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Bali, Indonesia – Visa, ITAS, Customs Declaration, Tourist Levy and Health Pass - 2024

Tweet Bali, an island tourist destination in Indonesia, has something for everyone. Also known as Island of the Gods, it is a perfect mix of Culture, religion, nightlife, beaches, activities, natural beauty, wonderful landscapes. For its small size (about 5700 Sq Kms), it sure packs in a lot for tourists seeking more bang for their buck. We visited Bali earlier this year and realized that despite being such a popular tourist place, there is a lot of confusing and conflicting information on the Internet about the need and procedure for permission to enter Bali/Indonesia. This post will try to clarify on the same. First off, a tourist visa is required for most countries. The only countries that are exempt are those in ASEAN which includes, Brunei, Cambodia, Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore & Vietnam. Please note that you need to have a passport of these countries, residence permit is not enough, and this permission is valid for only 30 days. For most ot...
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A Trip to Kanyakumari

Tweet Among my many travels to the various parts of India was an unforgettable trip to the Southern most tip of India, a place called Kanyakumari. This is the place where the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal meet, called Cape Comorin. The name Kanyakumari comes from the local deity, a goddess Kanya Kumari (the Virgin). Kanyakumari is an important pilgrim center of Tamil Nadu. Many people come to visit the Kanyakumari temple that overlooks the shoreline and is dedicated to goddess Parvati as Devi Kanya, the Virgin Goddess who did penance to obtain the hand of Lord Shiva.  Kanyakumari If you plan to visit Kanyakumari, then prepare to stay there till sunset, so that you don’t miss the famous and spectacular sunrises and sunsets, especially on full moon day, which is the best in the month of April. This is the time when the sun and moon are face to face at the same horizon. Kanyakumari is a beautiful place with the beach having colorful sand...

Sheraton Bangalore Hotel - A Review

Tweet Last weekend, being a long holiday weekend (13th to 16th August), we decided to make a short leisure trip to Bangalore City for three days. It had been raining incessantly in Mumbai for the last whole month making it impossible to move out much or do anything else. Getting bored of being stuck to the house caused us to think of taking a short break away from home for a while and the closest place that we could get relatively cheap air tickets at such short notice was for Bangalore City via Kingfisher, for which I am a Club Member. So without further ado, we booked our flights and then did come research online on the hotels where we could have a comfortable stay.That's when I came upon Sheraton Hotel Bangalore. The Sheraton Hotel is part of the Starwood hotels and resorts worldwide and to my surprise, I discovered that they are have a partnership with the Kingfisher, my preferred airlines, wherein you can get extra Kingfisher miles for just staying in this hotel. This spurr...