Cheap Travel Deals !

Today’s world is a competitive world. Everyone is getting price deals from different agencies. This leads to comparison of quotes received. In the age of information, the comparison of various products are also increasing. People can readily get deals online from different to operators. One can easily hunt for the lowest deal. This trend is quite common nowadays. 

However just looking for the lowest quote is not recommended. One need to check and recheck the low cost package which is received. At the same time the package with a lot of freebies are again not recommended. One must know nothing goes free. In someway or other, cost is included and adjusted. At times, lowering the cost or adding freebies lead to deterioration of quality. Hence only hunting for the cheapest deal is not recommended anymore. At times expert opinion or a rational comparison is advised. 

Instead of looking for cheap deals one need to check for:  

1. Inclusions : One need to check what is included in the package. Weather right inclusion which a traveller is looking for, is there in the package. Proper check of inclusion is required, before finalizing a deal. Most of the time, cheap tour packages have lesser inclusions.
2. Exclusions : One also need to check what is excluded from the package. A cheap tour package will have more exclusions and vice versa. At the same time, one need to check weather exclusions are mentioned properly. The clarity of exclusion is required more than anything else. Improper clarity of exclusions leads to utter confusion during the tour. 
3. Hotel : One more thing which need to be checked is, the category and location of Hotel used for the tour. A good hotel with good location calls for higher tour cost and vice versa. Generally cheap tours include low category hotels or poorly located hotels. A traveller need to check the quality & location of hotel before finalizing the deal. 
4. Assist Points : Assist points need to be checked during the tour. Cheaper tours will not have much of the assist points. In Most of the cheaper tours, logistical arrangements  are outsourced to different agencies, in order to reduce operating cost. So in such cases, assist points would be limited. You need to have assist point right from start of the tour till end.
5. Insured Tours : You need to check whether the tour you are opting for, is insured or not. Insured tours are expensive where as tours which are not insured are cheap. 
6. Response during emergency : You need to check from various references about tour operators response during emergency. In case a traveller gets into an emergency situation while in tour, how shift does operator responds and extends help. This is a vital factor in a foreign land. 
7. Promptness during cancellation and refund : This is another the vital factor which a traveller need to consider before booking the tour. Incase due to any exigency, if tour planned need to be cancelled, how quick and prompt is the operator about the process of cancellation and refund. This is one reason many people still prefer to connect and book tours from a traditional agent rather than online portals.

Along with above factors, there are many factors which determine tour cost. Highest standards and better parameters lead to higher tour cost and vice versa. So instead of hunting for cheap tours, one should look for above mentioned parameters to decide which tour to book and go for.

Jorasakho Thakurbari

Jorasakho is a locality in Northern Kolkata in Indian State of West Bengal. It is said, this place got its name from two wooden bridges near by. There is another school of thought which says the name came from Twin Shiva temples. This place is more famous for distinguished seat of Tagore family. It hosts the ancestral house of Tagore. More popularly known as Jorasakho Thakurbari – House Of Tagores in Jorasakho.  It is situated in road named Rabindra Sarani (In Kolkata). It is built on the land donated by Sett family of Burrabazar area of Kolkata. First construction was done by Nilmani Tagore  but the extension of this house was done by Dwarkanath Tagore who was grandfather of Rabindranath Tagore – Poet & First Nobel Laurate of Asia. 

It is the birthplace of Rabindranath and it is the place where poet breathed his last in 1941. It is a glorious brick - red colour mantion with plush green lawn in its front. The back of the house has four side locked square shaped veranda, which is open to sky. It is said that Tagore family hosted many functions in this square veranda. 

Today, it is under Rabindra Bharati University. The house is a museum now. Thakurbari consists of many rooms, some of the rooms worth mentioning are first room – where outsiders used to wait, dining room of family, sleeping rooms of different members of family. There are the rooms used for various purposes by the Tagore family. You can even find the room where the poet passed away. This house also has a Maternity room, where the family members were born. On the other wing of the house, you can find the meeting room of Tagore -  where he used to meet people and used to compose his poems. Most interesting thing is poet’s Humbler Car, which one can find parked near the entrance. 

Going through galleries of Thakurbari is the most interesting thing to do. While going through the galleries on can see poet’s connect to the international world. Visit to The Forbidden City in China and his famous meeting with Albert Einstein are worth mentioning. His paintings are must see. However, you require an expertise to find the real theme poet wanted to portray in his paintings. It is widely visited by the people who have interest in culture, literature and history.

Thakurbari also hosts light and sound show in winter. This show depicts interesting aspects of Tagore's life. This is liked by many people. People come from far areas to see the light and sound show. Many unknown facts of Poet’s life comes to play on screen during the show. 

Another interesting thing is, one need to remove his or her shoes before getting in to the Thakurbari.  This rule comes from a Bengali tradition. In Bengali culture, one need to remove his / her shoes before entering someone's house. This is a taken as a mark of respect for the person whose house is getting visited. Same tradition need to be followed when you are visiting House Of Tagore family - You need to remove your shoes before entering.

It is open six days a week. Monday is the day of closure. This place is well connected. Nearest metro station is Girish Park, from there one can take a 15 minutes walk. A lot of buses connect this place with the rest of the city. This place can even be well accessed by app cabs like Ola or Uber.

Victoria Memorial : A Landmark

Victoria Memorial is one of the landmark buildings in Kolkata. It was made in the memory of Queen Victoria. After 1857 war of independence, India came under direct British rule. Prior to this was under rule of East India Company. Queen Victoria became the Empress of British India. 

It is made up of white Makrana marble from the state of Rajasthan. The construction was Initiated  by Lord Curzon in the year 1901, after the death of Queen Victoria. He got a donation of Rs 10,500,000/- from princely states in India. It was designed by Sir William Emerson, the President of British Institute of Architects. The Prince of Wales King George V laid the foundation. The construction started in year 1906 and ended by year 1921.

It consists of sparkling green lawn and a white marble structure. The white marble structure has got museum in it. It includes various historical items like weapons, various items used by kings of late medieval era. Victoria Memorial also has a lot of fine oil paintings. These are quite old and recently restored under expert supervision. Museum has the various galleries out of which Kolkata gallery is worth mentioning. It is newly made and represents the picture of Kolkata. It has got two levels lower level has display articles and museum whereas upper level got a lot of large sized oil paintings. One interesting thing about Victoria Memorial is, there is an Angel which is mounted on the top of the structure. It rotates. There was a technical issue, few years back, which led to stoppage of the rotation. It was repaired by finest engineers and the angel is now rotating once again. But this is quite slow. You might not discover it in the first place. You need to you observe it or see it after a period of time, in order to discover the rotation. Is it not interesting ?

There are some of the lesser known facts about Victoria Memorial. One such fact is before the construction of the Victoria Memorial marble structure, it was the place for Presidency jail. Before the start of construction the jail was relocated to Alipur area of Kolkata. One more lesser known fact is that it was painted black in the year 1943, during Second World War. It was done to save this from  Japanese Bomber planes. 

This attracts tourists from all over the world. This is open 6 days a week except Monday. Lawn can be accessed by all, whereas a special ticket is required for entering the museum. During winters, Victoria Memorial lawn plays light and sound show in English and Bengali. This show displays the evolution of Kolkata. This place is well accessible. One can get in here by metro, nearest station is Rabindra Sadan. There are many buses which ply in this route. App cabs like Ola & Uber are easily available for reaching here. 

So next time you are here. Do not forget to see the wonderful structure.