-
7/30/2019 10 Must Do Walking Tours in India
1/5
10 must do walking tours in India
By IndiaTodayTravelPlus | India Today Travel Tue, Sep 13, 2011
11:18 PM IST
What's your passion: arts, crafts, history, nature, culture or
cuisine? Customised walking toursare becoming a hit in India. They
are a great way to discover a unique facet of any city. So puton
those walking shoes and get going.
1. Rock Walk, Hyderabad The Deccan Plateau is a natural wonder
of stony ridges and hillocks. The rock formations in andaround
Hyderabad are granite monoliths that are older than the Himalayas.
Geologists estimatethem to be 2,500 million years old.
Unfortunately most have made way for malls and skyrisestoday. Save
the Rocks Foundation conducts regular treks to these rocky
areas.
Learn about the unusual geological formations, legends and local
history behind the stones.Discover hidden lakes among the rocks,
teeming with birdlife. With names like Obelisk,Hamburger and
Mushroom, let your imagination run wild deciphering the shapes that
the stonessuggest. The walk is conducted free of charge and takes
place on the third Sunday of everymonth. www.saverocks.org
Durga Puja
2. Bringing the Goddess to Earth, KolkataGet behind the scenes
of preparations for the Durga Puja with a walk down the bylanes of
oldKumartuli, the potter's town. Known for its internationally
renowned artisans who craft beautifuland life-sized idols from
straw and clay, this little quarter by the river gives you a
glimpse intohow the idols are made and the conditions in which the
potters live and work.
Begin at 6.30 in the morning from Armenian Ghat and catch some
early morning wrestling,
-
7/30/2019 10 Must Do Walking Tours in India
2/5
which you're welcome to join in! Move to the flower market,
Howrah Bridge, Old Mint and theNimtala burning ghat. Explore the
Bengali concept of beauty and understand why the idols of Goddess
Durga are voluptuous. Size zero doesn't work here.
www.calcuttawalks.com
Old Delhi
3. Old Delhi Food Trail What's the first thought that comes to
your mind when you think of food in Delhi? Mughlai?Perish the
thought. For a change, focus on the unique 'Baniya' vegetarian
streetfood of SitaramBazaar. The Old Delhi Food Trail walks you
through the bazaar to learn about the ingredientsand essentials of
Indian cooking. The colourful and interesting streetfood in this
market caters tothe Baniya community.
Crisp Gol Gappas, Kulcha Chole, Bedmi Puri (stuffed with a spicy
mixture of lentils), NagoriHalwa (small puris served with
halwa)--the list of enticing streetfood is endless. After this,
visit
Masterji Kee Haveli, one of the last-standing havelis in Delhi.
Here, you can choose toparticipate in the cooking of a vegetarian
meal or just watch. This is not a cooking lesson though;it is a
chance to get up close and personal with four generations of a
family that continues to liveunder one roof. www.delhimagic.com
5. Maximum City Walk, Mumbai If you've read Suketu Mehta's
acclaimed book, Maximum City, you might want to retrace
hisfootsteps in this hard-hitting tour. The characters and places
in the novel come alive in this tour.Go past Dariya Mahal, Radhabai
Chawl in Jogeshwari and the Brabourne restaurant. Engagewith the
fast-vanishing breed of letter writers at the General Post Office
and try out Vada Pao atBorkar's ("the best Vada-Paos in Bombay")
followed by sherbets at Sikkanagar.
Add to this the 'Babbanji Bihari's Bombay tour' and you might
discover the life of a typicalBihari migrant to the city of dreams.
Babbanji is a character in the book, a modern-day Dick Whittington.
Does he make it big? You never know--anything is possible in
Maximum City.www.beyondbombay.com
4. Mylapore Walk, ChennaiThis walk makes you go through
Chennai's cultural hub and one of its oldest areas--Mylapore.
-
7/30/2019 10 Must Do Walking Tours in India
3/5
The Portuguese arrived on Mylapore's shores in 1523 and left
only in 1749, when the Britishtook over. Despite this, the area has
retained its incredible temples and the traditions that
revolvearound them. The walk takes you to the 300-year-old
Kapaleeswarar Temple, the epicentrearound which Mylapore is
built.
Peek into the temple's daily routine, its own schedule--one that
is not usually visible to theoutside world. Later, walk through the
surrounding areas. Learn about life around the templetank with its
myriad chaos of small shops dedicated to everything from jewellery,
brassware,silk, puja items, to fruit and vegetable shops. The walk
ends with snacks and coffee at thepopular Saravana Bhavan.
www.chennaimagic.com
6. Cholta Cholta, Goa 'Cholta Cholta' is a Konkani term that
means 'While Walking'. This innovative guided walk forchildren (and
accompanying adults) is organised by Bookworm, a library and
educationalresource for children in Goa. These heritage walks are
interspersed with maps, stories, historicalanecdotes and activities
like colouring, treasure hunts and retracing the route (on paper)
that
make learning about history fun for children.A dry run in
advance of the walk ensures that the route is safe for children.
Each time a differentroute is chosen. Recent walks have included
the Governor's Palace, the Museum of Christian Art,a natural
heritage trail, Casa da Moeda and the Azad
Maidan.www.goabookworm.wordpress.com
7. Matunga Market food walk, Mumbai Matunga, in central Mumbai,
has a vibrant cultural scene, an indication of the
variouscommunities living here. The Food Walk takes you through the
markets of this area, and gives apeek into the food of the three
communities--Tamil Brahmins, Gujaratis and Jains. All the threeare
vegetarian, but have different customs and rules, which are very
much visible in their food.
The tour begins at the Kannika Parameshwari temple where you
learn about the history of Hinduism and Buddhism. From there, head
to the market area where you'll be introduced to localfruits,
vegetables and spices, with an explanation of how they fit into the
daily meal.
Discover inventive foods like Khakra Dosa (a plain dosa made
very crisp and then dried liked akhakra), Jain Mousse (mousse
prepared without egg) and Chocolate Barfi. The combinations
aretantalising and designed to please every palate. Do leave some
space for authentic aromaticSouth Indian coffee at the end.
www.mumbaimagic.com
8. The Madras Reporter's Beat, Chennai Fancy being a journalist
for a day? Then sign up for this new walk around Chennai where
theparticipants see the city from a writer's point of view. Bring
along tools that a writer may need--pen, paper, or a camera. At
various points along the walk, the group stops to chat with
people.Participants keep an eye out for the mundane, the exotic,
the offbeat.
At the end of the walk, participants go back and work on a piece
of writing that has its genesis inthe walk. This could be an essay,
a report, an investigative piece. It could be funny or
serious--
-
7/30/2019 10 Must Do Walking Tours in India
4/5
there are no strict guidelines for content or length. The
organisers plan to collate these storiesinto an online newspaper
that reflects the true Madras. www.selectiveamnesia.org
Shimla
9. Cemetery Lanes Walk, ShimlaWhether you like ghost stories or
are just curious about local history, the Cemetery Lanes Walk will
take you off Shimla's busy tourist trails. Instead you'll visit
three of its five cemeteries. TheKanlog cemetery is the largest one
and is surrounded by a dense forest of cedar trees. Pass by
oldhouses, the last reminders of a bygone era and see the
Combermere Bridge rise from the mist.
This is the first British landmark bridge in Shimla and was
built in 1828. The walk is popularamong people who have a past
association with Shimla and with British families trying to
locatetheir ancestors buried here. The walk begins in the morning
and takes almost the full day.
www.shimlawalks.blogspot.com
10. Victorian Bangalore Walk Did you know that the heart of Tipu
Sultan's home has a distinct Victorian flavour? If modernday
Bengaluru seems far removed from Victorian charms of Kolkata or
Mumbai, this walk mightbe an eye-opener for you. Bangalore Walks
organises these tours and claim that their appeal is inshowcasing
the history that is not obvious.
Bangalore was not designed for sightseeing in the way other
cities are, and many tourists headfor Mysore as soon as they can.
Yet, around every corner is a slice of history waiting to
beunpeeled layer by layer.
The walks tell the story of Bangalore from its past and how it
influences present, chaoticBengaluru. The USP of these walks is in
their mystery. In over six years of packed, weeklywalks, very few
participants have revealed the contents of their tour. You have to
find out foryourself. www.bangalorewalks.com
Five interesting International walks
-
7/30/2019 10 Must Do Walking Tours in India
5/5
York: Explore Viking toilets, Roman loos and other conveniences
in the Historic Toilet Tour.www.visityork.org
Iceland: The Elves are here. Find them on The Hidden World Tour.
www.alfar.is
New York: Discover Bill Clinton's Harlem and what makes this a
unique neighbourhood.www.newyorktalksandwalks.com
Paris: Discover why Paris known as the capital of dark
chocolates at the Paris Chocolate Tour.www.paris-walks.com
Lisbon: Experience a city with one sense short. Your guide is
legally blind and you areblindfolded. What will you see?
www.lisbonwalker.com
