About Auroville

Auroville, an ideal township for “human unity”, locates itself on the border of Puducherry, combining as many as eighty rural settlements spreading over twenty kilometers and over 1800 residents. Two-thirds of the population is constituted foreigners that represent thirty eight different nationalities. Auroville may not fulfill the defined requirements of a tourist attraction, but the place calls for admiration for its areas of interest and expertise that can be seen across such fields as organic farming, traditional medicinal plants, renewable energy, and women’s groups.

However, for a traveler desirous of exploring a human world near to perfect, Auroville is the ideal place with its off-beat charm. This experimental township was founded by Mirra Alfassa in 1968 and designed by the architect, Roger Anger. The famous Charter laid down by Mirra Alfassa or the “Mother” recognizes Auroville as the perfect place for humanity.

Reaching Auroville

Auroville is in South India at 150 km to the south of Chennai, and near about 10 km to the north of the town of Puducherry. From Chennai it takes three hours to reach Auroville by road. There are frequent buses available from Chennai and the cost is something around Rs.60. A taxi would cost around Rs.2000 to reach Auroville from the Chennai airport which is the closest. Other nearby airports include that of Bengaluru and Trichy. Chennai has connections to almost all the major cities in India and enjoys direct link to the USA, Europe, South East Asia, and the Middle East. Villipuram offers the nearest railway junction.

Staying and travelling around Auroville

The tourists and travelers to Auroville generally find their accommodation in Puducherry. There are lodges, hotels, and guest houses as well. Visitors, who wish to stay in Auroville, can rest themselves in the guest houses there. The peak period of visit to the place extends from March to August and thus reservations should be done in advance to enjoy staying at Auroville while paying a visit to the township. The visitors who look forward to a proper guest house can do their bookings early at the Centre, Sharanga, Samasti, and Kottakarai. The cost of accommodation in the guest houses for one day and night can range between Rs.300 and Rs.900.

‘Matrimandir’, the Sanskrit word translating as “Temple of the Mother”, is the most popular among spots visited by the tourists. It forms both the geographical and the spiritual heart of the city of Auroville. The exterior of the temple is done in gold while the interior is white. A huge crystal is located centrally in the temple. The visitors can inside the premises of the temple after checking with the visitor center. The rules are strict and may take two or three days before a visitor can get into the premises. There is a visitor’s pass that allows a guided tour through one of the areas for meditation. The main temple can only be visited the following day after possessing the visitor’s pass. The weekends are especially busy and may require standing in the queue for thirty or forty minutes. Carrying cell phones, cameras, and bags into the temple are strictly prohibited.

The Auro Beach lies at a walking distance from Auroville Busstop at the East Coast Road. Though thickly polluted, the Auro Beach is one of the calmest of the beaches in India.

Five things to do at Auroville

• Ø  Watching the Indian classical dance performances that are specially organized during the visitor’s season extending from December to March. The Auroville Cultural Exchange organizes such programs.
• Ø  Participating in the vast number of projects in the environmental, agricultural, developmental, social, and economic fields are been worked upon on a regular basis. The tourist and visitors can volunteer such program and projects for about a week. This can offer knowledge into the lifestyle of Auroville.
• Ø  Gorge on the delicacies at Solar Kitchen which the main cafeteria of Auroville and a very popular eatery both among the tourist and the locals. Everyone pays the same amount irrespective of how much is eaten.
• Ø  Taking a stroll around the beach area.
• Ø  Get about buying the special hand woven hammocks, the hand crafted stone sculptures, the hippy clothing, and the books about Auroville that contain the idea about the place, the architecture and the Mother.

Top 10 interactive museums

Interactive museums are easily one of the best places where one can enjoy being stuck into. From living history to getting hands-on experience in conducting science experiments, from navigating a plane to making one's own pop record, interactive museums offers everything to get oneself involved with.

Top 10 interactive museums:

• London Science Museum: If the word "museum" reminds one of a didactic and dusty place, then they should think again before coming here. Live demonstrations of anything ranging from physical forces to fireworks, it is hands-on throughout. The "Launch Pad" is a great attraction for the kids as various scientific principles are shown here through engaging science experiments. And the cherry on the cake- an IMAX cinema.
• British Music Experience: As far as the Top interactive museums are concerned, this one here is the most sough-after. This place takes one in an all dancing and singing journey through the history of British music. It is first of its kind in the country and offers interactive sessions where one can explore the great music moments of British music throughout history, witnessing interviews of the biggest stars and flick through a vinyl box which completely virtual. One can also record themselves singing, mixing and playing the guitar, drums or keyboard.
• Manchester Art Gallery: Manchester's museum of decorative art and fine art has a gallery devoted in giving the visitors a hands-on experience of appreciating, thinking and making art. Clore Interactive Gallery provides one the chance to explore real art-works by using their own senses.
• Highland Folk Museum: This open-air museum provides an excellent platform to explore the Highland life through an amazing journey through history. One will also get a chance to to try their hands on period vehicles and traditional aircrafts.
• Thackray Museum: With interactive exhibits, this museum tells the medicine-story down the ages. One can try the "empathy belly" to experience the feeling of pregnancy, witnessing the surgical procedure done during the 19th century and also one can go back to the period of Victorian Leeds to treat patients.
• National Museum of Flight: A popular destination for foreign visitors and a great interactive museum in U.K, here one can explore the flight history through actual aircrafts and fascinating exhibits in an interactive session named "Fantastic Flight". With flight simulations and games, kids can gain a hands-on experience regarding everything related to flight.
• Techniquest: A great discovery centre where one can study ant-colonies, launch a rocket, moving tons of granite and sinking an oil rig to name a few. The planetarium here can also provide a great learning experience to the kids.
• Big Pit Museum: A museum dedicated to the country's most famous industries. Here can have a multimedia tour with a virtual miner of a modern day coal mine inside the Mining Galleries.
• W5 Interactive Discovery Centre: Attractions include a laser harp, a lie detector, a giant racetrack, building bridges, robot building and lots more. It also offers a large number of programs of shows, temporary exhibitions and special events.
• ST Fagans: National History of Museum: Here one can visit historic buildings, witnessing real craftsmen practicing their traditional skills and much more.

Northstar Travel Media takes over Your Travel Insider

A digital publishing company, Your Travel Insider or YTI,  that focuses on consumer travel market sells itself to Northstar Travel Media that is a B2B information company that serves the travel industry, at an amount still undisclosed. The founder of YTI, Roy Weiss, would be WTI's group publisher reporting to the Executive Vice President of Northstar Travel Media, Bob Sullivan.

Weiss had laid the foundation of the YTI in the year 2003 where the company helps travelers with cutting through all the online clutter as it provides all relevant information along with offers. The e-newsletters   Your Travel Insider and Luxury Cruise Newsreach out to a great number of travelers. The behavioral targeting qualities of the YTI help the travel marketers in reaching the right audience.

Weiss maintained that the "travel enthusiasts" of today are "hungry" for the highly "relevant" content, and that merging into the Northstar Travel Media would help YTI offer "rich content" for the readers and "targeted audience" for the "advertising partners".

The Northstar Travel Media leads in providing news and information for travel while owning such brands as Business Travel News, Travel Weekly, Successful Meetings, Meetings and Conventions, Incentive, Successful Meetings, Procurement Travel, Travel Age West, and Meeting News. Alongside periodicals and directories, numerous online subscriptions are published by the company, such as Weissmann Reports, Travel42, STAR Service Online, Beat, BTP24, and Intelliguide Corporate.

Northstar Travel Media is the portfolio company of the Wicks group which is the top private equity investor in the business and information services, media sectors, and communication.

Flying to the lovely Andaman Islands: A short trip

Now there would be numerous beaches across the globe, but certainly each of them have a charm of their own. It is something which is applicable to the wonderful Andaman Islands as well. It is a perfect location for a short yet amazing holiday at one of the most beautiful islands in the world, certainly the best in South-east Asia. Usually the travel options are many but when you have short span of time it’s recommended to board a flight from the Chennai Airport. There are numerous pre-designed packages which are available from travel sites such as Make My Trip, Trip Advisor, and many local travel operators.

The stay ranges from a package to another but a comprehensive package would be spending 3nights at Port Blair and 2 nights at the Havelock Islands. Andaman Islands include more than 530 islands when clubbed with Nicobar and is spread over 700 kilometres. It is only the 36 islands which are inhabited by people among which Port Blair is the capital town of the islands. A five day stay at the Andaman Islands would certainly have loads of things to explore. A personal experience has been illustrated below:

Reaching the Islands: Port Blair (1^st day)

Boarding a flight from Chennai usually takes you two hours taking the early flights in the morning could be one of the best options to go for. If you are traveling in a package tour by any of the operators then you would have all the arrangements for your stay ready. However, if you plan to go all by yourself it would be recommended to book your hotels in advance. Although you have several options after you land on the islands it would be much better to book your place in advance.

After a 2 hour flight you would be at the islands. Take your breakfast and have some rest for couple of hours before the adventure begins. A trip to the Viper Islands would be the 1^st thing to do. Most of us have heard the takes of the “Kala Pani” which was a witness to the inhuman treatments by the British Soldiers. This place can be reached by boarding a boat which would be a ride of about 30 minutes. The place has numerous things to see such as the hillock where the freedom fighters were hanged. Exploring the place would certainly take you back in times. Do make sure you check out the Light and Sound Show at the cellular jail during your visit to the cellular jail.

After all the hard work for the day it would be great to come back to your hotel and enjoy the amazing sea food of the place. There are limited options for both the veggies and non-veggies but sea food here is worth trying

Reaching the Havelock Islands: Day 2

Get up to the lovely sunrise at the islands and pack your bags to travel to the Havelock Islands which is about 54 kilometres from Port Blair. The 90 minute sea ride to the island gives amazing views of the deep sea. Get down at the islands and have sumptuous lunch before the exciting exploration of these islands begins. Travel to the Radhanagar Beach which is among the most amazing beaches in the South-east Asia. It would give you one of the loveliest views of the sea shore which extends a huge distance and is covered with white sand.

The one thing which people would appreciate at these islands is the absence of food or other vendors at the beaches and pure natural beauty which has been retained for centuries. Taking a dip into the sea is also one of the activities you may try, so make sure you carry extra set of clothes with you for a bath at the beaches.  Exploring the beaches would virtually take the entire day and the evening packs in loads of fun for the drinkers and dancers.

Exploring the Havelock Islands: Day 3

Getting up early morning to see the sunrise would certainly be recommended as the beaches offer amazing views in the morning. Have your breakfast and its time you get ready to explore the islands from within. Take a boat to the Elephant Beach at the Havelock Islands and you would be thrilled to see the options for water sports activity. You have everything out here from scuba diving, water scooters, or the snorkelling. When that was not all, you can walk in the corals to touch the colourful beaches within the waters which are roughly 4 to 6 feet deep. Although you might not see much variety of the corals you would surely fall in love with the numerous varieties of fishes. Many might get disappointed as there are no bathing facilities available at the beach.

If you are going as per a tour package then make sure you check which sports are included in the packages. Individual water sports activities might be a bit expensive which is about Rs600-700 per person for a 5 minute event. After a good afternoon at the beaches its time you packed your bags and took a boat to return to Port Blair. Many might be tired so the 90 minute would be spent relaxing. It would be all for the day.

Last Night at the Islands: Day 4

After fulfilled 3 days at the islands the 4^th day could be spent exploring some of the other close islands. North Bay Island and the Ross Island could be on the list. Visit the North Bay Island which has several water sport activities to go for. People who might have found Havelock an expensive proposition for their water sport activities could try out them at the North Bay Island. They are comparatively cheaper. Travel to the Ross Island by mid-afternoon and see the heritage spot where the British Empire had the headquarters for the Andaman Islands.

Time to get back to the Mainland: Day 5

After an adventurous holiday the heels might need to cool off. SO you may spend the day when you travel back to the mainland by relaxing or visit the museum, aquarium, or the cellular jail in Port Blair. The next thing to do would be to have your evening snacks, pack your bags and reach the airport. You could board the evening flight from the islands and be back to the mainland by night.

Things you bring back from your vacation

There are loads of memories which you would cherish after a visit to these islands. Some of them may get captured inside your camera and remain with you forever. Things like the natural beauty in its preserved form, amazing beaches and the white sand, un-crowded place to travel, water sports activities, the history, etc. would always be cherished after a short holiday to the place. Many might fall in love and wish to remain at the islands for a longer period, but as it’s said everything has an end to it. However, the place truly has the aura to bring you back to the islands for the second time.