beyond my reach for a very long time. However when my wedding date was confirmed for the end of May, I felt that a new beginning deserved visiting a new continent and decided to seriously try and figure out ways to visit Kenya on a budget. And here’s how you can visit it too without emptying your bank account.

A Lion at the Maasai Mara, Kenya, Africa

Spending a Night “Homeless” on the streets of Hungary

Any trip or a holiday creates numerous memories, memorable anecdotes and photographs. But travel stories are created when your best laid plans go haywire. All good stories start with an element of the “unexpected” – getting lost in a city, taking a wrong train and arriving somewhere else altogether, missed connections, getting deported are a few of such unexpected elements and I am sure you get my drift. My travels are self-planned budget trips and despite a lot of research there have been many occasions wherein all that could go wrong has gone wrong and in return many memorable stories created. But my favorite so far is being “Homeless in Hungary”.

At the start of our journey in Budapest

Travel Smart with Skyscanner to Spain

As everyone knows by now, traveling is my passion. And when I am not actually on the road, then dreaming about my next destination is a favorite pastime. But if you travel as frequently as I do, then traveling smart becomes an essential element of the trip. So when I came across this travel contest on Indiblogger on Travel Smart with Skyscanner, I decided to preplan for my next dream vacation. 🙂

All set for the next dream vacation 🙂

And it’s time for Europe again

I have been fascinated with Europe for a while. It all started in 2004 when my BFF, P first moved there and started sending postcards and sharing stories of a gorgeous world full of snow-clad mountains, fairy tale castles, scenic lakes, etc etc. All her stories created an image of a wonderland in my mind and I resolved to visit it as soon as I could collect some money. And as Paulo Coelho said in The Alchemist “if you truly want something, then the entire universe conspires in helping you achieve it” – well, mine sure did. After numerous failed plans, my first international trip was to Spain in 2006. And with this trip, the fascination increased.

Italy

5 Easy Ways to Save Money on a Vacation

Since I have been bitten by the travel bug and have started travelling quite a bit, everyone keeps asking me on how I manage the financing. No, I don’t ask my parents and neither do I earn a lot, but I have come to realise that gone are the days where taking a long international holiday or that dream vacation, meant an empty bank account.  Nowadays with just a few hours spent on the internet, planning well and availing discounts available on the internet, you can actually take a vacation and also end up saving significant expenses.

Views worth traveling for 🙂

Dune Bashing in Dubai

No trip to Dubai can be complete without experiencing the actual sun and sand of this desert city. And the tourists in us decided to do just that with the famous and ultra touristy  half day Dubai Desert Safari tour. Well, some may say that it’s just a touristy gimmick and not worth wasting time and money, but I felt that this was something that you should try at least once, as it gives you a small flavor of the old desert life. These tours come as a package that includes – pick and drop from Dubai, dune bashing, camel riding, dance performances in a desert camp, sheesha smoking, arabic coffee and dinner. Now there are numerous tour operators who conduct these tours here, but a word of caution – do check the quality of these before booking, as there are quite a few quality issues and complaints concerning these tours too.

Sand Dunes, Outskirts of Dubai

Exploring Old Dubai – Bur Dubai and Diera

Contrary to a lot of misconceptions, Dubai is just not all about new construction, high-rise buildings and high-end malls. There is another part to this city which lends it a different character and according to Lonely Planet is the heart and soul of Dubai, well I am speaking about Old Dubai. Now Old Dubai mainly comprises of 2 parts, Deira and Bur Dubai which are separated by the old and historically important Dubai creek. Per my recommendation, whenever you are in Dubai, a visit to both these places is a must.

Bur Dubai

Dubai – A quick guide to planning your next trip here

Dubai. This is a name that immediately conjures a city in your mind which is full of Glitz, Glamor, Excess and Extravagance. A city which is traditional yet extremely accommodating of the modern. A city constantly under construction with more new and ground breaking ideas; be it The Palm or the World Islands. A city which has defied its geographic limitations (being a desert) and proved that it can have everything (including ice skating and skiing). A city that has something for everyone and will make you feel at home, no matter who you are.

We had a chance to explore Dubai (quite by chance) last November. We had actually been planning to visit numerous other places, but for one reason or the other everything kept getting cancelled. In the end, we gave all of it up and booked a ticket to the cheapest place available then, which was Dubai. A trip to this place made us realize that contrary to a lot of prior notions, there is a lot more to Dubai than shopping. And don’t get me wrong, we did shop a lot but we also saw numerous other beautiful sights and  experienced a different character of this city.

Dubai Skyline

Exploring Hong Kong via Public Transportation

Over quite a few trips to Hong Kong, I have realised that it undoubtedly has one of the best public transportation and signages networks in the world. It has all forms of transport – taxis, buses, trams, buses, minibuses, metro, ferry, etc which are very easy and convenient to use and take you to all the touristy places that you normally want to see.

So, what are the various options available to you?

For travelers who are looking for convenience and not that worried about budgets, it is very easy to hail a taxi here for nearly all places and the charges are as in the pic below –

Taxi Fares, Hong Kong

A Food Guide to Pushkar

Pushkar is any vegetarian and budget traveler’s food paradise. 🙂

The majority of the travelers visiting this town are foreigners and they live here for long periods of time. But the entire town is a temple town, hence any form of meat and alcohol is strictly prohibited. This has resulted in all kinds of cuisine being available here in their pure vegetarian avatars. This town is really small and for all practical purposes just one long winding road, but the number of eating options in terms of places and variety is just mind-boggling. And all this is available at dirt cheap prices.

So it’s no wonder that when a foodie like me landed in this town what happened – well I literally ate my way through the streets. My friends, Sonal and Partha had been to Pushkar a couple of months before us and they had spent about 10 days exploring this place and its hidden food gems. We tried their recommendations and found some of our own too. We were literally eating every 30 minutes here.

Since I loved the food here so much, I  am now listing the same below for everyone who is visiting this amazing town to try out and enjoy. Since I was busy eating and now reminiscing while writing, the descriptions are quite short. Hence take this as a teaser and visit Pushkar for your own experience. 🙂

• Pohas – Every morning all along the roads people come with carts and set up street side  poha stalls. Poha is a kind of flat rice which is cooked with vegetable likes potato and peas and served with a garnish of fresh tomatoes, coriander etc. This simple dish served in a newspaper for just Rs 5 is the most amazing poha that I have ever eaten anywhere in India or at home. This is a must try for at least one day breakfast. 

A Poha Stall