Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

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Murugan
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Murugan »

Tourism in Ancient India - Book by Anand Singh
Tourism in Pre-Mauryan Period
Tourism in Mauryan and Sunga Period
Tourism in Saka, Satvahana and Kusana Period
Tourism in the Gupta and Post-Gupta Age
Foreign Contacts, Important Tourist Places and Ports of India
Bibhas
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Bibhas »

Hello All,

Since the last two decades I am an avid reader of Bharat-rakshak and a old forum member. I enjoy the discussions everyday, learned countless subjects here, but could rarely surpass other learned forum members in knowledge. Hence I rarely dared posted anything. Today I felt like posting something. Admins don't hesitate to delete if it is not appropriate.

Everyday I went through Bharat-Rakshak forums (specially a Nation on the March thread) and felt I could possibly gather some courage and resources to do something too. I never knew where to start from though. I drove my SCORPIO to the remotest corners and probably one of those few lunatics who drove up to Jaisalmer, Leh and Arunachal from Kolkata. This way I could rediscover my country and eventually inspired few of my friends to follow as well.

One day I arrived at Port Blair for a family vacation. I was mesmerized with the scenic beauty and overwhelmed with the nature. I felt I can do something here. I didn't have a land, I didn't know anyone there and I didn't have any significant resources to begin with. In the next few months I made several trips to the Islands, from Diglipur to Chidiya Tapu in search of a land that is ideal for nature tourism. Finally after running around a lot, I bought a five-acres land at one of the most under-developed corner of Port Blair, away from city life, in the middle of a dense natural rain-forest.

The land was a jungle surrounded by dense forests, inaccessible by road, no water, no electricity and no connectivity. It was a secret world inside this planet. The only way one could reach there is by dungi, cruising through the densely covered mangrove forest, a maze of hidden waterways, daring the ferocious salt water crocodiles and crawling through the mud. It took a while but I sold few of my belongings, took personal loans, begged / saluted numerous Govt babus / officers, submitted countless forms in triplicates, to get an approval. I studied the topography, nature, history, the lifestyle of the Jarwas, native architectures and so on. With this, I managed to build roads & water storage, bring electricity, Internet connection, hired men and contractors,... and finally build a true nature resort.

During the days of my quest-for-land I made several friends in some of the remotes part of these islands. Many of them are fishermen. I gathered them together as a coordinated team to operate off-the-beaten track type tours, voyages and excursions and expose the real Andaman beyond Port Blair & Havelock. This way I could create some more jobs apart from my direct employees.

Also since 1999 I run a non profit website named http://www.othersideofindia.com formerly fotoindia.net. Personally being a tourist myself, I had a collection of photographs and I started displaying it to promote tourism as well as project a better image of India. Since it is a non-commercial effort, I have no measure to know how successful it is.

Till the late 90s, I was a firm believer that India is a worthless country. I was damn sure that India is a country with a dubious future, a stale, outdated and often obnoxious practices touted as culture with crooks of various degrees running the show. In the boring book of history I could not find even one chapter which inspired me. And they told me 'Yeh Azadi Jhuta Hai'. I thought The best thing that can happen to me is going to USA/UK and stay there forever. I almost made it. But Ten years later I found myself back from USA/UK/Canada/JAPAN/France/etc, digging holes in an obscured island thousands of miles away from the mainland India, enjoying a Tadka dal somewhere along a rural highway in UP, finishing my lunch with a Maggi 2 mins noodles near Khardungla Pass or sipping a cup of tea in the middle of Thar Desert. It took a forum full of people like Bharat-Rakshak and a solid car like SCORPIO to teach me 'History', 'Geography' and 'India', everything together.

I wanted to share my story and thought of opening a new thread on Andaman & Nicobar Islands. It may not be a very happening place all the time but it deserves our attention. I am not sure. So finally I am posting it here.

If you have time please visit Ixzire.com http://www.ixzire.com. That's the name of the resort. and if you are planning to come to Andaman, do let me know.

Regards
Bibhas
Haresh
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Guest House

Post by Haresh »

Can anyone advise me on what the formalities are for running a guesthouse in Punjab are.

My father built a villa, I am now responsible for it.

What are the legalities?
How do I register it and with whom?

Thanks in advance
prashanth
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by prashanth »

Bibhas wrote:Hello All,
......
Regards
Bibhas
You've done a great job sir. Please do not hesitate to post your experiences here.
Surya
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Surya »

Bibhas


great job

haven't fully checked your site out -

will let you know
KrishnaK
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by KrishnaK »

Bibhas,
Excellent work man. I salute your fortitude. I hope your resort turns out to be a roaring success. I liked it on FB, hoping it'll help you with some free publicity.
sum
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by sum »

Bibhas-ji,

Mindblowing to know the kind of adevnetures you have done!! Please do post your experiences. Will be great to read.

Also, the site of your resort is very well designed and you will definitely have a BRF visitor very soon since going through the site itself makes me want to immediately come over to Andaman! :mrgreen:
sum
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by sum »

Bibhas-ji,

Is the Ixzire site the best place to ask for suggestive iternaries if a 5-6 day stay required at your resort?

Im just blown away by all the stuff described in the website and am seriously thinking of visiting the same ASAP. Problem is im not sure what is a good iternary since im not too familiar as to which might be the best choices!!
Haresh
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Indian Travel Journalism

Post by Haresh »

Hello,

Does anyone know of any aspiring travel journalists in India?

We cannot pay them, but we will give them a byline and full credit for their stories.

We run the site in the UK.

www.theindiaphile.com
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Bob V »

I am looking for a holiday package to Munnar / Kovalam for family of 3, including a kid. Birathers, please advise regarding the best time to visit, things to watch out for, places to visit and deals offered. Is the last week of April/ first week of May, a good time to visit ?
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Varoon Shekhar »

Horrific tragedy in Himachal, where 24 visiting students from AP are likely dead, from drowning. Only a few survivors.

India doesn't seem to learn from past tragedies. And there's carelessness and callousness of individual Indians, in large supply. Although advanced countries also experience disasters( eg the South Korean ferry) it still occurs too frequently in India.

There's got to be a pathology at work, it can't be just attributed to the 'accidents will happen' explanation.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Rampy »

Bibhas Ji

The Non profit website does not seem to work http://www.othersideofindia.com. It gives error, is that active.

BTW the resort is awesome !! great work
Varoon Shekhar
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Varoon Shekhar »

Now, reports of another bus accident, in Uttarakhand, this time killing a dozen or so Russian tourists. WTH? Indians up to their old callous, careless ways again and again and again.
JE Menon
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by JE Menon »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5a-1c-zQSA

Seems like a private initiative to do this "advertisment" for Incredible India, but it is quite cute.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by jamwal »

Talking about tourism, adventure tourism is one of the sectors which can use a little help. We organise trekking and camping in Spiti, but every year incompetence of authorities costs us traffic during the peak season. It's almost the end of June but the full route is still not clear for traffic. :evil:

Even when it's opened, there will be random blockages and it'll take days if not weeks for clearing.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Sridhar K »

Did a Amristar, Dharamshala, Vaishnavi Devi trip last week. Flew to Amristar, saw the Wagah border, Golden temple, travelled to Dharamshala by road, visited the Dalai Lama temple in Mcleodganj, two Sakthi peets( Kunal pathri , Jwalamukhi), Chamunda temple, Bhagsunath Shiv temple (the deity of the Gurkhas regiment) based out of Dharamshala. Then proceeded to Katra in J & K by road, visited Vaishnavi devi using the helicopter service and then to Jammu. Finally flew back to Chennai from Jammu via Delhi. A few observations

a) Wagah border beating retreat ceremony was crowded like hell. Just managed to see the final stages. Too much heat as well. They have built a huge integrated check post compound for lorries to cross the border. A lot of jingoes shouting Bharat Mata ki Jai and clapping every action from BSF. Worth a visit though.

b) Golden temple was nice. Not much action considering the previous week's sword fight. Akal takt had a board about Sikhs martyrs fighting against the Indian Govt. actions in 1984.

c) Dharamshala and Mcleodganj: Spoke to a second generation Tibetian in Mcleoadganj who was born in India in the late fifties. He owns a couple of hotels in Mcleodgunj. They mentioned that India is very much their country now and are very happy with it. They are looking forward toward Modi Sarkar. Dalai lama is very much confined to his residence and frequently travels abroad and not much of interactions with local Tibetans. The temple was nicely maintained but one could see a sense of resignation and despair in the air about the lost motherland and Chinese atrocities.

Also saw the cricket stadium from outside. The place has become hot these days especially the lower Dharamshala. People seemed nice and roads in HP being relaid.

The bhagsunath temple is a swambulingam and happens to be the presiding deity of the Gurkha regiment ever since the british brought them in HP in the 19th century. Most of the temples in the region has seen contributions from the army.

d) The Jwalamukhi temple was both attacked by Md. Ghori and even Akbar tried to douse the fire but finally gave up. The temple has a natural pipe in the rocks through which natural gas flows and the flame is workshipped. Was a very good experience spiritually as well.

e) Proceeded to Khatra via Pathankhot and Jammu. Pathankhot was full of cantonments only. The road is completely four laned from Pathankhot almost till Khatra. The roads are new and nicely done - reminds me of Mumbai -Pune expressway where the steep roads were flattned through concrete over bridges and tunnels. The four-laning of the highway was happening from Khatra onwards until Srinagar I guess. Lot of military vehicles using the road.

f) Stayed in the country inn resorts in Khatra and the facility was nice. The helicopter services runs every 10 minutes to Vaishnavi devi temple. The booking was completely online while there was a provision to apply against cancellation. The procedure is very cumbersome with paper work and it ensures that people with recommendations from every where are able to get tickets even though the online tickets were sold out. Our driver arranged the tickets for us onward and while the return was arranged by a local guide at Vaishnavi devi. A second helipad was getting ready to be opened by Modi. Incidently the week saw the opening of the Khatra railway station which I could see while flying on the chopper. No money collections by Poojaris but we were asked to put the money in the hundis. For the darshan there is no need to go through the small cave anymore. and now that path is closed. The darshan was very smooth. The entire palkin and the mule services are run by J & K Muslims. They have built a new Mosque in Khatra much to the angst of the locals who were very voiceferous of the islamization in the state. The local paper state times was very jingoistic warming the hearts of any BRFite. They did not have a problem in calling terrorist terrorist unlike the newstraders. The papers had a few articles critizing the Govt of taking away temple land of the pandits and building commercial complexes. Also passed through the Kaluchuk contonments and brought back memories of the massacre.

g) JK police seemed very very corrupt. While most traffice police in every city collects hafta from other state vehicle, they typically leave the tourist cabs from the same state off. However, we were stopped by every police checkpost and they collected Rs 100-200 at every place. The driver mentioned that the factor in atleast Rs 200-300 every day for paying bribe to the police. The same was the case in HP as well for other state vehicles but did not notice it in Punjab. The Pujaris in the Raghunath temple in Jammu were hell bent on collecting Rs100in the pretext of poojas as they do in the rest of the countries. Our drivers told me that people of Jammu have a lot of regards for the fauj and a very low opinion on the JK police. The army have established the balidhan stambh in Jammu and people were flocking them.

h) Jammu airport was very cramped and with several layers of security. They don't allow cabin baggage in the flight (except for laptop bags or ladies handbags). One has to identify the checked in baggage in a secure area before they are loaded onto the flight. The airport is manned by JK Police and not CISF.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by jamwal »

Did you visit Triund ?
Sridhar K
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Sridhar K »

^^ No Sir. Did not visit Triund. After Katra, we dropped plans to see a few temples because one of our co-travellers was unwell. We were a group of 6.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by jamwal »

That's a pity. A trek to Triund is worth all other attractions of Mcleodanj combined.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Suraj »

Nice data on Indian tourist arrivals and earnings:
India’s August Tourist Arrivals: Summary

Code: Select all

============================================================================
                               Aug.    July    June     May   April     YTD     YTD
                               2014    2014    2014    2014    2014    2014    2013
============================================================================
                           ---------------------- YoY% ---------------------
Tourist Arrivals              17.0%   12.9%    9.0%    0.8%   11.9%    7.4%    4.9%
Earnings (INR)                22.8%   19.9%   18.3%   11.7%   23.3%   12.8%   15.4%
Earnings (USD)                26.8%   19.3%   17.4%    3.3%   11.0%    4.6%    8.0%
                           --------------------- Levels --------------------
Tourist Arrivals (thousand)     569     572     492     421     504   4,685   4,360
Earnings (INR billion)       102.54  103.36   84.58   74.03   89.09     774     686
Earnings (USD million)        1,684   1,721   1,440   1,247   1,475  12,739  12,178
                           ---------------------- MoM% ---------------------
Tourist Arrivals              -0.5%   16.3%   16.9%  -16.5%  -24.7%     n/a     n/a
Earnings (INR)                -0.8%   22.2%   14.3%  -16.9%  -13.1%     n/a     n/a
Earnings (USD)                -2.1%   19.5%   15.5%  -15.5%  -12.2%     n/a     n/a
============================================================================
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Bibhas »

My last post was here was two years ago (less 3 days to be exact). In the past two years, I have worked like a donkey (beside my regular job in TCS) to bring Andaman & Nicobar & my resort Ixzire to some level of focus. I strongly believe that our PM Modi's effort and special focus on tourism will inspire the whole world to come to India. But unless we prepare ourselves to provide a world class experience, it is going NOWHERE. Consistent customer satisfaction and a lot of affection from our guests have pushed Ixzire in Tripadvisor ranking to #1 for the past one and half years.

Me and my team have done extensive research to discover and offer newer and far more exciting places ever and we are currently offering custom tour itineraries from Diglipur to the North till Little Andaman to the south and almost everything in between. I have also wrote an unique drupal module for our website to give anyone an instant and intelligent tour-planning with standardised costing by the click of a single button.

I have launched an extensive campaign for Andaman & Nicobar Islands, its life and beauty to bring it to the world stage. Our campaign is primarily through facebook and googleplus. I also created an YouTube Channel with interesting videos from this faraway place. As a next step, I am planning for some stunning aerial videography of the adjoining jungle and currently looking for any professional who could do it for me at a reasonable cost.

NaMo or for that matter any captain can lead, but we won't go anywhere unless we the foot soldiers actually march ahead. Before Veer Savarkar airport becomes International and the VisaOnArrival becomes a reality in Port Blair with flights from neighbouring SAARC countries at least, Andaman should be well advertised to the entire world.

And one last confession, due to extreme work pressure, I could not maintain othersideofindia.com. I am sorry. The domain is still with me. I need to re-work that old ASP.Net 2.0 program written by me long back. But once I get some free time, I will come back with some really really stunning photographs that I have taken during my countrywide road trips. PLUS some one from BR contacted me for inclusion in his website. I could not do it as I had very little time. No offence. If you still feel so, do send me a mail again. This time I will at least appoint someone to fulfil it.

Following are the links to the various things I just described.

website: ixzire.com
facebook: facebook.com/ixzire
GooglePlus: google.com/+ixzire
twitter: twitter.com/ixzire
YouTube: youtube.com/user/ixzire
Tripadvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.in/Hotel_Review- ... lands.html

Many Bharat-Rakshak members have visited our place and I will always have a special corner for a fellow Brfite. If you happen to visit our facebook/plus page, do consider a "like"/"follow" (just being shameless here :) ). Apart from receiving some good photographs time to time and few small news from the islands in your fbook feed, it will spread the awareness about Andaman. Its not about making profit from five cottages in a remote island. It is about showcasing the tourism potential of 536 Indian islands to the world.

Hope to see you in Andaman Soon.

--- Bibhas
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Shankas »

Bibhas - Beautiful place. I will visit next year.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by krishnan »

going to plan one with my family , maybe during may next year
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by sum »

Bibhas sir, hat tip to you for your amazing resort. I was blown away by the resort on my last visit and will be 400% back again!!
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Bibhas »

sum - Next time I will take you to Little Andaman, a paradise unexplored. We have started regular service there. Its 8~9 hours of cruise though. But with first class cabin accommodation we are also making night sailing.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by girish.r »

Bibhas wrote:sum - Next time I will take you to Little Andaman, a paradise unexplored. We have started regular service there. Its 8~9 hours of cruise though. But with first class cabin accommodation we are also making night sailing.
Wow, seems nice resort. Next time certainly will plan a trip.. :) +1
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by sum »

Bibhas wrote:sum - Next time I will take you to Little Andaman, a paradise unexplored. We have started regular service there. Its 8~9 hours of cruise though. But with first class cabin accommodation we are also making night sailing.
AoA. *starts preparing soosai vest for mission*
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by chandrasekhar.m »

bibhas saar,
I will be visiting India in dec-jan. Wanted to ask some questions regarding visiting andaman islands and your resort? What's the best way to contact you/get answers?
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Bibhas »

sum :)

pandiyan sir: Best time is from October to May (basically anytime except rainy season) if you keep around eight days (saturday arrival and next sunday departure you will be able to cover many good destinations.

chandrashekhar.m sir you (and for that matter any brf member) can always contact me on my personal cell: 9 8 3 zero zero 785 nine 6 or mail the resort itself to reservations at ixzire dot com with any queries / assiatance while in Andaman or planning for Andaman.

added later:
if you contact through reservation desk email just mention you are from BRF and I will take care of it.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by chandrasekhar.m »

Bibhas saar, thank you. Got the info, can delete it if you want to. I will follow up with you in a couple of days.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Bibhas »

pandyan sir: You have to obtain RAP (restricted area permit) from Indian Embassy / Consulate / Chennai or Port Blair Airport (on arrival). Arrive at Port Blair Airport / Sea Port & we will pick you up from there.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by saip »

Bibhas, is this a new requirement? We were there I think in 2010. All of us were having OCI cards and the trip was arrange through some travel agency. They never told us about RAP.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by nandakumar »

Bibhas wrote:pandyan sir: You have to obtain RAP (restricted area permit) from Indian Embassy / Consulate / Chennai or Port Blair Airport (on arrival). Arrive at Port Blair Airport / Sea Port & we will pick you up from there.
Bibhas
I did a short trip, 4 nights and five days through Thomas Cook last April (How I wish I had chanced upon your post three years earlier). The places we had stayed and the sightseeing was nothing great. The Ross island boat tragedy that had happened the previous week too didn't help our cause. Hope to visit soon and make up for it. Would you really recommend arriving in Port Blair by sea? I am told that the SCI vessels are not well maintained and the on board food (especially for vegertarians) is awful.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by SBajwa »

Check out the tamasha at Ferozepur Border
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Bibhas »

saip ji: all foreign passport holders need to obtain RAP for Andaman. I do not know if there is any recent relaxation for PIO/OCI card holders. However if you look like a pakka desi, present some kind of Indian ID cards while you do flight check in, walk smartly, border control at Port Blair airport is likely ignore you thinking you are an Indian. RAP is a must if you are a foreign passport holder. Without this, if you are caught you will be in really big trouble.

nandakumarji: I have no much idea about Thomas Cook. I thought they are good at Forex and flight booking. I know how some of the bigname online travel agents deal with guests in Andaman. But I guess that is their business model. Their and our customer base/segment is entirely different. Hence the experience is also different.

If you are really planning for Mainland to Andaman Voyage, please do so only during winter (calm sea), from Chennai or Vizag and NEVER EVER from Kolkata. Try to stick to good ships like MV SwarajDweep etc. Not all ships are bad. Some are bad. My employees frequently travel on those ships. But I have never myself took the voyage From Mainland to Andaman. These are all I have heard from them.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Rahul M »

bibhas da, what's the problem with the kolkata sea route ?
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Bade »

I am told that BumLa Pass is not on my Tawang Package, and it requires special permissions from the local CO (?) and roads are not good and private(or tourist) vehicles are not allowed. Is this true ? I can see that if there is mil activity ongoing, but for a peaceful border as incoming and outgoing govts. have claimed :-) why are tourists limited to just the town of Tawang.

Also this business of ILP (inner line permit) just to enter the states in the North east is an archaic practice which needs to be re-visited.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Rahul M »

when are you going ? I can find out if that's true.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Bade »

3rd week of December.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by SaiK »

SBajwa wrote:Check out the tamasha at Ferozepur Border
[youtube]hmjvr_JpZvQ]
why are we continuing to do this?
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