Serene Agatti, Lakshadweep

Most of us have answered or asked this question atleast once. What do you prefer, the hills or the beach? The beach it is for me. I love the sun, the seafood and the laidback life on the beach. India has some amazing beaches, some are crowded, some virgin beaches, some for relaxing, some for partying the night through,basically beaches to suit everyones whims and fancies.

One day when my friends and me noticed the airfare from Kochi to Agatti (which was ridiculously cheap due to a flash sale), We went ahead and booked it ( All my holidays by air are instant bookings, my friends and I have 15 minutes to say a yes or a no). Agatti has the only airport in the Lakshadweep archipelago, the rest are connected by helicopter or boat service.

For tourists getting into the island, an entry permit by the administration is required.Once we got in the airport, did we realize we didn't have the permit. Our point of contact in Lakshadweep had informed us he'll do it.However, due to the supposedly hectic lifestyles we lead, it had slipped our minds and we didn't follow up with him. We thought we'll go and try our luck with the airlines staff.  I believe anything can happen in India and that is exactly what happened. After a lengthy conversation  between our point of contact there and the airport staff. We were fortunate to board the flight on a February morning and enjoy a memorable laidback vacation.

View from the plane

It was a clear and sunny day so I kept myself busy on the flight by looking at the lovely cloud formations. The landing was breathtaking, on a strip of earth with the pristine clear blue sea on both sides.  It was picture perfect ,as if  taken out from one of the fancy travel magazines. Agatti airport is a tiny airport and the baggage was handed to us by calling out the passenger s name. Agatti island is not a fancy place, No shops, No restaurants ( There are a few small joints on the beach opened only when there are alot of tourists), No Alcohol. However, what we got was an experience which we'll cherish for a very long time.

Our cozy cottages

We stayed in homestay cottages ,which were very basic. (The only  luxurious experience of the cottage was an air conditioner.)  But, it had the most spectacular view of the ocean. After speaking to the owner ,we realized that our group was the only tourist on the island.Most tourist get down here and go by boat to stay on Bangaram island, which has more fancy resorts. He gave us cycles for our travel for the 5 day stay on the island, The food he informed , will be cooked by his wife and sent to us. Its very similar to the Kerala cuisine.She sent us home-cooked  non veg food which suited our palettes.

View from our cottage

Most of the days went in cycling around the island. Its just a 7.6 km stretch. Hence, we cycled every nook and corner of the island. Starting from the Agatti town to the western jetty point,to the light house at the southern tip, the pier and ended near the compound of the airport.

Apart from the usual snorkeling and kayaking, I tried out scuba diving for the 1st time. The calmness of the underwater world  with the coral reef and different school of fish took me into an enchanted fairyland like world which I didn't want to come out of. However, as all good things come to an end so did the wonderful aquatic experience. The instructor was very good, I have done dives after this and have realized if the dive is with an instructor, stick to the non commercialized ones as they have lesser customers and are patient with you
.

Scuba Diving

I rate my experiences by how much I miss or don't miss technology on my vacations, Here I didn't miss it one bit.Hence I consider this among the top 3 places I ve travelled to so far.

Dreamy Sunset

http://360degreeetravelbunny.blogspot.in/

Paragliding in Bir Billing

Adventure tourism is big business around the world and its slowly picking up in India also. We ve had adventure tourism for a while but now its become commercially viable and makes most of us feel we are adventure junkies (till reality sets in).

I had the opportunity to visit Bir Billing, Himachal Pradesh (famous for paragliding) in the last week of September 2016. We stayed in the small town of Chamunda,The only advantage of staying here was- we were located in the middle of Bir Billing & McLeodganj ( the more touristy part of the Kangra valley). However if anyone is interested only in Paragliding, its better to stay somewhere closer to Bir Billing, as travelling in the hills make the kilometers stretch a little more than usual.
Bir is the landing area for the paragliders and Billing is the take off point.

Bir to Billing Road

We left Chamunda around 7:00 am on a clear sunny day, had a simple breakfast on the way and reached Bir billing at 9:00 am . After a few formalities at the paragliding center, we got onto our jeep to take us to Billing . Its a steep and very bumpy 14 kms road up. We had to literally hang onto the jeep as it gave competition to a roller coaster ride.

Waiting for the fog to clear

Once we reached our take off point, to our disappointment there was lot of fog ( this is a spoiler for paragliders & happens often).A few tourists were on their way back saying the fog is not going to clear. Our commonsense told us to hang on and wait. According to the locals of the hilly region even experts on weather cannot predict the condition in the hills. We waited for 1 hour & then it started raining, just when our hopes had gone from low to nearly zero. We heard people getting excited. Then did we realize, Once it rains, the fog usually clears up. After another hour or so of waiting, the fog cleared and then we got our chance of going ahead with our jump

The awaited moment

The window of the jump was very narrow as the fog could come back any minute, All the paragliders,( there were Approx 50 of them) got 10 minutes till the fog came back.
So how was the feeling? Some said Terri-fic, the rest said Terri-fied, I ll go with the former.

I personally had done this earlier in Uttarakhand, However I ve written about Bir Billing because its supposedly the best place in India to do your Jump. For people unaware, The Paragliding world cup (PWC) was held here in the year 2015 and it was a very good crowd puller.









PS: I know many have suggested , to include the cuisine of the particular area in my write ups, I haven't touched onto the topic in this blog as the food here is very basic  and simple, which one gets in most regions around India ( Only the spices differ) .Although, McLeodganj in the same region has lip smacking and different cuisines to try out. I ll hit upon the topic in a different article.

Waterfall in Kalahandi

As a traveller not many will have Kalahandi, Odisha in their bucket list. I being on a sabbatical from my 9 to 5 job had a chance to visit Dukhari Chanchra in Kalahandi, Odisha.

Its Approx 45 kms from the District headquarter, Bhawanipatna. The last 10- 12 kms is a bumpy ride and maybe scary for people who are not used to travelling all alone, surrounded only by the thick forest and it eerie sounds. However I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

We suddenly came to a clearing with a small Ram Mandir. After a quick darshan we then walked 100 meters ahead and saw the river flowing over the rocks. It was a lovely place to play in the water as it had a small waterfall with a pool formation. Then did we notice a narrow path leading down, after a  20 minute walk down (It was a difficult due to loose rock) we came to a clearing and saw the big waterfall. I will not take away its beauty by describing it. Even the photos taken are not capable of showing how magnificent it was.