Mumbai has been ranked the most expensive among nine key Indian cities for the third consecutive year, while Chandigarh bagged the best value destination for a city break in a survey released on Monday. “TripIndex Cities” an annual survey by TripAdvisor, a travel portal, compared the cost of a three-night break during the summer travel months of June to August. The survey conducted in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad, […]

1. Alleppey & Venice Labelling Alleppey the ‘Venice of the East’ might be cliche for travel writers, but this little town in true sense resembles Venice. Where else will you find a unique crisscrossing network of canals spread out across the center of town which thatched country boats punt along leisurely? HolidayIQ Traveller Abhishek Easwara says, “Whoever conferred the title of ‘Venice of the East’ to Allapuzha was spectacularly correct. […]

A Japanese city has vowed to preserve a pine tree that survived the country’s devastating tsunami but is now rotting, it’s reported. The tree withstood the enormous wave which struck the coastal city of Kesennuma in 2011, killing hundreds of local people. It was badly damaged in the disaster, losing most of its branches, but its new shape attracted many visitors who thought it resembled a dragon. The tree was […]

India is set to surpass China as the world’s most populous country — and much sooner than previously thought. China now has a population of 1.38 billion, compared to India’s 1.31 billion, according to new data from the United Nations. But by 2022, India’s population will draw even with that of China, at 1.4 billion people, and then exceed it. If the data proves correct, India will become the world’s […]

At the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, in the Bronx, Helen Moses, 90, had news. “There’s not going to be a wedding,” she said. It was an afternoon in June, just one month since Ms. Moses had announced her plans to marry Howie Zeimer, the man down the hall. She spoke, as always, with absolute finality. “I’d first like to live together for a while,” she said. “I don’t want to […]

China is frantically giving finishing touches to world’s largest radio telescope designed to find signs of alien life following NASA’s recent discovery of ‘Earth 2.0’ with the planet-hunting Kepler space telescope. While NASA basked in the success of discovering an earth-like planet around 1,400 light years away with Kepler 452b, China announced that it has started assembling the world’s largest radio telescope, which is the size of 30 football fields […]

A giant flower, said to be one of the world’s oldest and largest species, has bloomed at a Tokyo park for the first time in five years, it’s reported. The 2-metre-high (6.5 feet) Titan arum rarely flowers and is notoriously difficult to propagate. The Jindai botanical gardens in the city of Chofu have extended their opening hours especially to allow hundreds of visitors to see the flower, which only blooms […]

I work while I travel As you might know from previous posts, I’ve been an au-pair and this is how I started traveling long term. I was 18, just finished senior high and had absolutely no money. I didn’t even have a bank account. So I worked my way around and moved to London, one of the most expensive European cities. I got paid to live there and I worked […]

OTTAWA – A Conservative MP is backtracking on her claim that Canada’s spy agency knew there was a bomb on an Air India plane that exploded in flight three decades ago, killing 329 people. In a late June speech at a Vancouver church, Tory MP Wai Young said the laws at the time prevented the Canadian Security Intelligence Service from telling the RCMP about the explosive device. Young told the […]

Stand on any corner in Montreal and pick a path. Chances are, you’ll run into a few like-minded individuals along the way. Graffiti artists, world-renowned chefs, romantics and fashion lovers thrive amongst the city’s 1.65 million inhabitants. In Montreal, it’s okay to get lost in the crowd. If you love to feast your eyes on colorful street art, take a stroll on cobblestone streets under towering limestone buildings or revel […]