I usually stay as far away from cities as possible – especially cities as large and metropolitan as Bangkok. I’ve never been one to make any extended plans in cities while travelling. For me, cities are primarily for transit to get to the countryside or to take day trips to the surrounding countryside! And that’s exactly how I’d planned my two-month backpacking trip across Thailand. Phuket was an exception as I had to spend five days there for a conference I was attending. Apart from that, I had planned to stay away from all cities in Thailand. But that was before I realised how fun a 24 hours ..read more

When my five busy, busy days in Phuket were finally up, I really needed a place where I could hide in my burrow and do nothing…but also have opportunities to interact with other human beings and go around once I was well rested. In short, I was in search of a place that would be quiet and happening at the same time. A beautiful balance of both worlds where I could pick and choose how I wanted to live my day: as an antisocial hermit crab or a busy bee. Enter: Koh Lanta. Located in the Krabi Province of Thailand, Koh Lanta is actually a group of two islands: Koh Lanta Yai (big Koh Lanta) and Koh ..read more

I stayed at both the Thavorn resorts in Phuket during my 6 days stay on Thailand’s biggest island. Thavorn Beach Village in Kamala district is the right place to find serenity and peace and quiet – mostly perfect for couples or those who like to stay away from the noise. But on the other hand, Thavorn Palm Beach in the Karon district is the right place to go if you’re willing to get your hair down (and wet!). While both resorts are wildly different, they are incredibly beautiful in their own rights. So here are my top reasons to visit Thavorn Palm Beach in Karon, Phuket: It’s right on Karon Be ..read more

A few years ago I would have never thought I would be doing my advanced open water scuba diving course in the Maldives of all places. Maldives has long been infamous for its exorbitant prices and high-end luxury which made me stay away from it for the longest time. It wasn’t until I met a dive instructor working in Havelock that changed my mind about the scuba diving cost in Maldives. Dev is a seasoned dive professional who has worked in Thailand and in India and now in the Maldives – who convinced me that scuba diving in the Maldives on a budget is, in fact, possible. After quitting his job a ..read more

“Long Island Andaman is a small island”, I thought to myself. I had come across it while looking for places beyond the usual Port Blair, Neil and Havelock in the Andaman Islands. I wanted to experience something different and so during my quest of experiencing the North and Middle Andaman district, after spending a week in Diglipur and almost another week in Mayabunder, I thought I’d had enough and would touch Long Island for a day or two and make my way back to Havelock. But I was way in over my head when I booked my return ticket before even arriving in Long Island Andaman. Because I had no ..read more

It took me a while to figure out something worth writing about Havelock Island. Over the course of three different trips, I ended up spending over 3 months on the Island and fell in love with its laid back vibe. Having spent so much time on Havelock, a post detailing my time here was definitely in order but I also knew I did not want to populate the Internet with yet another post about the same 6 things to do in Havelock Island that virtually everyone online writes about. Call it my plain and simple passion for finding offbeat spots in overly done tourist places, I decided to spill out my secr ..read more

I reach Long Island on a whim. After spending four days in Mayabunder, visiting the villages of Karmatang and Webi, I decide I want to hop on a bus now – and I do. No one truly knows the exact timetable of the buses. And deciding to leave on a Sunday does not help my case – apparently, buses on Sunday are fewer than on other days. So I pack my bags and sit at the side of the road for almost 45 minutes with my host until the right bus finally appears. A hurried goodbye later, I am seated in a local bus with all eyes on me – an evident outsider, a solo woman, a backpack on my back. But people ha ..read more

Diglipur is a town located in the North Andaman Island of the north and Middle Andaman district. Though the town in itself doesn’t have a lot of tourism potential, the villages and beaches around the area is what we’ll be covering in this Diglipur travel guide. Diglipur has a mixed population of Bengali, Malayali, Tamil and Telugu people and Hindi is widely spoken and understood everywhere here. My visit to Diglipur was planned rather spontaneously and came to fruition at the very last minute. I had been in Port Blair for 8 days waiting for the cyclone to clear so the ferries heading to Hut Ba ..read more

My stint with the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands has gone way beyond just a Port Blair itinerary for 3 days. Waiting for permits and ferry schedules made my Port Blair trip plan much longer than I could’ve anticipated in my dreams. The permits and ferry here is a whole other scene, something which I will delve into deeper, in dedicated posts on a travel guide for the Andaman Islands and figuring out the ferry bookings and schedule in the Andaman Islands. But for now, having spent all of two weeks in Port Blair itself, I would like to call myself some kind of a Port Blair conno ..read more

I went to Neil Island on a whim. My initial plan was to actually take a ferry to go to Hut Bay in Little Andaman and explore this truly offbeat haven of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. But after spending three days in Port Blair, waiting for the rain to stop and the ferry schedule to come out, I decided I’d go explore some other, easily accessible part of the archipelago before I come back for my Little Andaman adventure. With almost no idea of a Neil Island travel guide, I showed up at the DSS Office for a ticket – extremely underprepared. Locals who were standing in the line with me helped ..read more