Dubai Itinerary

The most popular city in UAE, you may also call the land of gold, from skyscrapers to a desert, adventure activities to exotic beaches all you will get it here in Dubai. Located in the Persian Gulf it attracts a lot of tourists year round so here is my detailed itinerary of how to spend 10 days in Dubai.

Day 1 - Desert Safari - From the city hustle bustle u can escape booking a tour of the desert safari through the internet or by any travel agent. The tour includes round-trip transfers, The driver will indulge you in exciting and adventurous dune-bashing by 4X4 wheel into the vast endless desert and after that, they will drop you at the desert camp where you can enjoy camel riding, falcon holding, henna painting, shisha smoking, quad biking(charges apply) and of course you can take some mesmerising sunset pictures, so after all the desert experiences u can enjoy bbq dinner with veg and nonveg options followed with belly dance and Tanura performance.

Day 2 - Dubai Mall and At the Top Burj Khalifa (fountain and Light&sound show) -The world's tallest building Burj Khalifa, buy a ticket for At The Top and enjoy the breathtaking view of city, ocean, and desert from the tallest building and after that you can proceed to Dubai mall which is a shopper's paradise beside you have other entertainment and dining options in the mall like Gold souk, The aquarium, The waterfall, Ice rink, and dinosaur skull etc.

Day 3 -Dubai museum, gold souk, and spice souk - Dubai museum represents how emirates people led their lives in ancient times. It is one of the oldest building of Dubai. After visiting the museum you can reach spice souk by taking a water taxi across the creek which will cost you 1 AED. Spice souk is an Arab style vibrant colorful marketplace where you can buy souvenirs with bargaining. Gold souk is adjacent to spice souk flooded with the high quality of Gold at fair prices this market is a must have experience.

Day 4 - Dubai frame, kite beach and Dubai Zoo - Dubai frame is not an ordinary frame it's a 150-meter tall building in a frame shape inside you will have a glimpse of past and future Dubai. Through the elevator glass panel, you can see old Dubai and New Dubai. To be precise on one side of the frame you can see newer Dubai and from another side, you can see older Dubai and the best part is after reaching the top gallery, there is a transparent glass walkway you just need to hold your heart and walk through, it's fun. The frame is really worth a visit. Dubai Zoo has many species of animals and mammals if you are an animal lover then definitely this place will attract you and in the evening you can head towards Kite beach stretched in two km there are the restaurant, shopping, and food truck options available for you.

Day 5 - Miracle & Butterfly garden and Global Village - Miracle Garden is a flower garden artistically placed with vast species of flowers which certainly going to steal your heart. Near to Miracle garden at a walking distance is the Butterfly Garden where you get to see thousands of butterflies dancing all around you. Take a taxi from Miracle garden for Global Village paradise for the shopaholic people. Divided into several pavilions one can go to any country and can buy products and taste their food. U need a lot of time to see each country and their performances. It is shut during the summer season so check before you go.

Pls, note u can get a direct bus for Global Village and Miracle Garden from Mall of the Emirates. 

Day 6 - Abu Dhabi (Sheik Zayed Mosque, Ferrari world, heritage village, Emirates Palace, Saadiyat beach) - Well it all depends's on you whether you want to spend a night at Abu Dhabi or want to do the sightseeing and come back the same day. Abu Dhabi is the richest out of seven emirates. It hardly takes two hours to reach from Dubai. The grand mosque is the key attraction of Abu Dhabi, the mosque has amazing chandeliers and beautifully carved in marbles with the semi-precious stone. Next, you can go to the heritage village and have lunch at Marina mall and spend the rest of the day at Ferrari where the fastest roller coaster will thrill you. saadiyat beach is a white sand beach where you can wear the bikini. You need to pay for entering this beach so it is less crowded and chill out place.

Day 7 - JBR walk and Dubai Marina - Jbr walk nowadays is one of the hot places to hang around in Dubai. it gets vibrant by the evening with many fun activities going on in street accompanied by multiple kinds of cuisine at one side and beach on the other side. Dubai Marina surrounded by amazing architecture and dining places where you can walk through and can go on a sunset dinner cruise.

Day 8 - Atlantis the palm, Lost Chamber, and Aqua venture -  Atlantis is a luxury hotel. To reach Atlantis I would suggest using the interesting monorail journey and if you are not staying then also you can enjoy aquarium The Lost Chamber and after that, you may indulge yourself for the whole day in Aquaventure.

Day 9 - Dubai park (Motiongate, Bollywood park, Legoland) - There are three theme parks with thrilling rides and entertainment options in Dubai park. You need two days to visit all the parks. If you want to stay there then book a resort inside the park.

Day 10 - Fly back to your place.

Indian's Travelling to Bhutan

Hello guys, well I am too excited to share a few tips which will be beneficial before landing to Bhutan.

1. Indians need a voter id or Passport and two passport size photograph along with the hotel booking to get the permit to enter Bhutan and no other document will help.

2. Permit office to enter Bhutan are closed on Saturdays, Sundays and other government holidays so plan accordingly. Timings are 9 Am to 5 Pm BST.

3.If you are landing by flight directly to the Thimphu or Paro then very first you will need to take the permit of all the places you are about to travel after that you may start your journey.

4.If you are entering Bhutan by border gates then you may collect permit from permit office of the border town but u will get the permit only for Paro and Thimphu for seven days but for visiting other places u have to take permission again from Thimphu office.

5.There are three border gates to enter Bhutan -
A Phuntsholing(most used)  B Gelephu C samdrupjongkhar (How to reach refer to my other blog https://travellingmasala.blogspot.in )

6.Please be prepared for enough cash as most of Indian debit cards do not work in Bhutan (if you see at the back of your debit card it's written in small this card will not work in Bhutan and Nepal).

7.Tourist sims are easily available, you just have to fill the form at the respective office. Two telecom operator Tmobile and Bmobile (B operates in all places and has better network)

8.BP refer to as Bhutan private taxi and BG refer to Government taxi. Better to take government taxi.

Hope this will help you all.

How to reach Bhutan from India

Hello everyone, so if you are planning to visit Bhutan and wondering how to reach there then below is the solution to your problem.

There are three options to reach Bhutan and I am going to explain all of them in brief.
 A) Air B) Road and C) Train

By Air

Fly directly to Paro  (Airport distance is 6km from Paro and 54km from Thimphu)
You can book your tickets only through Bhutan government website Druk air and select SAARC under nationality but one thing I must tell you that the fares are really high and there is rare chance to get the availability on your desired dates.

Fly till Bagdogra
You may take a flight till Bagdogra to cut down the expense and from Bagdogra you may hire a taxi or take a bus till Jaigaon-border town and at the other side of Jaigaon is town Phuentsholing in Bhutan where you can collect permit and depart further by Bus or Bhutan taxi and this is what most of the people do so they get to see roadside beauty from Phuentsholing To Thimphu.

NOTE: Jaigaon to Phuentsholing you can just walk through border gate which is open from 6 am to  9 pm.

By Road

There are three border gates from where you can enter Bhutan-
1. Phuentsholing (16 km from Hasimara railway station and 150 km from Silliguri)
2. Gelephu (east side)
3. Samdrup jongkhar (east side 150 km away from Guwahati)

Out of these three places, phuentsholing is generally used by tourist people because this is the nearest gate to reach Thimphu, Paro, and other tourist destinations.
You can take your own car or hire a Bhutan taxi from any of these places and yes Bus is also an option for you but they are not frequent and are very few.


By Train

Hasimara is the nearest railway station to reach Jaigaon or Phuentsholing after getting down here you can take an auto which will take not more than half an hour to reach border gate which is 16 km from railway station.
There are lot of train options from all over India to Hasimara and if you don't find any then travel till Siliguri by air or train and then take another train or bus from Siliguri to reach Hasimara.

Triund Trek

Triund is a small hill at the top ridge in the state of Himachal with the view of Kangra Valley at one side and Dhauladhar mountain on the other side. Once you are at the top you get a spectacular and breathtaking view of mountain and Valley very closely. The trek will take you through a forest of oak, rhododendron and deodar trees. 

Though this is one of the easy (4 hr going and 3 hr coming) treks with clear trail, the starting three hours is easy but the last one hour is difficult with 22 hectic curves, so do fill your bottles with Glucose which will keep you hydrated but you have to buy it from the town only, Enroute there are three to four cafes in which magic view cafe is at mid point with a magical view where you can enjoy Nature with hot Maggie and Ginger lemon tea all your choice. After reaching the top you can book your tent and ask them to place it wherever you may feel. I would suggest not to book tents from Mcleodganj as the prices are higher and you are not left with the choice of bargaining which you can do after reaching to Triund. They provide you vegetarian meals with two options one with Rice and Daal and the other is chapati sabzi with rice and daal, you need to prior book your meal. Don't forget to watch sunset and night sky full of stars. The people out there may arrange bonfire if you give them some extra money and bet me that is really worth if you are with interesting folks. Enjoy playing some sort of games or Antakshari, when you are over with all your fun go back to your tent, take a good nap and wake up early in the morning around 6 am to witness the ultimate view of valley and sunrise. Enjoy the good morning tea and start returning to avoid the afternoon heat.  

There is a two-hour snowline trek from Triund which you can do on the same day if you reach early else you can do it while returning.

If you wish to come back same day then better start early,

How to reach

From Dharamkot (Galu Devi temple) -7 km

Once you reach to Mcleodganj which is 3kms above Dharamshala take a cab or auto to Dharamkot which will charge you around Rs.300 to 350. The cab will take you through a rough road and drop you to the Galu Devi temple from where the actual Triund trek starts for 7km and the total time it will take 3 to 4 hours leisurely totally depends on your speed. There will be a security guard in the starting point who is going to register the names of all your group member and an ID proof will be submitted from anyone of the group member which you may collect once you are back.

From Bhagsunag waterfall - 9km

From Mcleodganj take an auto to Bhagsu temple and start your trek of 9km This route will exhaust you more so would suggest starting from Dharamkot route which is easier and more beautiful.

Best Time 

Best time to visit Triund is March to May and September to December as January & February there is snowfall and July & August it's Rainy 

Things to carry 

warm clothes, trekking shoes, torch, soap, Glucose, necessary medicines, sun's cream lotion etc.

Maldives Budget, Luxury and Diving

1. Maldives Budget travelling

For those who are explorers and adventurous, I would suggest staying at Maafushi island. 

3 night at Maafushi

After reaching Hulhumale (airport island) take a ferry from the jetty to the Male city (it will charge 10 Maldivian Rufiyaa per person) within ten to fifteen mins you will reach to male. After reaching male you can take a speed boat or ferry for Maafushi island. Please note there is a particular time in which the ferry and the speed boats run, you have to check the timetable for that. A speed boat may charge you $25 or $20 and a ferry will charge you 50 Maldivian Rufiyaa. If you landed late evening then you can stay for a night in  Hulhumale and next day you can depart for Maafushi.

Maafushi

Maafushi is comparatively cheaper and beautiful than Male city and Hulhumale and very important there is a lot more activities to do over here, this island is famous for its water activities and excursions like half day tour, full day tour, sand bank, dolphin and whale watching, picnic island, island hopping, local island visit, half day snorkelling, scuba diving, day trip to luxury island resorts.

U can get a beachside hotel at a very reasonable price. Almost every hotel and guesthouses have the bicycle so you can drive the whole island whenever and wherever you want and there is a private beach where you can wear the bikini. 

                                                                     

Male city is more commercialised and crowded there is no beach in the city except for an artificial beach so if you are on a holiday I would recommend staying at secluded and hassle free place to enjoy the beauty of island

 Half day trip - dolphin watching

                                               

sandbank

                                                                  

2. Luxury Trip

If you are in a mood of complete relax and luxury and you are a honeymoon couple then I would recommend staying in a private island resort hotel and you must opt for sunset over water villa because it is an amazing experience to feel the ocean all around you. The luxury resorts also offer many activities like the day trips, snorkelling and scuba diving, and if you are a sports person then you can go for motorised and nonmotorized activity like paddle boating, kayaking etc. Take a good massage therapy and I am sure you will enjoy each and every moment spent at the resort.

Centara Ras Fushi Resort

                                               

3. Diving (Liveaboards)

Maldives is rich in its marine life. There are various diving points like the manta ray, shark point, banana reef, coral garden etc. If you want to explore the underwater than it will be better to take a liveaboard for a week or two it is up to you, The cruise would take you through some best diving sites but for that you must have a diving certificate, people who are not good swimmer may enjoy snorkelling, fishing etc. and while sunset you may get a chance to see Dolphins accompanying you. This cruise generally runs with an all inclusive programme. Sunburns are very common so bring a good sun's cream lotion.

.