THE UNHURRIED MAN’S GUIDE
For Chirag Bhandari, co-founder of HighonTravel (HoT), travelling is not so much about seeing a new place as immersing yourself in it. He believes that tourists evolve into travellers when they start being intrigued by the people, culture, food and craft of their destinations.
“HighOnTravel promotes slow travel in India emphasising on correlating travel with an experience,” says Bhandari, the 30-something founder and CEO of the company. A chemical engineer from IIT Bombay, Bhandari started HoT after trainee stints in Fortune 500 companies and working as a management consultant with co-founder Rakesh Verma, a design architect, in July 2011.
HoT specialises in finding unique and unusual places to stay in locations across India — Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Ladakh, Coorg, Kerala, Sikkim and Rajasthan. It lists over 500 homestays and guest houses in 200 destinations, and also offers local experiences and walks. This could mean a walk in Lodhi Gardens in Delhi, a kite flying experience in Lucknow, a walk through Kumartuli in Kolkata or a cuisine trail in Jodhpur. Of course, this kind of experience appeals only to evolved travellers — those who don’t expect fivestar room service in a Kerala home or complain about a bug in a Coorg plantation cottage.
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