“Macondo is not so much a place, as a state of mind, which allows you to see what you want, and how you want to see it.”

The way Gabriel Garcia Marquez describes his fictional town from One Hundred Years of Solitude always made it seem like a great place to get away to. A town that wasn’t defined by time lines and schedules, just your own plain will. Which is why when we heard of Latin Aventuras, a boutique travel agency that specializes in customised itineraries all over South America, the idea of seeing what we wanted, they way we wanted to, had us almost packed and ready to (tan)go!

La Isla Bonita

The idea for Latin Aventuras came to Atul Parekh during a tango class he attended in Mumbai. "Obsessed" with the region, he wants people to know that  "Latin America is so much more than just carnivals. There's wild life, rain forests, cruises, glaciers, adventure sports, beach towns, shopping...and that is what I want to showcase through this travel company,” he says. Latin Aventuras focuses on seven countries - Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, Ecuador, Peru. The only non-South American destination they plan trips around is nine day expeditions to Antarctica, with senior researchers from National Geographic and BBC World News as tour guides. South Pole dance!

There's no pre-packaged deals here, just progammes tailor made to suit your requirements and interests, whether it is a luxe or a budget trip. The process is fairly detailed and involves debunking a whole lot of myths about the region by introducing clients to videos and information about the countries they intend on travelling to and then charting out travel routes and itineraries based on likes. Their own fee is fairly nominal, and a small percentage of the cost of the entire trip.

Sign up with Latin Aventuras and you could be:

Doing a 39 day trip across 13 cities in South America. You can take 39 days off? Who are you?!

Skiing and surfing across countries in Latin America.

Sniffing your way through Le Festival De Flores, the flower festival in Medellin, Colombia. Yes, that's the only thing you'll be sniffing in Colombia.

Hanging by a waterfall that's almost five times larger than the Niagara - the Iguacu Falls, a  275 waterfall stretch over 1.8 miles across the Iguacu River.

Looking at mad species of flora and fauna - no, not your travel buddies - through binoculars at the Sangay Park, a UNESCO Heritage Centre.

Ace Venturas!

Getting There: Latin Aventuras, 4, Vasundhara, Bhulabhai Desai.Road, call 23521746, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for queries, view the website here or the Facebook page here.

We’ve been trying our best dear reader, to cause a temperature drop in the city. Reporting news of kulfi walks in Delhi and trying to find pretty portable fans that you can take with you on your commute. We even gave you the cold shoulder once last week, but nothing seems to work.

In our continuing effort to make you feel cool, we found this super Global Himalayan Expedition. Sign up for this August adventure and you will find yourself trekking, cycling along the Indus and rafting, starting at a Leh base. Br(rrr)ing it on!

The difficulty level is listed on the website as “moderate”, with the trek being “suitable for anyone who loves hill walking and leads a healthy, active lifestyle”. The team, made up of engineers, sustainable technology experts and travel entrepreneurs, advise that you start training four to six weeks prior to the trip, walking for at least 3 kms, three times a week.

Are We There Yeti?

The cool thing about this expedition though, is the emphasis on interaction with the local community. The team for instance, will be setting up the first education-base in the Himlayas for the Ladakhi community. There will also be some rehabilitation work in villages affected by the flash floods and building of an e-base with sustainability experts.

One look at the nine day itinerary and you’ll be tempted to sign up right away. You’ll find yourself negotiating steep slopes full of wild flowers; ending a crazy rafting journey at the confluence of the Indus and Zanskar; and hanging out in village called Chilling. Seriously, it doesn’t get cooler than that.

The journey ends at the Khardung La pass with a TED event, where a panel of experts will talk about how they are driving change in Ladakh.

 And all you wanted to do was spot the Abominable Snowman!

 Getting there: Visit http://www.ghe.co.in, fill the registration form here.

Summer makes us think about Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, and while we plan to listen to plenty of jazz and poetry this year, we’re also super excited about a new tour in Manipur that we just booked. Coming?

Impha(l)-tically Speaking

One of the key yet forgotten battles of the Second World War was the Battle of Imphal, a struggle between Japanese forces and the British in India. The fascinating aspect of this battle was it's timing- in 1944, when the rest of the country was trying to shrug colonial domination, Indian soldiers were waging a battle on behalf of the British. Like Raghu Karnad writes in his prize-winning essay on Imphal “There is no monument and no Memorial Day, and there’s no notion at all of the dilemma they faced, fighting for the Empire at the very hour that their countrymen fought to be rid of it”.

In remembrance, Hemant Katoch, a former aid worker ( he’s been with the Red Cross in Congo and in Geneva prior to that) has set up the Battle of Imphal tours, to address it's fading imprint on public memory and consciousness.

The Rest is History?

The tour, which started last month, offers two daily options. Covering sites in and around Imphal and those related to the battle, the guided route (Hemant is conducting these personally until he trains local Manipuri tour-guides) winds through a Second World war era airfield, two war cemeteries, a battlefield (Nungshigum) and the colonial era Slim Cottage. Hemant plans to add more sites to the tour by the end of May, paying special attention those which are slightly away from Imphal, on the Tiddim-Imphal road.

Also – and this is the best part – if you know someone who is linked to the battle (a relative who fought in it, or passed through Manipur during the war) Hemant offers a “retracing of steps”. Using specific details research, he will try and be as precise in locating where your person was during the war.

The tour is conducted primarily in English with varying rates if conducted in French and Japanese. With prices ranging from Rs 3,200 (for an A.C Vehicle) and Rs 2,700 (for a non-A.C vehicle) this tour is a great way to go back in time. A summer of remembering, perhaps?

Getting there: Visit the website, or their Facebook page, Rs 3,200 for an A.C vehicle half-day tour.

If Isa Khan Niazi had the Internet, he’d have posted a photo of Nizamuddin East saying, “First!” For, before Humayun fell down and broke his crown (while reading a book, we believe), there was Isa Khan, an Afghan noble, who chose prime tomb property, as close to his beloved Nizamuddin Auliya as possible. Even though he died at 95 (source: Wikipedia), he spent a good deal of time planning his tomb with a pretty sunken Mughal garden and a small mosque/prayer room off to one side where you could, presumably, nap after you’d paid your respects.  After years of living in Humayun’s shadow, Uncle Isa recently got a face lift by the Aga Khan Development Network, and was officially “reopened” about a week ago.

Visit for a walk while the weather still holds, or go to soak in some culture.

One, Two, Khan-Khan-Khan

We went to visit on a still spring evening, a koel furiously calling to its mate in the background. While most people went straight through to Humayun, some—mostly lovers or people with small children— made a right and passed through a stone arch leading to Isa Khan’s tomb. It’s on a much smaller scale than Humayun’s, but self-contained in high stone walls. We read on a plaque that at one time, the whole Humayun’s Tomb complex housed a working village right up to the 20^th century, and we imagined what it would be like to have a back wall that was all history. Would ghosts pass through while you were having dinner? Would you enjoy your post-lunch siesta in the shade of an emperor?

The best photograph you can take of Isa Khan’s resting spot is once you pass through the high arches and look at it sitting squat and white in front of you. Ready, set, Instagram! The gardens—said to be the oldest surving example of sunken gardens in Mughal India—have been restored as well, and this means you’re standing below the tomb, looking up at it. We remember running around this abandoned tomb as children, back then the walls of the tomb and the garden were the same height, now they’re three feet below. 

A Grave Matter

Once you go inside the tomb—it beckons—there are four graves, three with the sticking up triangles along the length of them that indicates they hold men. There was stone mesh on all the walls, the light bounced off the tombs and up above into the domed ceiling, repainted and glorious. From there, we walked across the garden, grass crisp against our shoes, and into the mosque area, with chipped blue tiles and flowers across its sandstone entrance. We walked up some stairs and along the low fortress walls, past the army cantonment next door (as Isa Khan was a warrior, we think the army men would be glad for the military inspiration), and if you peer closely at the cemetery below, you’ll see lovers sneaking a moment, and if you peer closely at the over grown garden, you might see a peacock resting in a tree.

We stopped once more to take a photograph from on top of a rampart, vertigo inducing stairs plunging below us. The sun faded behind the mosque and children skipped next to their parents, leaving Humayun. And we were glad for Isa to finally be remembered, maybe not as Isa the Great like he would have liked, but Isa who saw the spot for what it was before his emperor did. First!

Getting there: Isa Khan’s tomb, Humayun’s Tomb Complex, Rs 10 for Indian nationals, Rs 250 for foreigners, 8 am to 6 pm.

If your bum needs a deck chair,  your brain needs a beach too. Your next vacation could combine the two, if you plan your trip around a wine conference, an art fair or a creative un-conference.  bpb gets 8 conference hoppers - experts from different fields - to help you pick talks and trade fairs, fests and forums  in India and around the world.

Rahul Akerkar: F&B

The MD and Director de Cuisine of DeGustibus Hospitality Pvt. Ltd, Rahul Akerkar of Indigo, Indigo Deli, Tote on the Turf and Neel has been travelling twice a year for a conference centred around the hospitality industry since he launched Indigo in 1999. He picks his conferences based on plans for deGustibus, and how he is planning to expand the business in that year. His recommendations include conferences that are great meeting places for hoteliers and those that are great for staying abreast with global trends. While the Merano Wine Festival is boutique in format and a great pick for those who want to know more about the artisanal food industry, Salone del Gustro and Terra Madre is an interesting event for anyone interested in off-beat food movements such as the slow food movement.

Akerkar’s Top F&B Conference Picks:

Gulfood, Dubai World Trade Centre: February 23-27, 2014 (www.gulfood.com)
Food & Hotel Asia, Singapore: 8 to 11 April, 2014 (www.foodnhotelasia.com)
Sial, Paris: 19-23 October, 2014 (www.sialparis.com)
Hofex, Hong Kong: 7-10 May, 2013 ( http://www.hofex.com" www.hofex.com)
Merano Wine Festival, Merano, Italy: 9-11 November, 2013
Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre, Turin, Italy ( salonedelgustoterramadre.slowfood.com)

Rashmi Dhanwani: Experimental Creativity 

As member of the founding team behind The Goa Project, Dhanwani recommends Burning Man festival, which inspired The Goa Project. Usually held in the months of August/September in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, Burning Man is a life-changing experience, say most who have attended the event. Dhanwani loves the fest for its openness, unconference-like set-up, the fact that it's not restricted to any one area of conversation and the level of interactivity at the event. It’s of the people, for the people.

Burning Man, Black Rock Desert, Nevada: August 26 to September 2, 2013 ( www.burningman.com)

Tasneem Vahanvaty: Music

Head of Business Development-Arts for British Council India, Vahanvaty has been to more music conferences than you can keep track of. She travels for conferences four times a year to look for new talent and to network with artist managers, label owners and to know more about what is happening in the world of music across the globe. Completely overwhelmed by her experience at SXSW, she recommends it to anyone who is involved in the music, digital or film space. The warm and lovely vibe of the conference takes over the entire city of Austin, she says. These conferences are not only great for new conversations, but the people you meet are diverse and interesting and at the end of the day, you get a chance to catch some of the best new artists. 

Vahanvaty’s Top Music Conference Picks:

South by Southwest or SXSW, Austin, Texas: March 8-13, 2013 / March 7-16, 2014 (www.sxsw.com)
The Great Escape, Brighton, UK:  May 16-18, 2013 (www.mamacolive.com/thegreatescape)
Womex, Cardiff, Wales, UK: 23-27 October, 2013 (Usually travels across Europe, for the first time this year it is being held in the UK,   www.womex.com)

Carlton D’silva: Digital Marketing and Advertising

As Chief Creative Officer for Hungama Digital Services, D’silva travels twice a year for a conference in the digital arena, either to scope out the latest or to play jury. He recommends digital marketing and creative festival, Spikes Asia in Singapore, the biggest gathering in advertising and branding. Apart from digital and ad-centric seminars by top media gurus, this festival sees a fun mix of industry people from around the world and is great for networking. If you’re lucky, the cocktail night could even shift to the Facebook office! Organised by the Cannes body, Spikes is truly the Cannes of Southeast Asia, says D’silva. For a more technical digital conference, the next best bet would be Ad Tech, which takes place in India and around the world. Carlton's  advice while choosing a conference: pick one closer to home, as the data discussed will be more relevant to your work scenario.

D’silva’s Top Digital Conference Picks:

Spikes Asia, Singapore: September 15-17, 2013 ( www.spikes.asia)
Ad Tech: Next one is being held on  June 13-14, 2013 in Singapore (www.ad-tech.com) a
Adobe Digital Marketing Summit: April 24-25, London (www.summit.adobe.com)
Goafest, India (www.goafest.com)
WAT Summit, Mumbai (www.watsummit.com)
IndiaSocial Summit, New Delhi ( www.indiasocial.in)

Ayaz Basrai: Design and Creativity

The co-founder of The Busride Design Studio, Basrai, who barely gets any time outside of work to attend design-specific events, strongly vouches for Delhi’s UnBox Festival that just finished its third edition in  February, 2013. Organised by art collective B.L.O.T, he says it’s a maker’s fair where everyone is creating something, is devoid of the concept of a passive audience, there are no seminars and it uses metaphors from other music festivals instead of following design festival models – which means different stages and more mayhem. This loosely defined festival is apt for anyone in any creative field from designers and artists to chefs and musicians, it’s a common platform to meet an eclectic bunch of people, inspire a dialogue rich with cross-pollination, and to step into a completely bizarre world outside of one’s comfort zone. UnBox is also a showcase of each one’s personal experiments, so while on one side you will see someone screen-printing tees, on the other side you will find someone conducting a cognitive neuroscience workshop. The Busride Design Studio presented their Bandra Project at the festival and conducted a Pedestrian Workshop across Hauz Khas, drawing parallels between the streets of Bandra and Hauz Khas.
( www.unboxfestival.com)

Dhruvi Acharya: Art

Mumbai-based painter Dhruvi Acharya recommends the Art Biennale held at La Biennale in Venice Italy as a must-visit event for any art lover or  practising artist. This year will mark the 55th International Art Exhibition at the Art Biennale and will be held from  June 1 to November 24, 2013. During this time, the entire city breathes and lives art with streets also doubling up as art venues, says the painter, who visited the 2011 edition of the event. Spread across various venues in the city, from Giardini and Arsenale, this year’s theme is titled ‘The Encyclopedic Palace’ and is curated by Massimiliano Gioni. 88 national participants will be showcasing at the historical pavilions at the Giardini, Arsenale and across the city that will see the work of 150 artists from 37 countries.
www.labiennale.org/art

Shilo Shiv Suleman: Multi-disciplinary

As an illustrator, visual artist and animator, Shilo experienced one of her biggest life-altering moments at TEDGlobal in Edinburgh in 2010. She says it’s an amazing confluence of some of the most brilliant minds in the world, a melting pot of “awesomeness”. Not only do you witness the talks live, but you get to meet some of the most interesting people in the world, doing all kinds of different things – everything from street artists to flying robotic birds. Every event is larger than life, and is held in old Scottish palaces across Edinburgh. She also picks the INK Conference in India (in association with TED), where 20 inspiring young individuals doing innovative work are brought together for the conference and an attendee gets a chance to spend three days with some of these inspiring people. It’s a travelling festival and is held in beautiful locations across India.   

Shilo’s Top Conference Picks:

TEDGlobal, Edinburgh, Scotland: June 10-14, 2013 and TED at Long Beach, California (www.conferences.ted.com)
INK Conference, Kochi, Kerela: October 25 27, 2013 (www.inktalks.com)

Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan: Literature

The author of three novels (most recently, Cold Feet) and bpb’s Delhi editor, Meenakshi loves travel and books, and thinks that the best kind of trip is when the two come together. Luckily, most literature festivals and conferences unfold in gorgeous locations, and besides the Jaipur Lit Fest, which is a circus in and of itself, there are several smaller literature festivals that encourage you to mingle with the authors, bug them for signed copies and generally sit around listening to people talk all day. Perhaps the prettiest lit fest she’s been to is the Kovalam Literature Festival, which generally happens around October in the gorgeous Taj Kovalam. With delicious food, an infinity pool and a private beach, the Taj itself is awesome, but she’s had the pleasure of listening to all sorts of interesting people talk there, from Gulzar to Om Puri and Shashi Tharoor. It’s a small crowd, but worth attending  for the intimacy of the setting. (http://www.kovalamlitfest.com).

HKV mainstay Grey Gardens has added a new service: two pretty rooms above the restaurant that you can rent out on a daily basis with attached bathrooms, balconies and kitchenettes. We found out about them thanks to Instagram, one room and a balcony already glorious through what we suspect is the Earlybird setting.

The rooms will operate more like service apartments than a B&B, although breakfast is included in the price of your stay. Both are furnished with found objects, says owner Smita Singh, and are be decorated in the off-white floaty canopy style that regulars to the store and restaurant will be familiar with, plus tree branches over the bed that make you feel like you’re sleeping in the woods.  The tiny balcony with a lake view is pretty too, with a small coffee table, an asymmetrical vase and a tree stump footstool ready to entertain your guests on, or write your screenplay at.

At Rs 4,000 a night, the rooms are a bit pricey but come with wi-fi – plus, if Instagram likes were money, you’d recover your cost after the first X-Pro. #nofilter

Getting there: 13A HKV, call 011 26516450, Rs 4,000 a night, includes breakfast.

Our love for motorcycles is like our love for bad boys: hopelessly incurable. That's the idea behind Spicy Elephant, a new travel company founded by two nomadic Europeans (Karl Krochmal and Aurelien Cardon) who lived and travelled in India and decided that riding motorcycles through the Himalayas was an experience that not enough people have ticked off their bucket list. 

Ladakh Odyssey 2013, the first trip under the Spicy Elephant banner comes with a customized itinerary which includes accommodation, flight segment from Leh-Delhi, motorcycle rental and a documentary DVD starring you at the end of the trip. Karl tells us that he has been organising motorcycle expeditions to Leh with friends and family since 2009 but this is the first official tour with the company. Which brought us to the name. Why Spicy Elephant? We were told that it was an amalgamation of visual representations of India and a spirit of adventure. You say potato, we say ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’.

Born To Ride

The motorcycles will all be Royal Enfields and Karl and co. encourage non-riders as well. They tell us of their last expedition where a previous non-rider learnt to ride only a week prior to the journey. With an eclectic group of travelers (people from the Middle East, Europe and Africa), the expedition will kick off on June 18. The 11 day trip includes a photographer who rides with the crew and will document key emotional moments. Hail fellow, helmet! 

We're also excited about the  Tour de Rajasthan coming up in 2014, a yoga retreat in Goa, and even a kite surfing school in Zanzibar. But with the Ladakh Odyssey 2013 priced at 2249 Euros/ Rs 1,57,430 per person, this might be one expensive elephant to ride. Too much commitment? Check out Vintage Rides, based out of Delhi, which offer cheaper day excursions around the city. Va va vroom!

Getting There: Registrations open at Spicy Elephant, view http://www.spicy-elephant.com, approximately Rs 1.5 lakh per person for an 11 day trip, registrations close in May.

You’re grouchy, irascible. Everyone around you seems annoying. It’s that time of the month again. That time of the month to plan a Goa trip. And bpb’s excuse number one gazillion and five is The Goa Project.

Started by a bunch of entrepreneurs and volunteers, The Goa Project (March 28-29) is an “unconference, an experimental platform” that will encourage the cross pollination of people across different fields. It’s a trip for you, but also for your ideas, which will meet other seductive ideas, get a room and have little baby ideas that will hopefully grow up and be awesome.

Hob Mobbing

If you’ve already booked your ticket, go expecting a mix of talks, workshops, jam sessions and show-and-tell lectures that span across arts and music, entrepreneurship, film, society, visual art and design. The Goa Project follows the crowd sourced format, allowing you to suggest topics of discussion and speakers. “Everyone who shows up is a potential speaker, and those who don't speak contribute by posting photos, blog entries, podcasts, and video clips of the proceedings,” they tell us.

Discussions will range from the death of the company logo and farming as a secondary income to what an entrepreneur can learn from Bharatnatyam and art as a community builder. Don’t care for these? You can suggest your own ideas through The Goa Project’s “funnel” here. While you can help decide the speaker line up and prevent snooze fests as well, a few keynote speakers like conference circuit regulars Mahesh Murthy have already been locked in.

More-jim

Since The Goa Project is entirely volunteer driven, they are relying on crowd funding through Wishberry’s platform. You can help by donating here, or getting your company to become an event sponsor. And If you are artistically inclined, you can also submit an entry for their official tee design contest, and put a shirt on their backs (send entries to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

Psst: Also check out bpb’s guide to 8 cool things to do in Goa this season.

Getting there: Visit http://www.thegoaproject.com, Rs 5,000 for a ticket (20% off for early birds who buy before March 1).

What: The Great Wall Marathon by The Active Holiday Company, call 09886281381 or visit www.activeholiday.in, packages start from 1,200 USD (flights and visa exclusive).

Why: Beach bums, be scared. Really scared as The Active Holiday Company whirls in to get your vacation a** off its beach towel and into some sort of sporting gear. Sign up for a holiday with this travel fitness company and you'll find yourself running a marathon in a country you haven't been to before, trekking up a mountain to get a bird's eye view of a new city or scuba diving below a pretty island. Coming up this May is a holiday planned around the Beijing Great Wall Marathon that involves 5,164 stone steps, among other challenges. But you're on vacation? Quit whining and start training!

When: You don't want to be just another brick in the wall. From  May 15 to 20.

This spring, skip up and away to Deer Park Institute, a centre for classical Indian traditions near Dharamshala, which models itself after Nalanda, the original Indian institution for learning back in the fifth century, and teaches all aspects of Buddhism as well as running an eco-friendly institution (example: all guests are asked to bring their own water bottles to refill on the campus.) Like any spiritual retreat, there are certain rules you must follow: no drinking, no smoking, no meat, and no “sexual misconduct”.  But we’re sure you can manage a couple of weeks without. Cold turkey?

But we’re more interested in the classes they hold. Coming up in March is an introduction to classical Tibetan, a course that lasts a little over three weeks, and will end with you being able to read simple texts. Once you’ve done that, you might consider coming back for the eight-week Tibetan language programme, taught by an actual monk. (We also hear they're planning introduce classes in Pali soon!)

Zen-timental Musings

If language is not your thing, there are also creative classes: a film making workshop in June and a writing workshop in April and May. You could also choose to not take a class and just visit for the daily meditation and yoga, plus local sightseeing includes paragliding off a hill or a trek up to an ancient fort. Let the walls down!

You’ll see us return in the summer, much calmer people, and totally fluent in Tibetan, of course. Tashi delek!

Getting there:  Bir, District Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, call 01894-268508, or check here for a volunteer form, Introduction To Classical Tibetan from March 4 to 29.