You’ve read it all. You’ve tried it all. But summer fun is not over. Come with us on a trail of four holidays that you have never had before.The truth is we have holiday templates. There is the hill holiday—the walk in the mall, the staring at the mountains. There is the beach holiday—the lazing on the beach and the staring at the sea. (And we go on holidays to escape the predictable.) So, for this summer, we got the clichés out and found holidays with imagination—places where you can chase butterflies for days or swim with the fish, be sahib for a day or walk the spice trail. Butterfly tourNamdapha, Arunachal Pradeshnamdhapa in Arunachal Pradesh is better known for its national park. After you’ve spotted the tiger and the musk deer, linger there to trail the flutter of butterflies. Phupla Singpho, who runs an NGO working towards conservation in Miao, the base town for Namdapha, is there to help you spot the Purple Sapphire or the Golden Babbler, the Grey Count or the Leopard Lacewing. “Most people miss out on these exquisite butterflies because all they want to see are animals. But Arunachal is probably the only place in the country where you see so much variety,” says the man who organises butterfly as well as bird-watching camps in Namdhapa in his spare time. Namdapha is located in the Changlang district, the western boundary of the park. Burma lies to the south-east while the Dapha Bum range borders the north. It’s a paradise for birds and butterflies, with Jairampur being one of the few butterfly conservation spots in India. The best time to visit, Singpho says, is May and September, “Before the rains start. That’s when you see an amazing variety.” There are about 80 species of butterflies on show, including rare ones like the Paris Peacock and the Orange and Chocolate Albatross.One needs an inner line permit to enter Arunachal, which most travel agents can organise. At Miao, you can stay at a forest rest house or the circuit house. Singpho organises groups of five for each tour. The costs are minimal, about Rs 2,000 per person for a minimum of five days and it includes accommodation, sight-seeing and, in certain instances, travel. Internet is not available in Miao. So most bookings need to be done either at regional offices or over telephone.(Phupla Singpho can be reached at 09436228763)The sahib’s holidayGlenburn Tea Estate, DarjeelingAt the sprawling Glenburn Tea Estate in Darjeeling, there’s a legend that locals never tire of recounting. On moonlit nights, they say, Kimble Murray, the first manager of this 1,600-acre estate, returns to the hills, his spirit refusing to leave a place he loved so dearly. It almost convinces you, since whoever comes to this picturesque tea estate some 3,700 feet above sea level never has enough of the place. Husna Tara Prakash, the present owner, laughs when you ask her about it. “There’s so much to do here. Why would anybody want to leave anyway?” she says. Prakash’s family bought the estate in 2001 from planter Williamson Magor. Since then, they have converted the huge colonial country home, known as the Burra Bungalow, into a home-stay. “This year, we are planning to add four rooms to the chhota bungalow,” she says.Home-stays crept in to travel itineraries a couple of years ago when plantation owners threw open their properties to supplement their earnings. At Glenburn, too, the transformation has been natural. The estate was featured in the Tatler Travel Guide as a foodie’s paradise and Prakash says that is the focus of the Glenburn holiday.Everything here is home-grown, from the freshly brewed tea in the morning to the scrumptious jams that accompany oven-fresh breads, the stewed fig pancakes and the green tea ice-creams that come to you as desserts after a picnic on the hillside. Of course, there’s the planter’s punch as well. You can go on a tour of the tea plantation and take part in a tea-tasting session. Food is not the only part of the deal. You get to go around Darjeeling. The estate ensures a chaffeur-driven car is at your disposal. Walking tours are also big on the itinerary. “We have a lot of mountain trails that take you to picturesque locations. Most of the families that we get prefer them to jeep outings,” says Prakash. The price for such luxury is slightly high. For the package that includes food, accommodation, local outings and transfers to and from the nearest bus-station, Prakash charges Rs 18,000 per couple per night during peak tourist seasons. (For bookings log on to glenburnteaestate.com)
