Mexico : Cancun

๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ   This was booked very well in advance primarily because I got a huge promotional deal at Sunset Royal Beach resort , Cancun .ย  Mexico and specially in Cancun there are these "all inclusive" resorts where essentially you pay mothing for your foods and drinks . On arrival you were given a bracelet and you just need to scan it and thats all. Flights , specially during Chrismas was expensive , so I opted for an indirect route . We had a fairly comforatable room for 5 days and…

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Croatia : 3 days in Dubrovnik

๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท ๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท Day 1 This is the beging of a 2 week trip coinciding with UK bank holiday. I arrived Dubrovnik in afternoon. My apartment was between Lapad and Old Town. Uber is available in Dubrovnik so I took an uber to my accomodation. Later in the afternoon visited a local beach named Belevue. Day 2 Dubrovnik gets pretty hot even in the beginning of June. So next mornings I wanted to go for a walk along the city wall as first thing. For a walk,ย  tickets are pretty expensive close…

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Paragliding in Pokhara

๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ต ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ต ๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ต Paragliding in Pokhara is an amazing activity . Unlike some other adventure sports its more serene almost felt like spiritual. The Paragliding take-off height is 1592 meters in Sarangkot hills and the ending point is 593 m in Lakeside. It is fairly safe .There was an accident om 2020 Nov in which pilot died and the passenger suffered critical injuries . Though the cause was not reported in the media but local pepole told me this was due to some dare devil stuntย  (plucking a flower from cliff wall…

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Tenerife and Madrid in 10 days

Everyone loves cheap deals but this one was rediculasly cheap to be true. A fully equipped 1 bed apartment in a popular sea side resort for just $150 for 3 that too for a full week.ย  I was not sure if I am getting into a scam and then we rescheduled two time times due to covid restrictions . So finally in Feb 2022 we were off for Tenerife and Madrid . Day 1 My flight from Luton took off early morning and we checked in Pearly Greay ocean resort by 12.ย …

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Abu Dhabi in 3 days

๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ช Visiting Abu Dhabi was not in cards but the offer from Etihad was tempting , they were offering free stay for 2 nightsย  in 5 star hotel. I was on my way to India anyway, so it was a good deal. I arrived at the airport around mid day . Immigration barrier was mostly automated and getting a local SIM in airport was easy. I took a bus from airport to now defunct city terminal and then took a cab to my hotel. Day 1 Today I reached the hotel and…

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Khirai – Valley of flowers

๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Khirai, a sleepy station next to Panskura Junction is known as Bengal Valley of flowers. Though most of flower cultivation happens few miles down near Dokanda village at lower reaches of Kansai river. A nice day-out . It was sad to see that some farmers were destroying their own corps . Spoke to one and he told me that even the cost of transportation is more then what it would fetch in wholesale market.

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Dhaka

๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฉ From Coxbazar we took a local flight to Dhaka. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh is sprawling but very densely populated . The traffic jam is almost legendary , on the way to hotel it almost felt like getting out of the cab and walking would be lot quicker. I was staying at "Hotel Star City" near Kamalapur. We reached the hotel around evening , as with previous hotels, rooms were barely liveable. Dhaka Ramkrisna misson was nearby and we walked there to watch puja and Sandharati. Next morning we woke up…

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Rajshahi and Bogra

๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฉ ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฉ ๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ฉ From Dhaka Gabtoli bus station our bus station we left at 11.30. The road goes through Tangail,ย  Sirajganj,ย  Natoreย  to all the way to Rajshahi. We reached our hotel at Green City International late in the evening.ย  Next day we took a local bus to Puthia . From main road Puthia village is accessible by rickshaw, this is the largest temple complex in Bangladesh. These temples were built by hindu Zamindars of Puthia . Notable temples are Govinda Temple, Shiva Temple and there are some others in dissipated state.…

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Beijing in 3 days

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณย ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณย ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณMy first stop was Beijing. I landed after 1 PM. First impression of Beijing airport is , its enormous. You scan your passport and detects nationality and switch language accordingly.From airport I took a shuttle bus to the city which costs 25ยฅ . I arrived my hotel at about 3 PM . Shuttle bus stop is very conveniently located near my hotel. Language was a big issue but with the help of google translate I managed somehow. Air China flight was nice and comfortable and was bang on time.Day 1:I stayed in…

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๐ŸฅšEaster break … St. Briavels and Wye valley

๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡งย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡งย ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง This was one rare exception where I just booked the stay but did not plan anything, hoping others will do it. Nevertheless we arrived very late at Chepstow because lots of planned engineering work was going on M4. Weather was terrible on Friday , it was drizzling all the day. We checked-in at 5.30 and there was nothing else to do for that day. It is not everyday you can stay in a castle that too without breaking the bank. YHA did a fabulous job to maintain and renovate the castle…

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