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9 Amazing Places To Visit In India

April 29, 2022 13:48 IST

"India is a melting pot of cultures, so rich, vast and diverse that you'll be surprised at the sheer beauty and creativity of its communities and ability to sustain themselves," say Laxmi Sorte and Kaustav Ghosh who travelled across 29 Indian states and five Union territories in 101 days.

While the experience and memories of the places they visited and people they met will last for a lifetime, the Navi-Mumbai based couple is now on a year-long mission to promote and encourage local businesses in the country through their pan-India initiative, The Great Indian Travel.

If you love travelling and are looking to explore the real India and its lesser known beauty, Laxmi and Kaustav recommend the following destinations:

Photographs and videos: Kind courtesy The Great Indian Travel

 

Unexplored Bastar, Chhattisgarh

IMAGE: The Kanger Valley National Park in Bastar is known for its awe-inspiring limestone caves and torchlit tours.

Best time to visit: January to April; July to December

Before travelling to this place, we were told this place is unsafe because it is known to be a Naxal area. However, our hosts, Unexplored Bastar (an eco-tourism team), have been doing a fabulous job trying to break this mentality by promoting responsible community tourism.

In Bastar we got to meet and stay with local tribes and saw how they were quite self-sufficient.

We stayed with them in mud houses, where they served food in dona -- plates made of leaves, visited the tribal market and learned how they integrate nature in their daily life.

What else to experience in Bastar

Watch the video below for Laxmi and Kaustav's glimpses from Bastar:

 

Roshgullas in Balasore, Odisha

Best time to visit: October to February

Bengalis never get tired of arguing 'Where to find the best roshgulla in India'?

I can now easily bet that you get the best melt-in-the-mouth roshgulla in Balasore.

Watch the video to see Kaustav dig into spongy soft milk roshgullas and nolen gur (date palm jaggery) in Balasore:

 

What else to experience

 

Asia's longest living root bridge in Meghalaya

IMAGE: Laxmi Sorte walks on the Ritymmen bridge in Nongthymmai village, Pynursla, Meghalaya, considered one of Asia's longest living root bridges.

Best time to visit: October to February

We travelled to Pynursla which is over 50 km from Cherrapunji, so we could experience the living root bridges.

While there are lots of bridges including single and double decker ones, we were guided by Morning Star, founder of the Living Bridge Foundation.

Morning Star explained how each of these roots are carefully grown over decades until they are long and strong enough to be tied together to form a bridge. We went down 1,500 steps then walked for some 600 metres in between dense forests and crossed a valley on it.

Some of these bridges are over 500 years old and can carry approximately 30-40 people.

Living root bridges in Meghalaya

IMAGE: The Ritymmen bridge is approximately 100 feet long. Over a period of time, as the old roots dry and die, they are replaced and tied with new ones, says Laxmi.

Check out this vlog in which Laxmi and Kaustav are seen walking on the Ritymmen bridge in Pynursla, Meghalaya, one of the continent's longest living root bridges.

 

What else to experience

Kaustav and Laxmi at Phe Phe waterfalls

IMAGE: Laxmi and Kaustav at the Phe Phe waterfalls.

 

Bamboo village in Tripura

Bamboo artefacts from Tripura

IMAGE: Bamboo artefacts and musical instruments on display in Tripura.

Best time to visit: October to March

The north eastern states of India collectively represent 28% of India's bamboo production. Tripura has 2,397 sq km of bamboo forests, which forms about 23% geographical area of the state.

Craft Brzee has been organising workshops and promoting a wide variety of artefacts and daily objects made from bamboo, also known as green gold or poor man's timber.

From toothbrushes to musical instruments and jewellery cases, they make a range of handmade products using bamboo.

 

Pottery in Manipur

IMAGE: A Manipuri woman demonstrates how they make and mould earthen pots using just a stone and a bat.

Best time to visit: October-April

After fire, pottery is one of the oldest known inventions of mankind.

Andro village is a quaint town in Manipur where we saw how pottery is done without a wheel.

The local artisans use a portion of locally available mud and beat it with stone and a special bat to create amazing pots, vessels and storage containers.

Usually, tribes are known for their local beer and alcohol, but people in this village want to erase that image by empowering its women and making them self sufficient through pottery.

 

Elephant safari to see the one-horned rhino in Assam

IMAGE: The elephant safari at the Kaziranga National Park is a four-seater morning tour for a duration of 60 minutes.

Best time to visit: October to February

The Kaziranga National Park has the world's largest number of great Indian one-horned rhinoceros, wild Asiatic water buffalo and the eastern swamp deer.

There are two morning slots -- 5 am to 6 am and 6 am to 7 am. We strongly recommend taking the 6 am elephant safari. The timing is perfect as you get to see a lot of wild animals including the one horned rhino.

After 7 am, the elephants go grazing so you will have to prebook your slots in advance while planning this trip.

Check out the video to know how exciting the safari is:

 

 

Buddha statue in Rawangla, Sikkim

Buddha statue in Rawngla, Sikkim

IMAGE: The Buddha statue and park in Rawangla was built in 2013 to mark the 2550th birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha.

Best time to visit: March to May; October to December

The 130 feet statue of Buddha made from copper took seven years to complete and was blessed by the Dalai Lama in 2013.

Rawangla is approximately 3 hours from Gangtok by road, but it's accessible and worth visiting.

There is a museum and park as well.

While you are here, you can meditate and take in the gorgeous view of the artwork on the walls and the surroundings.

In the winter months, there is fog which makes the place look more serene and beautiful.

 

Nelliyampathy hills, Palakkad, Kerala

Neliampathy hills

IMAGE: The cottage in Nelliyampathy where Laxmi and Kaustav stayed for two days.

Best time to visit: October to May

We've all heard of Munnar, Wayanad and Aleppey backwaters. But if you are looking for some place new and less explored, Nelliyampathy is an equally beautiful hill station in Kerala that makes for a perfect overnight stay.

The average annual temperature here is between 10-12 degrees.

We drove over 5 km on kachha roads and there was no phone network in the area surrounding the cottage where we stayed.

It's unusually quiet here so you can relax in the midst of nature sounds.

We visited the nearby tea estate, did some sight seeing and ate the famous puttu(steamed rice cake) and kadala curry (black chickpea curry) for breakfast. Since it wasn't too crowded, the whole experience immensely peaceful and satisfying.

 

Mechuka valley, Arunachal Pradesh

IMAGE: The Mechuka valley offers pristine, surreal views of snow covered mountains and natural streams.

Best time to visit: October to May

Situated on the India-China border, Mechuka Valley is an absolute treat to sore eyes.

There is snowfall during the winter months and beautiful streams of water (freshly melted snow) flowing at the beginning of summer. There are plenty of monasteries that you can visit here.

Besides, every year, in November, Arunachal Pradesh encourages a special adventure festival for travel junkies which involves paragliding, kayaking, downhill and terrain biking etc.

The food here is basic and there are lots of home stays that will help you cut down your travel budget and also benefit the locals.

LAXMI SORTE and KAUSTAV GHOSH