Spices of India

The story of Kerala's spices dates back to many thousands of years into the past. Kerala's claim to fame in the ancient world rested mainly with her fabulous riches brought about due to total monopoly over spices.

The ancient port of Musiris was the centre of the world trade many aeons ago - the spice trade being central to its legendary fame. It can be said that the Western colonisation itself a fallout of the race to control the spice trade from Kerala. Vasco Da Gama's arrival was just the culmination of the western world's rush to find the sea route to the Indies and its spices trade.

Within the last decade the international trade in spices has grown to an estimated 500,000 tonnes of spices and herbs valued at more than 1500 million US dollars. It is a matter of pride for the tiny state of Kerala that the bulk of this trade is still from Kerala. Some spices that have made Kerala a household word in the spices world are listed below:

• Pepper
• Cardamom
• Clove
• Cinnamon
• Ginger
• Turmeric
• Tamarind
• Nutmeg
• Curry Leaves
• Vanilla

To visit this spice land of Kerala, book your Kerala vacation package now. You can also enjoy houseboat rides, backwater cruises and the mesmerizing hill station holidays in Munnar

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Desert Festival Jaisalmer 2012

Once a year in winters and on the middle of the continually rising and falling stark yellow sands of the great Thar Desert, the empty sands around Jaisalmer come alive with the brilliant colour, music and laughter of the Desert Festival. The festival is organised by the tourist authorities as tourist entertainment around January-February.

The Desert Festival is an annual event organized in the beautiful city, Jaisalmer. This three days festival is held in the month of February. It is organized in association with the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, Jaisalmer. Desert Festival represents the rich and colourful Rajasthani folk culture and concludes on the day of Poornima.

During the festival, the desert folks sing and dance eloquently to the triumphs and the tragedies of the land. Other major celebrations of the Desert Festival of Rajasthan include the traditional gymnasts, mystical snake charmers, entertaining puppet shows and captivating folk music recitals. The desert festival is also a musical extravaganza where musicians and the renowned artists participate. Along with this, a number of competitions are held in the festival like the turban tying competition, longest moustaches competition, etc. Even the camels take part in a number of events, including camel polo and camel dance. Not only the Jaisalmer fort but the whole Jaisalmer city brims with excitement during the Desert Festival.

Desert Festival of Jaisalmer is a colorful festival held in February every year. You will get to see Cultural events, camel races, turban tying competitions etc. Not exciting enough! Attend the contests to judge the man with the best moustache. Everything is exotic in the Desert festival, amidst the golden sands of the Thar Desert. With a final musical performance by folk singers under the moonlit sky at the dunes in Sam, just outside Jaisalmer, the festival comes to its end. The rich culture of the region is on display during this three daylong extravaganza.

The desert festival in Jaisalmer was started to attract foreign tourists, who always wanted to explore as many facets of Rajasthan as they could in the possible crunch of time. The three-day event stresses more on local elements and heritage. For example, this no-nonsense festival will only showcase Rajasthani folk songs and dance. These are presented by some of the best professionals of the art. Similarly, local customs such as Turban tying etc have been added to make it more exotic and colorful in its outlook. 'The moustache competition' is very popular among foreigners. This is simply because of the surprise value attached to this event. Foreigners can be seen posing for pictures with the winners. This is truly a moment worth preserving.

You will never forget marvels like the famous Gair and Fire dancers that are the major attraction of the desert festival celebrations. Interesting contests including a tying competition and a Mr. Desert contest further enhance the fun of the occasion. A trip to the Sam sand dunes marks the grand finale, where you will enjoy camel rides and brilliant performance by the folk artist under the full moon against the backdrop of picturesque dunes.

The Rajasthan tourism organizes the Jaisalmer Desert fair/festival. There is tourist help cell to deal specially with the problems faced by foreign tourists. The arrangements are monitored by local administration and state of the art Medical vans, equipped with the best of medical amenities, are kept on alert. If you want to buy gifts or souvenirs for your dear ones, this is the place to be. For this place not only have items from and around Jaisalmer but of the whole Rajasthan. Mobile money exchangers are there in case you need to exchange currencies. And if you run out of cash, Guess what! Nearly all the kiosks have the facility to accept credit card.

To be a part of Jaisalmer desert festival, book your package holiday for Jaisalmer or India tour package now.

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Khajuraho Dance Festival 2012

Classical Indian dance returns to its roots - to the temples where it was conceptualised, defined and immortalised in stone. The exquisite 1000 year-old temples of Khajuraho serve as the idyllic backdrop to an art genre with an equally impressive pedigree.

As dusk gives way to the nights darkness, lamps bathe the temples in a surreal golden glow creating the perfect ambience for the past to juxtapose with the present. The mellifluous strains of the flute and the tanpura set the mood; the mridangam and the tabla beat out the rhythms echoed by the ghungroo of the dancer and time stops. Sculpted dancer come to life? Nimble footwork arrested in mid step? A dancer captured in stone or just a moment out of time?

Find out for yourself. Travel to the plains of Central India, to the temple town of Khajuraho. The weeklong Khajuraho Dance Festival features the finest young talents of Indian classical dance and presents a rare opportunity to see the maestros and grand dames of Indian dance perform.

The festival of dance 2012 in Khajuraho is going to be held during 1st - 7th February 2012 so don't miss the opportunity to book a Khajuraho tour package and be a part of the most memorable classical extravaganza of dance in India.

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Snow and Winter Sports in India

Whether you are looking for thrilling expeditions and mountaineering and heli-skiing are the sports that interest you more, then head towards the northern part of India, plushed with some of the best extreme sports destinations of the world. Worth checking out are Manali in Himachal, Garhwal region in Uttar Pradesh and Ladakh in Jammu & Kashmir. So what are you waiting for! Just pack your sports gear and get going!

Winter sports are not just about snow skiing, there are plenty of activities one can try out. If you are scared of heights and skiing is not exactly your cup of tea! Then how about skating? Or Ice Skating? You just need to smooth up your balancing act on skates and leave the rest to the snow.

Ice Skating is just like skiing except that instead of swooshing down from snow covered slopes you just glide along a wide skating arena wearing ice-skates. Whether you want to have a skating partner or whether you want to do it alone, ice-skating is a sport, which needs a much better balancing act than in ordinary skating.

The best options to try out ice-skating in India is Shimla, where every year a winter sports festival is held and this sport is one of the major attractions of it. If you are an amateur or a bit naïve about skiing, just try the simple rules of agility, stability and steadiness and no one will be able to beat you.

Mountaineering & Ice Climbing

Mountaineering is a sport that has challenge in every step. The Indian Himalayas yield every kind of challenge a climber could ask for, unparallel in scope for high mountain adventure. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal are India's major mountaineering states, while Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh offer restricted climbing.

Among the Indian Himalayas, the most challenging peaks that climbers crave to climb are Nanda Devi and Kanchenjunga. For the biggest mountaineering challenges in India, a climber can opt the Garhwal Himalayas, the Zanskar range in Jammu & Kashmir, Kullu & Lahaul in Himachal Pradesh and the eastern Himalayan range of Sikkim & Darjeeling.

Skiing

The hills of India have all the ingredients for adventure packed with excitement and thrills and lots of unexplored valleys, towering peaks and snow-capped mountains and glaciers. A splendid combination of flora & fauna and vast tracts of virgin snow awaits you. Gulmarg is known as Kashmir's premier upland hill resort at the the altitude of 2, 730m and offers one of the largest and best equipped winter sports opportunities in India.

Auli in Garhwal Himalayas in Uttaranchal is also counted as another major skiing resort of India.The Manali Region in Himachal Pradesh also offers scope for winters as well as summer skiing. It has excellent natural slopes and in the summer months has limited skiing possibilities at Narkanda. Last but not the least is Kufri, which has always been a favourite among ski lovers who visit Shimla in winters.

Heli Skiing
If you just don't care about the risk part of high altitude skiing and have got the courage against all odds then, Heli Skiing is just for you. The helicopter is going to leave you at the top of a snow capped peak and from there you just have to criss-cross your way downward. This sport challenges the risk-taking explorer in you, as you have to ski down through unknown routes and ridges. Indian Himalayan region is just the best way to start off this thrilling sport. Some of the best choices include Hanuman Tibba, Deo Tibba, Rohtang Pass and Chandrakhani Pass near Manali.

To book exotic Manali and Shimla Tours, please visit the website

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