DocDivaTraveller: November 2022

The word 'Tal' means lake in Hindi. Nainital: The word itself means Nine lakes (Naini: 9, Tal : Lake) So when you visit Nainital, you are supposed to visit all the lakes! No I am kidding. The cute hill town of Nainital itself has a huge lake which is surrounded by the Himalayas on all the sides. However, there are other smaller towns in the Nainital district that have many lakes. The famous ones are : Sattal, Bhimtal and Naukuchiatal. So on the final day of our trip, we went on a lake hopping tour. Our first stop was Sattal.

Sattal as the name suggests, is a combination of seven lakes which are interconnected with each other. The views of the lakes from above are worth capturing. We stopped our car to click the aerial views. After that, our car rapidly descended to reach the foot of the hill at the lake.

The way to the water was rather adventurous; through dense bushes and trees and swampy land. There were number of canoes anchored at the banks, and we wasted no time in waiting. We took the oars and rowed for a while. It was rather tricky for me to get back to the bank as more I wanted to row nearer, the further I was pushed into the lake! At one point, I even felt that I might have to swim in the lake! Thank God that was not necessary!

Our next stop was Bhimtal. It is the largest lake in the Kumaon region which has a dam too. The lake serves drinking water and a variety of fish are reared in it. The entire lake is surrounded by roads and hence urbanisation. Thus it lacks the wilderness that Sattal oozed. Bhimtal is usually a place for meals and snacks as there are a lot of eateries. Contrary to what people may perceive of tourist places, the prices of food are not that sky rocketing. However the parking was! It was flat 50 INR while we were there just for half an hour.

We tried to cover the boundaries of the lake on foot as much as possible. My parents were busy trying to control our toddler. After we got the alarm to come back, we load up in our car encircled the Lake on wheels. Our next destination was Naukuchiatal.

The word Naukuchiatal means 'nine corners' which translates to a lake with nine corners. But the thing that fascinated our family (read the parents of a three year old) the most was the lotus pond near the Naukuchiatal. Hailing from Bengal, lotuses are not an uncommon sight; but it had been really long that I had witnessed a lotus pond in adulthood. I was absolutely thrilled and so were my husband and daughter.

There are boating and kayaking options in every lake. After all, that's what water bodies are for, right? But since we had our return train back on that day, we did not venture into the water. It was definitely a trip for the books. This was my 4 th time in Nainital but still it charms me more every time I visit.

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla.

November 24, 2022 18 comments

So your best friend suddenly decides to get married to her long time partner. Good news is that the wedding is in another city and hence it would be a nice, short getaway with friends. Also, you get to be her bridesmaid, which means a lot of goodies and special memories. Bad news is that the trip is just a week away and you really don't have that much savings to pay for the expenses. You just bought a fancy new phone and hence your credit card limit is over. Ok, don't blame yourself, you did not see this coming, right? But then, how are you going to find the money you need? Fret not, being the avid budget planner I am, here are my few tried and tested tips to sail through this smoothly and happily. Read on!

1. Cut down your expenses before the trip. Just because the trip is just a week away, does not mean you can't utilize it.

a. Make your coffee at home. Stop buying it from your fancy Barista.

b. Ditch the Uber and take the subway or bus to work. Bonus: that extra walking will make you fitter for the trip.

c. Don't eat out, cook at home. You can't even imagine how much you can save from just cutting down your takeaway expenses. Pack your lunch for work.

2. Apply for a Payday loan. So you thought of borrowing some moolah from your closest friend but could not because she, too, is going on this last minute trip! You don't want to call your parents and want to manage this on your own but then where's the solution? A payday loan. Yes, if you have not heard of this, you better do now because it's literally a life saver!

So what's a payday loan? It's basically short term borrowing which usually gets approved within 24 hours. You neither need a high Credit score nor the humungous amount of paperwork required for a conventional loan. If you have a salary, you are eligible for it. It's basically a part of your next pay check. Sites like Money Mutual help bring lenders and borrowers together.

3. Budget your getaway. Book a train ticket instead of flying or take a road trip. You can convince your friends to do the same and accompany you. Buy food from the supermarkets on the way. The journey matters, right? In the end, you all would be overflowing with beautiful road trip memories. If you have to pay for the accommodation yourself, opt for a nearby Air BnB with a kitchen. Ditch the fancy hotel where the wedding guests are staying. Load up on groceries from the department store for the meals outside the ceremony. You will save a lot. You do have to pay back the payday loan, remember?

4. Sentiment over price tag. Instead of dreaming of getting that fancy appliance as a wedding gift, make her something sentimental. It's way more precious. Think of something outside the box, make a souvenir of your days spent together or create a trinket with your own hands. If she values you, your gift would be priceless for her nonetheless.

5. Shop your closet. We girls tend to go on a shopping spree whenever there's a trip planned. Instead of visiting the mall, rummage your closet. You would be surprised to find a ton of outfits that fit you, but you haven't worn them in a long time. Clean and iron them, pack them up. Same goes for the accessories. Upcycle and save.

Trust me guys, I use these time tested tips over and over and save a lot! I always believe in spending on experiences rather than fancy coffees or outfits. If you have more budgeting tips, feel free to add them in the comments below!

November 15, 2022 8 comments

So when you are in Munchen, Germany, you might wonder why to visit a garden right? This place will pop up in every list of To Do things or places to visit. And you might plan to skip it, like my husband. What's so special in a garden? It would be just a park to jog and walk right? Well no! This is no ordinary park or garden. Spread over 3.7 square kilometres, it's the world's largest urban park. And not just the size, it is definitely one of the prettiest sites in Munich.

It is very easy to reach there by public transport. Thankfully there are no entry fees. There are several spots to visit in the garden and the greenery will take your breath away. We visited during September and the leaves had already started changing colours.

Now why is it called the English Garden? Because it does not have a definite architecture (read Baroque) like French Gardens. Whatever it is, you can witness a river, lake, small hills and various other variations here.

The Japanese Teahouse and Garden: Since we visited early in the morning, it was closed. It's by a stretch of water and very pretty from outside.

It was mid September and the leaves had started changing. It was indeed a wonderful sight.

Kleinhesseloher See: It's hard to imagine how such a vast lake can be within the premises of a garden. See means lake in German. Of course this lake is manmade and there are 3 islands in this lake.

Eisbachwelle: There are tonnes of other attractions in the garden but we had limited time. So this was our final stop and definitely the most exciting. We had never witnessed anything like this before.

Munich may be a land locked city but that doesn't deter the people from surfing. In the entry to the garden, the Eisbach river gushes to provide surfing waves to surfers. In fact, the Eisbachwelle is the largest, best and most consistent city centre location for river surfing. Surfers from all over the world come here and this has been going on for 40 years!

We were stuck in awe! Firstly, it was our first river surfing experience. Secondly, it was completely novel to us that surfing could be done like this! It was such a sight! It was a Sunday that maybe that explained the innumerable surfers waiting to catch the wave.

There are innumerable spots that deserve a visit. But of course you need ample time for that. The Monopteros, sculptures of eminent people like Chopin, Confucius and all, they all deserve a special mention.