MTDC introduces House Boats

Not to be left behind by the houseboats of magnificient backwaters in Kerala and the Dal lake in Kashmir, Maharashtra Tourism Board (MTDC) is set to launch its House Boat Service by October. These 80ft boats are equipped with central airconditioning, fully functional kitchens, bed rooms and sundecks. The two routes identified for the initial launch are Tarkarli-Nerur Par and Aronda Creek.

Tarkarli is known for its clean, narrow beaches with pristine clear waters. On clear day one can see the sea bed unto a depth of 20 ft. Tarkarli is 546 kms from Mumbai and is at the confluence of Karli river and the Arabian Sea.

Volunteer Tourism

Eco tourism, spiritual tourism, agri tourism and now it is ‘volunteer tourism’. Move over star hotels, luxury cruises and guided tours. If it is inner peace and harmony that you are looking for in your travels and holidays, volunteer tourism is the new way for self-actualisation. Travel to distant lands. Stay with local people. Participate in local community activities and make a difference to the community, place and people whom you are visiting. There are already a few such destinations in India. In Varkala, Kerala, Travels Interserve has intoruduced Lullaby@Varkala, where tourists actively participate in pre-school education in anganwadis for children below the age of five. There are some packages which include community work with NGOs like Rajasthan Mahila Kalyan Mandal.

Read the full article in The Sunday Express

Paradise Forests

Read the story of Paradise Forests, the largest intact rainforest in the Asia Pacific region, which supports hundreds of indigenous cultures and creatures found nowhere else in the world... The story of destruction and Greenpeace’ and local community’s efforts to fight it. Check the amazing wild life photos…

See the Greenpeace Story
Check the website of Save Paradise

Will you fund my trip?

Kidding, eh? Why should any one fund my trip? Charity? Altruism? Or out of your mind? But strange as it may seem, there are a few people, who just fund other’s travelling dreams. Or that’s what TravelPod says. And there is a patent pending technology ‘Support My Travel’

TravelPod, RealTravel, and TravelPost are some of the few popular travel blog sites I came across recently, while looking for travel stories. Given that all are about travels across the world, all are interesting. However, I liked RealTravel and TravelPod. Among the two, TravelPod had this interesting section called ‘Support My Travel’, which allows friends, family or just anyone can donate to fund one’s travel. All one need is to put the ‘Support My Travel’ link on the blog page, a PayPal account and loads of luck and fortune, for some one to be actually kind enough to fund their travel.