My Travel Notes

This blog is in continuation with why i love traveling & preferably alone.  I have a checklist which i am sharing it here, i follow it most of the time. 🙂

•  Make friends with locals

I know when we are traveling to a touristic destination a lot  of  travelers feel they are going to get ripped at every single transaction from boarding on taxi to ordering food. This is not always true at times you will find locals helping you by giving you good suggestions & if your lucky might end up drinking spicy tea or delicious lunch.

• Try all local cuisine and drinks

Every state/region has its own local cuisine & brew, do try it. Like when i was in Dimapur i one of the best Pork Fry & vegetable soup. I liked the local Green Tea brand so much that i bought 4-5 packets back in Mumbai for myself. Similarly if your in Gangtok you should try local white/red wine & momos/fried rice/mutton curry.

•  Respect local tradition & practice

Please be good & don`t get irked by local tradition and practice. I know for you it might look weird but the local folks been doing it for ages. You don`t like it, stay away from it, don’t crib.  I am not big god believer but visiting Madurai & watching priests performing puja/aarti was experience of a kind.

• Tip & treat well

Everyone who is providing you service from waiter to driver are humans as well. They are working their ass off to keep you happy, be nice to them, be generous & tip well. During my North Sikkim trip in Lachen, i could not find chicken curry in dinner & i was unhappy. Once i reached Gangtok my driver invited me over for dinner & yes he cooked chicken curry for me. It was freaking awesome, much better than Copper chimney & Great Punjab food joint of Mumbai.

•  Keep environment around clean

What i meant by this is please don`t throw wrappers and water bottle randomly anywhere. You would be surprised as per the guidelines of Sikkim tourism every commercial vehicles should keep a bin so all these can be kept there instead dumped randomly on the street.

•  Buy books [folk tales] not souvenir

This might sound stupid but whenever i have traveled i bought folk tales of the local province, that has been only shopping. I know a lot of my friends who go buy souvenir, call me stupid but

• Best trips are unplanned ones

Well this does not mean you will not read in length about place you are visiting. What it means is your not calling the travel agent and booking entire trip 3 months in advance.  For me planning trip in advance takes whole fun out of the trip. 🙂

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