5 places in India even Indians can't visit without permits

Foreigners travelling across India often need to get several documents stamped. But did you know that even an Indian citizen can't visit every part of the nation?

To go to these places, an Inner Line Permit is required by an Indian tourist which allows the citizen into a protected / restricted area for a limited period.

Here are 5 such places:-

Arunachal Pradesh

To enter the most north-eastern state of the nation, an ILP is required by a non local. Bordering China and Myanmar, the Arunachal Pradesh falls under restricted area list. Tawang, Roing, Itanagar, Bomdila, Ziro,Bhalukpong,Pasighat, Anini, Along are among the famous tourist destinations of Arunachal Pradesh.

Mizoram

Known for its its dramatic landscape and pleasant climate, the Mizoram is home to various tribes who practice a wide range of religious customs and cultural splendour. Phawngpui Hills, Vantawang falls, Palak Lake, Chhingpui heritage sites, local dance attracts many travel enthusiasts. The ILP can be obtained at Lengpui Airport, Shillong, New Delhi, Kolkata, Silchar and Guwahati.

Areas of Ladakh

Though the entire Jammu & kashmir state is beautiful as well as sensitive, the Ladakh region of state is even more so since it borders both Pakistan and China. All parts of Ladakh are not accessible to civilians. To visit Changthang, Hanle, Loma, Changthang Valley,beyond Loma bend, Marsimik La and Chumur. There are chances that you can be sent back by the Army from Chushul and Hanle.

Areas of Sikkim

Sharing its border with three countries, Sikkim has certain entry restrictions. An Indian national requires permit to visit protected areas like Tsomgo Lake, Nathulla, Dzongri & Goechala Trek, Yumthang, Yumesamdong, Thangu/Chopta Valley, Gurudongmar Lake. The permit can be obtained at Bagdogra Airport, Rangpo checkpost, Siliguri, Kolkata and New Delhi.

Nagaland

An Inner Line Permit (ILP) is required for domestic tourists entering Nagaland. Kohima, Dimapur, Mokokchung, Wokha, Mon, Phek, Kiphire are among the tourist destinations of Nagaland. The domestic tourists can obtain ILP from Deputy Commissioner of Dimapur, Kohima and Mokokchung, New Delhi, Kolkata and Shillong.

Want to boost your productivity? Take a travel break

Remember Ranbir Kapoor in `Ye Jawani Hai Deewani`? A flamboyant travel journalist! His role underlined an important truth: travel brings happiness, which is often infectious.

It`s a fact of life- all of us want to be happy and enjoy life but pressures of life, work stress and deadlines, weigh us down and lead us to suppress our basic quest for happiness. This is one reason why periodic breaks from work and monotony are important for professional growth.

A recent research, by Mark Rose kind of Alertness Solutions, found that the respite effect of vacation can increase work performance by as much as 80 percent.

It`s to do with the brain`s refuelling mechanism. As we take a break, the body gets a chance to recover from the toll of chronic stress. Another study suggests that office workers who take frequent travel breaks return to work with better stamina and dedication.

Today, forward-looking organizations have come to accept the fact that regular travel breaks enhance workplace efficiency. While some are modifying their Human Resource policies to extend the leniency around leaves and travel allowances, there are others who are even paying their employees to take vacations. Not surprising.

Kapil Goswamy, the CEO and MD of BigBreaks.com brings forward some good reasons as to why regular travel breaks enhance productivity.

• Break=Mental Rejuvenation: A travel break refreshes your soul. As you travel, you do a lot of soul-searching and understand your own strengths and weaknesses in a comprehensive way which y helps you to be better person, and a better professional. If you have reached the bottom of your performance chart working on tough deadlines day after day, a travel break is all you need to recharge your battery.

• Builds Organizational Skill: French poet and novelist, Anatole France said: "Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe." How true. Travel experiences build flexibility and raise the integrity of our thought process. Planning the itinerary and arranging. On the same note, travel-check-list builds our organizational skills. Collaborating and coordinating with friends and family on the trip makes us a team person. Team spirit is extremely important in professional life too.

• Helps You Stay Calm: Relaxation is an indispensable part of a travel break. It helps you break free from the robotic work atmosphere and live in the moment. More importantly, it teaches you to figure out solidarity amidst chaos. Travelers keep on meeting new people and destinations, but at the same time, they are always engrossed in a state of mental tranquility and do not panic when an emergency situation arises. Well, composure is all it takes to be cool in the workplace, right?

• Sharpens Curiosity and Awareness :Tourists are inquisitive about the places they visit. If you travel frequently, you become a good explorer. Great conversations are often the bonus while you take a road trip with your soul mates. Besides exploring new vistas and dimensions of your life, a travel break allows you to get some valuable insights which may help in your professional life.

• Gives Your Confidence a Boost: If you travel often, you may find a surprise turn in your journeys. Frequent travellers get used to this over time. Uncertainty is a part of our professional lives. Whatever the issue, knowing that you can deal with it, gives you a big-time confidence boost. This is crucial in professional life.

• Builds Soft Skills: Last but not the least, travel breaks can dramatically enhance soft skills such as managing emotions, recognizing opportunities and understanding the diversities of people and cultures. Avid travelers are forced to move out of their comfort zone and build better communication skills. Over a period of time, you build a sense of empathy for your co-travellers and become a more humane person, willing to embrace change. Besides, social interactions make you happier, as you get to learn new behavioural trends which can be significantly useful in professional life. Frequent travellers also acquire valuable coping skills which enable them to lead from the front in personal as well as professional life. 

Traveling isn't always the same! Here are three different kinds of trips

If you don't like travelling, maybe this is because you haven't been introduced to all the categories of it yet. Yes, you read that right.

Trips have various categories. And, we are pretty sure that even you will find one which is best suited for your type of travel.

Check out different types of travel:

Gap year: Yes, this is a thing now. Interestingly, it has become one of the latest travel trends. Usually, people take gap year to take a short break from their daily routine and pursue their hobbies. Be it education or exploration, a gap year can give you the freedom your soul deserves.

International events: People now-a-days set up their travel schedule based on international events. There are several music festivals and carnivals these days that are organised to target global travel enthusiasts. These are spread over a period of time so that the people who attend them can explore the destination to the core.

Business trips: Even MNCs and corporates have started organising business meetings at exotic locations. This is done to eradicate the workplace monotony. This type of travel also gives employees a sense of relief even with work on his/her platter.

Destination spa: The latest travel trend

Attention travel enthusiasts, this latest trend is taking the travel industry by storm these days these days. Here, we are talking about Destination spa. This type of trip not only soothes your inner soul but also motivates you towards a healthy lifestyle.

Isn't it amazing? Well, let us explore it in detail now.

You need to invest at least three to seven nights at a Destination spas in order to explore its complete benefits. These resorts are designed keeping in mind the spa and various other services that are related to it.

New-a-day, people in large number are opting for Destination spas as a holiday to get a break from their hectic lifestyle and relieve stress. 

Major highlights of a Destination spa:

* Healthy cuisine that provides you with all the nutritional elements. Most of such places don't serve alcohol. Travelers can also pursue cooking as a hobby here.

* Fitness programs which are centred around healthy living. These also lead to internal healing and stress reduction.

* Classes and lectures to bring the best out of you. Basically, Destination spas motivate you to live a better life.

* Spa and beauty therapies such as Balneotherapy, Aromatherapy, facials, massage, skin treatments etc.

Here is how you can make the most of your travel budget!

Planning for a vacation but short on finances? Worry no more, we are here with some cool hacks that will help you plan your holiday in a more intelligent manner.

Whenever we plan travel, budgeting is the only thing we give least importance to. We fail to realise that a balanced approach towards spending our funds can add much more life to our plans. Not only it will provide you with more opportunities, but extended confidence and nerve.

Check out how you can manage your travel budget really well:

• Whenever you think of travelling somewhere, research is the most important thing that you need to do. Before jumping on to conclusions, have a fair idea what all you want to do and what are best ways to do it. Most of the information is available on the Internet these days. Keep a keen eye on the user ratings and reviews as these are non-baised and genuine most of the time.
• Most of you may  not realise but hotels aren’t the only options if we talking about a stay. Now-a-days a lot of hostels, vacation rentals and shared-rooms are available for accommodation purposes. Nothing could be better if you have a friend situated in your holiday destination.
• If you want to taste the real cuisine, try visiting local restaurants and eateries. They will not only give you the authentic taste of your destination but also prove to be a lot lighter on your pocket. 
• Go easy on shopping. Always remember that travelling is all about experiences and not material stuff. Most of the souvenirs these days are available around the globe. So, no point wasting time/money on them.
• Be flexible with our timings. Tickets/stays are more economical during off-season. Also, a lot less tourist crowd visits places during off-season and this is the reason why this time is perfect for explorers as they get more space to set themselves free.

This tourist handbook will come in handy for Indians travelling to Russia

Why do Russians rarely smile or why lighting agarbattis (incense sticks) is not welcome in hotel rooms in Moscow or St. Petersburg?

Keen on upping tourists’ footfalls to Russia, a specially published do's and dont's handbook has attempted to decode such socio-cultural mysteries for Indians travelling to Russia.

"Smiling to strangers is not a part of Russian culture. Russians are polite and professional, and they do smile wholeheartedly after they come to know you -- which often takes time," says the booklet which was released last week by the Mumbai-based Russian Information Centre, based on the inputs of the Consulate General of Russian Federation.

"Please do not light up your favourite agarbatti in the hotel room. This is an absolute no-no because of the other International tourists who complain about the fragrances or have allergies to strong fragrances. Do pray, but hold the agarbatti for a few days," the handbook says.

Speaking to IANS, the Centre's head Ekaterina Belyakova said that the list of do's and don'ts were evolved, based on cultural misunderstandings which were logged with the organisation over the last couple of years.

"We've tried to address these in this handbook. We felt warning people about some cultural traditions, social norms and customs, sentiments, even tastes, especially when it comes to food, is very important," Belyakova said.

The handbook also delves deep into the Russian psyche, while it accounts for why Russians overtly dig in their heels and defend beliefs related to Russian history and culture.

"Revolution and two world wars, dramatic political changes of the past century have a clear bearing on every Russian's mind. Hence, Russian people think very deep while they generally look forward to a secure and prosperous future. For the same reasons, Russians can be protective about their culture, language and the country -- sometimes to the point of fiercely defending their beliefs," the advisory says.

Food habits account for a biggish chunk of the handbook. While Russians and Indians love their 'chai' (Russians like it without milk, it says), the handbook advises Indian tourists to keep their spices handy and fret less about availability of Indian food in major Russian cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg.

"Russian food contains almost no tropical spices and is generally prepared with less salt... If you are an Indian spice lover, do carry the needful quantity of Indian pepper or garam masala or whatever that fancies your taste buds. These spices are not easily available (and) can be very costly," it says.

"Many dishes like borsch are quite like Indian soups and can be had with or without meat; other dishes common are cutlets, puffs... Cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg have adequate number of good quality, pure Indian restaurants, with vegetarian food being normally served," the handbook further advises.

The advisory also draws parallels between Russia and other Western European countries vis-a-vis the culture of tipping and pricing of water, which is often more expensive than beer.

"Drinking water is not free anywhere, like in other parts of Europe. You will have to buy small quantities which is expensive or stock up five-litre cans available in product shops or hyper markets," it says, adding that while Russia has a liberal drinking regime, boozing on the country's streets is banned.

The do's and don'ts exercise also advises on how best to deal with Russian immigration officials, most of whom are not well versed in English, a handicap which sometimes leads to unsavoury episodes at immigration check-points.

"They may ask you to wait by using sign language. There is no reason for panicking or having an ego about it... Please do not raise your voice or argue unduly or take any pictures as they are strictly prohibited," the advisory states.

Out of 18 million Indian outbound tourists, nearly 30,000 visit Russia annually and with our outbound tourism growing faster than China, the South Asian giant is an obvious target for Russian tourism promoters, says Paresh Navani, managing partner of the Russian Information Centre.

"Russia has a lot to offer for Indian tourists, and it is not only beautiful nature or cultural heritage, but the warmth of Russian 'chai' and Russian people too," Navani assures.

Rann Utsav: Head to Kutch for three-month long cultural extravaganza

One of the most popular annual tourism festivals in the country - Rann Utsav – began here on Tuesday amid much fervour and enthusiasm.

The festival was initiated by the then Gujarat Chief Minister – Narendra Modi – in 2005 with an aim to promote tourism in the state. Now, the festival, which is into its twelfth edition, has grown from being a 3-day event to a 3-month cultural extravaganza.

Rann Utsav has so much to offer that one cannot be content in a single visit. The buzzing atmosphere, the sheer excitement and the mesmerising aura of this place captivate visitors who get a chance to explore nature from the lap of culture like never before.

The festival gives an opportunity to tourists to engage with nature, get familiar with the culture and tradition of Kutch. The event also allows tourists to soak in the festive spirit by experiencing life in white desert.

Inaugurated by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, the Rann Utsav witnesses the gathering of tourists from across the glove.

State Tourism Minister Ganpat Vasava, who was also present at the inaugural ceremony said, “The festival is a step to make tourists identify the rich culture of Kutch district. When we started the festival, it used to be only for three days and now it is organised for more than two months. This shows how much the festival has grown and gained popularity among people.”

(With IANS inputs)