The Week India - July 29, 2018

74 THE WEEK^ • JULY 29, 2018

COVER STORY

TRAVEL

SIDDHARTHA

JOSHI

He is a designer,

traveller, and a

travel blogger

whose passion

is interacting

with his design

clients and

those he meets

during his trav-

els. He hopes

that sometime

in future, there

will be a world

without visas

and boundaries.

LAKSHMI SHARATH

She is a travel writer

whose blog, Travel

With Lakshmi, is

more than 13 years

old. For her, travel

is a way of life.

Although she has

written more than

300 travel stories

for several publica-

tions, websites and

radio stations, her

crowning achieve-

ment was when her

blog was featured

in a Class 8 English

textbook, in its

introductory chapter

on blogging.

RANGAN DATTA

His travels have

taken him to the

ends of the earth,

from the base of

the highest moun-

tain in the world

to the highest mo-

torable pass. He

is a management

and mathematics

lecturer, but travel

is his passion.

His blog is ranked

among the best

travel blogs in

the country. He

is also a regular

contributor to

various Wikipedia

projects.

MARY ANN ISSAC

Her solo travel ex-

periences around

the world are doc-

umented in her

blog, Stories from

my Backpack, and

Instagram page

(@storiesfrommy-

backpack). She

hopes to inspire

more young

women to take the

plunge and experi-

ence the delights

of solo travel.

SHUBHAM

MANSINGKA

He is a travel

blogger with a

keen interest

in photography,

culture, trekking

and food. He loves

listening to the

stories of villagers

and exploring

off beat, unknown

places. He has

been published in

newspapers and

magazines, and

he chronicles his

trips on his travel

blog Travelshoe-

bum.

MRIDULA

DWIVEDI

She did her PhD

from IIT Kanpur,

and was teaching

in a private

business school

till she quit her

job in 2015, and

took to travelling

and documenting

her experiences

in her blog, Travel

Tales from India &

Abroad.

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meet the team!

Let our panelists take you to the best places in India for adventure,

history, wildlife, beaches, and art and culture [page 78 onwards]

DOMESTIC TOURISTS FOREIGN TOURISTS

MOST VISITED MONUMENTS

Rank Monument % share of

visitors

Rank Monument % share of

visitors

1 Taj Mahal 10.20

2 Qutub Minar 5.52

3 Red Fort 5.44

4 Agra Fort 4.58

5 Golkonda Fort 3.90

6 Konark Sun Temple 3.87

7 Charminar 3.29

8 Bibi Ka Maqbara (Maharashtra) 3.24

9 Ellora Caves 3.18

10 Shaniwar Wada (Maharashtra) 3.16

1 Taj Mahal 16.63

2 Agra Fort 14.28

3 Qutub Minar 14.06

4 Humayun’s Tomb 6.21

5 Fatehpur Sikri 6.05

6 Itimad-ud-Daulah (Uttar Pradesh) 5.56

7 Lord Cornwallis Tomb (Uttar Pradesh) 3.71

8 Mattancherry Palace Museum (Kerala) 3.26

9 Red Fort 3.18

10 Group of Monuments (Tamil Nadu) 2.70

Source: India Tourism Statistics, 2017,

Ministry of Tourism, Government of India

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GRAPHICS: BINESH SREEDHARAN