Monday, October 2, 2000		Kids Chat

Hello and welcome back

Cliparti: I guess everybody must have finished with exams and thinking of how to spend their vacations.

Windy: Some would be joining crash courses, while the others would be site seeing and travelling …

Fluppy: …and some like me would be doing homework.

Cliparti: Why? You can always carry your homework wherever you go and spend, say one hour each morning on it. This way you will not only enjoy but will be through with your homework, too.

Fluppy: Wow, that’s a nice idea, but I guess its too late now to plan a holiday.

Windy: Where there is a will there is a way!

Cliparti: With the Internet around, nothing is a problem now. You can get all information you need plus all reservations and bookings done at the click of a mouse.

Fluppy: Even all reservations done?

Windy: Yes, so that does not give any chance to the parents for excuses.

Fluppy: Ha Ha Ha!

Cliparti: You know, last week Tourism day was also celebrated. The rich cultural and regional heritage of India not only attracts the nationals to know more about their country but also foreigners. So apart from earning national income it also earns foreign exchange for the country.

Windy: With the advent of the Internet, this industry has grown further. It not only gives job opportunities but also provides convenience to travellers.

Cliparti: We logged on to http://wwwtraveliteindia.com and came across good many options. It is recognised by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. It not only provides daily departure tours and tailor-made tours in India, but also the car and coach rentals and accommodations for different destinations in India. The other site, which we logged onto, was http://www.khoj.com/travel/index.htm. It is a search engine, and has channels like agents, general, hotels, news, places, and wildlife. You can also find hundreds of Web sites related to travel and tours on this search engine.

Windy: Some good tour packages are also offered at www.travel.indiamart.com. They not only deal with Indian tours, but also have tour packages for Nepal. You can get to know about the costumes, languages, cultures, museums, festivals, cusines, and weather of the place you want to visit.

Fluppy: What if I wish to have some adventure during the holidays?

Cliparti: There are a host of sites, which you can access for planning some trekking, or visiting some wildlife sanctuaries. You can also join in for some adventure sports at www.allindiaguide.com, where you can discover the sublime Himalayan interiors unmarred by mankind — like Himalayan trek and the Singalila trek.

Windy: At www.junglelore.com we saw a spectacular variety of Himalayan birds and detailed information on the famous Jim Corbett National Park, which we hope to visit some day.

Cliparti: Hey Guys! Why make it some day. Pester your parents to make it in these vacations only.

Fluppy: Yeah! Sure. With all this information it won’t be difficult convincing them. Thanks.

— Ira Verma