MILLIONS OF FIREFLIES LIGHT UP A SMALL VILLAGE IN MAHARASHTRA AND LEAVE SHARMISTHA CHAUDHURI SPELLBOUND
The car jerked while-taking a turn and broke my slumber. Outside, the Mumbai traffic and the muggy summer weather had been replaced by a slight chill in the air. The high-rises had been replaced by a brown rocky landscape, interspersed with a house here and there. “This is Bhandardara,” said Omkar, my charioteer for the journey, as we whizzed past farmers tilling bajra and rice fields, blooming marigold patches and umpteen mango trees. My phone suddenly came to life. “Make your calls now,” he advised.
He was right. We reached Rajur, the last major town, 16 kilometres from my destination, and my mobile service died. But it was all okay. It gave me time to appreciate the natural beauty of rural Maharashtra. The brown earth and rocky trajectories, coupled with the various shades of green trees and fields gave me a sense of tranquillity—often missed in a fast-paced city.
I was on my way to Purushwadi, a small village in Maharashtra, about six hours away from the state’s capital, to see fireflies. As a city dweller, we often feel a disconnect with our primordial roots. While we decorate our homes with artificial fairy lights, it is a lot more thrilling to see nature’s fairy lights in the wild, or so I imagined. I smiled as we came to our pit stop.
A tall lanky man with a wide loveable smile greeted me. Introducing himself as Tahnaji, he played out my itinerary over cups of sweetened lemongrass tea. I was putting up at the Grassroutes campsite, a short walk from the village. A rural community-based tourism organisation, Grassroutes gives visitors a taste of the rustic life. Purushwadi is one of the villages the organisation works with.
Denne historien er fra July 2018-utgaven av Outlook Traveller.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra July 2018-utgaven av Outlook Traveller.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Where History Meets Luxury
Murmurs Of The Past Echo Through The Corridors Of These Legendary Stays
LIFE AT THE TOP
WHILE THE GOVERNMENT READIES AMBITIOUS PLANS TO BOOST TOURISM IN THE REGION, SPITI LOCALS ARE GRAPPLING WITH CHALLENGES POSED BY CLIMATE CHANGE AND SCARCE RESOURCES
NO SCREENS NO PROBLEM
DOES TAKING A BREAK FROM YOUR PHONE OR COMPUTER GIVE YOU ANXIETY OR A RUSH OF JOY? AS MORE AND MORE INDIANS CHOOSE RELAXATION AS THEIR PRIMARY MOTIVATOR TO TRAVEL, HERE'S WHAT A DIGITAL DETOX HOLIDAY IN INDIA LOOKS LIKE
GREEN LIVING
SRINAGAR ATTRACTS HORDES OF tourists for its iconic Dal Lake, tree-lined boulevards and Mughal-era gardens resplendent with chinar trees. Now, both the \"Lake of Flowers\" and chinars are in a fight for survival as pollution from untreated sewage and unsupervised logging threatens their future.
DISCOVERING THE CAUCASIAN PEARL
BATUMI IS A GETAWAY FOR ALL SEASONS, IMPRESSING VISITORS WITH ITS QUAINT VIBE, CLASSIC ARCHITECTURE AND TRADITIONAL CUISINES
WHERE SKY MEETS SEA
ESPERANCE, ALONG THE REMOTE SOUTHERN COAST OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, IS A DESTINATION THAT REWARDS THOSE WILLING TO WANDER OFF THE BEATEN PATH
NEW FINDS IN AN ANCIENT CITY
WHILE THE GREEK ISLANDS STEAL THE LIMELIGHT, THERE'S MUCH TO.UNCOVER IN ATHENS, INCLUDING TOP-NOTCH STAYS AND LESSER-KNOWN STORIES FROM THE PAST
UNTAMED SATPURA
AN ENCHANTING BLEND OF LUXURY AND NATURE, JEHAN NUMA WILDERNESS IN CENTRAL INDIA IS WHERE ROYAL LEGACIES PROVIDE A GATEWAY TO CONSERVATION
THE JEWEL OF THE EAST
LONG BEFORE WES ANDERSON ROMANTICISED THE FICTIONAL GRAND BUDAPEST, THE GREAT EASTERN HOTEL IN KOLKATA INSPIRED NOVELS, FILMS AND OODLES OF NOSTALGIA
IN SEARCH OF THE BEST STAYS
MARK WONG OF SMALL LUXURY HOTELS OF THE WORLD TALKS QUIRKY STAYS, STRANGERS BECOMING FRIENDS, AND CHASING THE MOST UNIQUE EXPERIENCES ON HIS TRAVELS
