SRISAILAM, Andhra Pradesh, India

Srisailam is a one day weekend tour and is just 3 to 4 hours from Hyderabad. If you give 2 days to the trip it can become heavenly. There are quite a number of essences that you can take from the Srisailam tour. The road to Srisailam is a nice one and a very enjoyable drive (In my case two of my colleagues Abhishek Chaturvedi and Manosij Ganguli took the wheels because they are most experts as far as driving is concerned. While driving there will be beautiful places to stop by besides taking the occasional tea (or filter coffee). Reaching Srisailam there are a number of options starting with Holy bath in the river (where we had stopped by). Post this we reached the hotel run by APTDC (a nice property to take rest and enjoy the food). If one plans a stay there are a number of good hotels along with the APTDC hotel. After this we went to the mandir darshan (which is the biggest crowd puller in Srisailam). There were more attractions in the later half of the day - Ropeway, Lake surrounded by mountains, Dam and ofcourse the holy spring water falls. Overall the trip was great fun.

To know more about Srisailam - Visit the AP Tourism website.

TAKI - A wonderful place just 2 hours from Kolkata, West Bengal

TAKI is an amazing tourist spot in West Bengal. It's just a 2 hour distance from Kolkata. It is located in the banks of Ichamati river. On the other side of Ichamati river is Bangladesh. Taki is the land of a number of a number of zamindars. Most of the zamindar baris (their palatial buildings) are in a dilapidated state. There is hardly any maintenance from the successors or from the government authorities. Taki also has one of the oldest Ramkrishna Missions. Taki Government High School is more than 250 years old. The Taki municipality has also built a mini Sunderbans consisting of the trees - Sundari, Golpata etc which are a rarety and can be widely seen in coastal Sunderbans of West Bengal. If you are very religious do visit the Kali Temple and the Jora Shib mandir (both are more than 300 years old). There is 129 acre Machranga island which you can visit by taking the launch service from the ferry ghat. The Ichamati river is engulfing the island at quite a pace. Another attraction in Taki is the Durga immersion ceremony every year where lots of people on both sides of India and Bangladesh gather to watch the immersion ceremony. It is an auspicious time to reap harmony among people from both sides. Boats from both sides sail to Ichamati for the immersion of Maa Durga.

Don't forget to take the van rides when you reach Taki. They will show you around and will charge around Rs.25-30 per head for a 2 hour ride. While coming back you can buy some jaggery (Patali gur) which is a local sweet delicacy. You can also buy some Gamchas of Basirhat which are quite economically priced and of good quality.

HOW TO REACH: From Sealdah Station take Hasnabad Local train and get down at Taki Road Station. It is a 2 hour journey. Enjoy the local snacks (jhalmuris, chanachurs, dilkhus and sandesh) during your train journey. After getting down at Taki Road station take a cycle van and reach the hotels (Its a 10 minute ride and the charges are around Rs.25 per van). You can also take a bus from Esplanade or drive your car to Taki. By road it will take about an hour.

WHERE TO STAY: There are primarily 4 places to stay: SUHASINI GUEST HOUSE, NIPENDRA ATHITHISALA, TAKI GUEST HOUSE, TAKI TOURIST BUNGLOW. But I personally feel SUHASINI GUEST HOUSE is the best one among the 4. The rooms have balcony facing the breezy Ichamati. Its advisable to go there after doing the bookings from Kolkata. To do the bookings of Suhasini Guest House in Kolkata, please contact +91-9331026585 and +91-9339375915. Numbers of Suhasini Guest house in Taki are (03217)234108 and (03217)322212 and +91-9330826779.

WHAT TO EAT: Being on the banks of Ichamati, you will get good variety of fishes. Rohu, Parshe, Chingri, Pabda, Ilish. Besides you can also enjoy Chicken and Mutton. Meals and breakfasts in the guest house is quite reasonable (around Rs.50 per plate for a lunch or dinner and Rs.15 per place for a breakfast). In the evening enjoy the local snacks - rolls, phuchkas, ghugnis and tea along the banks of Ichamati.

FACT: Recently Gautam Sen's directed bengali movie PAKHI has been released. This movie has been majorly made in the scenic beauty of Taki. The movie stars Soumitra Chatterjee, Debasree Roy, Badsah Mitra, Krishnakishore Mukherjee, Sabyasachi Chatterjee and Kanchana Mitra. A number of scenes of the movie has been shot at Suhasini Guest House, Taki