Taj Exotica Resort & Spa recently opened in the relatively undiscovered Andaman Islands off India’s Eastern coast. Featuring 72 modern luxury villas on stilts, you will experience sensational dining, posh cabanas, and deluxe beauty and wellness treatments at the award winning Jiva Spa. The resort has already been on The Condé Nast Traveller UK’s Hot List 2018 as one of the world’s best new hotels! Built with a focus on sustainability, it was created with a minimal footprint on the natural ecosystem and operates as a “Zero Single Use Plastic Hotel”. Regionally inspired cuisine is served at a variety of restaurants offering everything from dishes inspired by the settlers in the Andamans, to coastal curries from the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.
Visitors to India can now enjoy a unique stay experience with AccorHotel’s ‘MyRoom, a hotel offering creatively inspired rooms, custom designed around such themes as football, Bollywood, music and nature. Properties are now available in Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Goa.
WOW Airlines will have five direct flights a week between New Delhi and Keflavik Airport in Iceland that will connect to multiple destinations in North America and Europe.
JungleSutra, India’s leading experiential tour company, has launched a new excursion to see the Red Pandas and Sloth Bears of the region. JungleSutra has been especially designed by Creative Travel to showcase India’s more commonly sought-after wildlife, as well as introducing the lesser known species. The journey travels into two diverse areas of the country – from West Bengal and Singalila National Park in the East to Madhya Pradesh and Kanha Tiger Reserve in Central India.
This November, world-class drivers will compete in a mega power boat race on the Krishna River. Hosted by the state of Andhra Pradesh and the Department of Tourism, the international competition will attract not only Indian fans but also visitors from abroad, particularly the Gulf and European countries.
Did You Know?
Mawsynram, a village in the state of Meghalaya is the wettest inhabited village in India. It receives the highest recorded average rainfall in the world.
The Bandra Worli Sea Link, a cable-stayed bridge that links Bandra in the Western suburbs of Mumbai with Worli in South Mumbai, is an architectural marvel. Weighing as much as 50,000 African elephants with steel wires that equal the earth’s circumference, it took 25,700,000 man-hours to complete!
Kerala has its very own spa for elephants! At the Punnathoor Cotta Elephant Yard Rejuvenation Centre in Kerala, elephants are bathed, massaged and fed. All the elephants housed at this camp are offerings made to the Guruvayur Temple by its devotees. The center is also a training school for the elephants where they are taught to participate in daily temple rituals and processions.
The world’s highest cricket field, built in 1893 on a leveled hilltop, is situated at Chail in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is 8,018 feet above sea level.
With Creative Travel’s “Be Our Guest” program we offer specially priced trips exclusively for employees of incentive & travel companies. These highly discounted journeys are meant to give you a first-hand insight of what India and the region have to offer. There are four specially designed journeys: Dreams of Taj, Royal Rajasthan; Taj, Temples & the Ganges and Kerala, God’s own Country. Starting at $458 for a 7-day journey in North India, the “Be our Guest” trips are open to any member of your organization (at any level, department or role). The member can be accompanied by family members or a friend. Custom made options are also available.
Recipe from India – Shami Kebab
Kebabs are synonymous with Indian cuisine – smoky, succulent, spicy and scrumptious! Try this classic recipe of minced meat mixed with ground spices for a truly melt-in-the-mouth experience.
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