Category: Information

Dhaka 2023!

Dear Bangladesh,

Dhaka! A foreign city that I visited more than any other city in the world!

First time about 5 years ago! It was all about being curious of one of our closest neighbourhood. 

And today after three visits, you realise it’s so much like India and Sri Lanka! People here are Warm, Hospitable, and Kind.

Some of the things Dhaka beats us in is the traffic, it’s faster to walk and travel than to use a public transport or vehicle. 

The Mosquitoes, Gosh! No amount of fumigation, odomos repelient, Odomos scent sticks, Odomos Roll on would stop the mosquitoes from sucking your blood!

And the language barrier- Bengali! If you know the language, you would not be lost in translation!

But, if you don’t know the language. 

You would struggle to get things right! 

The food it’s a non-vegetarians paradise!

And a vegetarian’s walk to hell!

You would need to keep looking until you find options!

Some of the chaat items too have egg in them! 

And an eggless cake is a mystery to them.

The roads are wide, but everyone has taken the sides. You can’t turn, you can’t run you are stuck.

Most of the best designer clothes are manufactured here! But, you won’t find a single store selling them. Rather you would need to just visit one store for all the original’s first copies Astorian!

A lot of African, Australian, Malaysian chains of restaurant are there! 

Surprisingly Coffee is big here too! A lot of small interesting coffee shops there! 

With one or two coffee roasters selling homegrown coffee that’s grown in Bangladesh!

They enjoy a lot of Music and Movies! One of the reasons Bollywood is a big craze here!

Bollywood movies don’t release as often and as much since they believe they loose money from local cultural entertainment. 

And if they are Die-Hard Bollywood fans they travel to Kolkata. a 40 minute journey by Air or about 7 Hrs by road. 

No! Bangladesh isn’t cheap! 

In fact it’s one of the most expensive cities in the world for expats living there! 

Facts about Dhaka:


The world’s least livable city.

Longest female-led government.

There are a lot of Bangladeshis who live out of the country.

Currently only the below flights go to Dhaka directly. 

Mumbai: Indigo – Tue, Thurs, Saturday, Sunday, ( 30 Kg allowance) 

Mumbai: Vistara – Tue, Thurs(30 Kg allowance) 

Delhi : Indigo – Mon- Saturday 

Delhi : Vistara – Daily 

Hotels to stay: 

  • Amari : Is Centrally located 
  • Sheraton : Is also in the heart of the city 
  • Westin : Westin & Amari are very close by. 
  • Intercontinental: The hotel is a little far away from the main city. 

Places to Eat: 

Premium Sweets: Misthi Doi, Chaat and local bengali food. 

Sajna: Indian food restaurant, that’s neatly done with indian food options for all specially vegetrains. 

O’Play: Italian Food Restaurant  

SOI 71 :  Thai Food Restaurant. 

Galitos: For Wraps and Salad 

Cafes: 

North End Roasters: Coffee Roasters which you would find across all over Dhaka City. 

Tabaaq Coffee: A cafe chain again from Bangladesh that you would find in select locations. 

Arabika Coffee: A coffee shop that serves coffee from beans that come from coffee regions. 

Butlers: Irish chocolate brand cafe that serves good milk shakes & Waffles 

Bookstore: 

The Reading Room: Here you will find a range of international books and interesting coffee table books. They also have a small cafe setup inside here. 

Here you will find books that are more in Bengali and a few bestsellers from around the world. 

Currency: 1 Taka = 0.80 INR

Visa: You need to apply for a visa before you visit. It’s not on arrival for indians yet.

The Bernina express & moving around Europe.

Bernina Express:

A journey that we had to experience once in our lifetime at least. Should we go to Zurich or should we go from Zurich and with not enough time. We planned out our exit from Zurich and so we did it through from Milan- Tirano to Chur. A four-hour journey going through the shades of greens and blues and tunnels with Lindt chocolates and Cherry liqueur for some company. The journey was lovely with the rains, the views and the comfortable space. A long time ago we had done the Glacier express Zermatt to St. Moritz and while that was covered with snow this journey was more greens, mountains, and waters through the journey. Maybe because more into the Italian region and little of Swiss. The train climbs up to the 2253 m high.

Planning to Travel:

Buy a Eurarail mobile pass: Depending on the days and countries you are travelling buy the pass. If it’s more than one country buy the Global pass.

Next, log in to the app.

And make the entry of all the passengers who would travel along with you.

Passport details and other basic information.

Make one Trip on the app:

Create a trip and add all the passengers.

Choose your preferred train time and soon one QR Ticket would be displayed on the app.

Now keep adding the journeys ( Intercountry, or outer country you would like to take)

And with the preferred time, you will soon have multiple QR Ticket under the first group you made for all your trips.

Now, whenever the Ticket collector comes to view your ticket it’s all there.

Do not buy a swiss pass it’s more expensive.

In case you are travelling with Zurich Via trams, Trains or public transport buy a Zurich card.

For Italy Milan :

Buy the ATM card – This can be used for Trams, Buses and Metro. A convenient fast way of travelling around Milan.

We always use public transport as much as possible to explore the city like a local.

North & South India Journey

Tamil Nadu, was on my travel diaries for a while Now! Or for that matter travelling around India other than Mumbai and 2022 has been a surprising year that’s been inclining towards spirituality naturally.

Varanasi, An offbeat destination to celebrate your birthday!

Yeah! Right! But being born in Nashik! And having celebrated my 25th in Amristar. This shouldn’t be a Shock!

The boat journey through the Ghats witnessing the Sunset & sunrise was very calming and beautiful.

Birding chirping, Bird feeding, boat sailings and a cool winter settled in two luxury properties that had their charm & Views.

A short trip of eating three days food menu in 1 and a half days was very upsetting and unsettling to the stomachs of all of us.

Dharamshala.

Another spiritual awakening city in the Himalayas was the travel we went ahead with from Amritsar after thinking over all the possible travel plans around.

A five Day Short trip was two days of travel and three days of sightseeing. The hills have characters that set them apart from the other regions. And sharp turns and small spiral roads keep your head spinning around.

The quietness, stillness and kindness of the people out there are humbling. And something that’s difficult to find in larger cities across the country.

The landscape is all different around one country that speaks so many different languages and showcases the culture of each region that the south Indian region was the most Conscious about plastic. Everything was either brown paper bag, Plastic was replaced with metal cans and one Ltr water bottles were replaced with five Ltr’s. The hills here were much more greener.

While we were trying the Momos in Dharamshala we were enjoying Dosa, Malabar parathas and dark chocolates & ice creams in the south region.

Some More Writing- 2022

2021 Beverages

There has been a complete range of beverages that I have explored or tried in 2021. One of the main categories was tonic waters a lot of interesting flavours of tonic waters I tried and some of them particularly tasted well as a beverage or with a spirit or as a cocktail. And certain brands also explored another subcategory of the huge beverage/ Cocktails. Edible garnishes and non-alcoholic drinks are a fairly new concept in India that struck well with home bartenders and drinkers during the pandemic. While another tonic water brand did also launch lemonades a nostalgic drink with a few twists. Other non-alcoholics took me by surprise the ginger beer & Grapefruit ginger beer. The other category that I explored were syrups and though it said natural taste. They did come out a little artificial in taste. Syrups are still something I haven’t seen so many Indian brands taking the plunge into. While Cocktail mixers were something a lot of brands we’re starting with. Some of them were readily available while others were only noticed because of their collaborations. But yes there are suddenly too many players out there in this segment. While 2022 I would like to explore more bitters and syrups that are available and made in India. Since there is a huge interest in the home bartending and cocktail experience in India. It may be because of travel restrictions or others were exploring new hobbies.