Valley of Flowers National Park — a World Heritage site — will remain closed this year even as the yatra to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri, and Hemkund Saheb has been resumed. The national park opened on June 1 this year and closed on June 16 after incessant rains triggered landslips and destroyed a bridge near the national park. The bridge — across the Pushpawati river — connected the Valley of Flowers and Ghangaria. The three-kilometre stretch between the bridge and the national park was also destroyed after heavy rainfall triggered landslips in the area. Sarvesh Kumar Dube, Sub Divisional Officer, Nanda Devi National Park, Joshimath, said, “Had everything been fine, the national park would have remained open till October end.” “The Public Works Department (PWD...
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In a decision that could increase foreign exchange earning from tourism for the country in future, the Planning Commission of India has recommended a comprehensive overhaul in the visa facilitation process for travelers intending to visit India. In a joint meeting of the officials of the related ministries of Home Affairs, External Affairs, Tourism, etc., it was recommended to extend Visa on Arrival (VoA) facilities to citizens of 40 more countries. The Commission also recommended VoA for senior citizens and pensioners from all countries, as well as setting up online visa processing system to enhance smoother facilitation of visas for overseas travelers. The 40 countries which would be included in the list for VoA include the USA, UK, Russia, Germany, France, China, Canada, Brazil, ...
Read MoreVenice in Italy and a little-known Pokfulam Village in Hong Kong have one thing in common. Both are included in list of culturaal heritage sites at risk by World Monuments Fund (WMF). List also has places like the urban (Yangon Historic Center, Myanmar) and the remote (Gran Pajatén, in Peru); the ancient (Ancient Irrigated Terraces of Battir, in the Occupied Palestinian Territories) and the modern (the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, in St. Louis, Missouri), all for diverse reasons including conflict and neglect. India has three of its sites included in the list, they are - Historic city of Bidar in Karnataka, Juna Mahal at Dungarpur in Rajasthan and house of Sufi saint Salim Chishti at Fatehpur Sikri, near Agra in Uttar Pradesh. World Monuments Fund (WMF) announced t...
Read MoreDavos has been known to world as the host city of World Economic Forum (WEF). But besides that Davos is a panoramic resort village located in the heart of the Graubünden in the east of Switzerland. Together with the nearby town of Klosters, Davos Klosters is one of the most tradition-rich holiday destinations in the Alps and blossoms in new splendour and offers a wide variety of winter sports activities, and summer hiking trails, set amid stunning Alpine scenery. Whether you participate in WEF or not, Davos is still a place worth visit as a tourist. Let's have a look at the many things it has to offer this winter season:- Free skipass until Christmas - 16 November to 23 December 2013 During the pre-season, all guests will again receive a free skipass for Davos Klosters Mountain ra...
Read MoreFirst gopuram of the Virupaksha temple in Hampi as seen through a hole in the wall inside the temple. This hole with a pin hole camera technique transmits an inverted image of the gopuram on the wall just opposite to this hole. See it to believe it. ...
Read MoreOne of the India's top super luxury train Royal Rajasthan on Wheels (RROW) embarked on its first commercial journey of the new tourist season on Sunday from Safdarjung Railway station in New Delhi. On its first trip trains had 26 passengers. This train is jointly operated by Rajasthan Tourism and Indian Railways. This train has been running since 2008. This is second luxury train running in Rajasthan besides Palace on Wheels (POW). Leaving Delhi, this train will take travelers to tiger reserve of Ranthambore, historical fort of Chittorgarh, City of lakes Udaipur, Blue city Jodhpur and Pink city Jaipur in Rajasthan. Outside state train will go UNESCO world heritage complex of Khajuraho, city of TAJ Agra and Varanasi before returning to Delhi in a weeklong journey. This train has been
Read MoreThe whales are back! An adult humpback whale did a "beautiful" fluke up dive in front of excited crew and passengers on Pacific Whale Foundation's vessel Ocean Voyager at 7:36 am this morning. This is Pacific Whale Foundation's first verified humpback whale sighting of the season off Maui. With 7 vessels and over 15 whale watches per day during whale season, Pacific Whale Foundation puts its time in on the ocean! It has also introduced exclusive Whale and Dolphin tracker! This tool is updated every day and recorded in real time, displaying all sightings within the last 7 days. Captain Gabriel Wilson of Ocean Voyager reported that the humpback whale was sighted about two miles from Molokini towards Wailea heading north in the direction of Ma'alaea Bay. "I was the first to spot a sin
Read MoreAfter taking Europe by storm in their mission to mark the 100 years of Bollywood, cinema high profiles of the Indian film and music industry touched down on Seychelles islands for the first edition of the Seychelles-India Day Celebrations. Once Emirates Airlines landed at Seychelles International Airport, the 23 Bollywood mainstream actors, actresses, singers, flutist, and percussionist disembarked in true show-business star fashion. Never before has Seychelles International Airport hosted such a large group of the finest from the Indian entertainment world. The star of the moment was Ranganathan Madhavan, the guest of honor of the Seychelles-India Day Celebrations. Madhavan, ranked among the top ten Indian actors, will join Terrence Lewis, the ace Indian choreographer, and other B
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English may be the universal language, but to feel truly immersed in the culture and vibe of a local destination, there’s nothing quite as authentic as speaking like the locals do. So, modern luxury line Celebrity Cruises– with vacations visiting all seven continents, and a focus on enhancing the destination experience for its guests – has made it easy for vacationers to speak local languages with its new, industry-first app, “Cruise Lingo.” An interactive language and culture guide, and a customized version of the award-winning mobile app from TripLingo, Cruise Lingo allows travelers easy access to authentic local phrases and relevant information to enhance their destination experience. By simply speaking or typing a phrase – such as, “Where is the nearest ATM?” – into a mobile device,
Read MoreTourism Australia (TA) along with Destination New South Wales (DNSW) have collaborated with Malaysia Airlines on a promotion campaign featuring attractive airfares to Australia. As part of the campaign, Malaysia Airlines is offering fares to Australia starting from INR 44,999 from Bangalore and Chennai; INR 46,999 from Mumbai and Hyderabad and INR 51,999 from Delhi. The promotional fares are on sale effective immediately till 31 October 2013 for a travel period valid upto 30 April 2014. Leisure travel to Australia has been on an upswing in recent months with a consistent increase in the number of Indian travelers. There were 10,900 visitors from India during July 2013, bringing the total for the seven months to July to 95,900, an increase of 6.3 per cent relative to the same period prev
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