Israel is so versatile that experiences unfold at soul level. While words cannot describe the calm that stems out of silent prayers in Mystical Jerusalem, Tel Aviv is where wild nights are not hard to come by, whereas Dead Sea is where floating comes natural (where you can practically sit or lie down on the surface and read a book) and where the mineral rich black mud is used for Therapeutic and cosmetic treatments. From the spiritual to the cleansing to the upliftment of soul is what Israel is about.


Let’s talk about 5 experiences I had during my trip to Israel to places that excites every traveler including me: The Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and more.

1) Tel Aviv: Pubs can be found all around Tel Aviv and 'morning out’ parties (the ones that run from midnight till mornings) calls for the endless spirit of Tel Aviv. When it comes to nightlife, this city stands out, else in which city would you think of dancing on the sands of marina in a random beach party or enjoying the world’s largest headphone party at Rabin Square like I did?  If you are a night owl, a meandering soul, always full of energy, dynamic or a lover of the good life, the city of Tel Aviv consisting of young and beautiful people is made for you.





Walk down the Tel Aviv promenade or explore the culture of Tel Aviv Jaffa that contains the famous stories of heritage of Israel. Walk around the artist’s quarter and get souvenirs back from Jaffa Flea market.



 2) The Dead Sea: Ever fancied reading a book naturally floating on water with no effort. A non - swimmer, no problem.  Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth at 1407 feet below sea level also known as one of the 7 wonders of the world. The Dead Sea first of all is not a sea, but heavily saline lake, the water is so buoyant that one tends to float. Why is it called Dead Sea? Because no fish, birds or plants can survive in its high-saline environment. Along the shores, salt buildup collects in rocky ridges, peaks and towers. Just be sure to not immerse your eyes in the water, the salt in the eyes really does hurt.



 3) Jerusalem is the landmark for the three biggest religions in the world - a holy place for Christians, Jews and Muslims. More than million people from around the world come here with their wishes in form of notes and place them at the Western Wall. As we walked through the Jerusalem Old City in Israel, we discovered Jerusalem Western Wall, Tunnels, Landmarks, Quarters, Dome of the rock, Church of Holy Sepulture, Tomb of David etc.

Markets called shuk such as Mahane Yehuda Market was where we gorged on the varieties of cheese and Ethopian Halwa. At the end we enjoyed the 3D light and sound show at Kings David Tower.





4) Masada : Overlooking the Dead Sea is the ancient fortress of Masada, a UNESCO world heritage site. We boarded the cable car for ride up to ruins of King Herod’s mountaintop fortress in Masada and last stronghold of the Jewish revolt against the Romans. On one side you would see the snake path where many people walk up the mountains exhausted. The ancient fortress of Masada had massive stores, efficient water system that had captured every drop of rain and funneled into huge water stores beneath the earth using it for drinking and agriculture and hot bath system. The view from all the angles down are gorgeous.



In a place called Qumran, which is about an hour away from Masada , is where the dead sea scrolls (the oldest biblical texts) were discovered in caves by the Bedouins. The scrolls are now on display in a specially constructed museum called the Shrine of the Book on the grounds of the Israel Museum.

5)Food and Culinary Adventures: With plenty to eat, the Israeli Cuisine is fusion adopted from different cultures mostly comprising of Middle eastern and Mediterranean tastes being widely popular. Vegetarian? No problem. Some of the best places we had food were Bertie Restaurant Tel Aviv, Messa Restaurant Tel Aviv, Chakra restaurant Jerusalem, Mahane Yehuda Restaurant Jerusalem, Mitzpe Hayamim Galilee. To make our culinary experience even better, we indulged in a little Israeli lifestyle by learning how to cook Jewish Food at Galileat, toured Mitzpe hayamim organic farm, visited Tmarim Plus - the Dates Factory Store, Shay Zeltzer’s Goat Cheese Farm, Tzora Vineyard for wine tasting and Aela Valley for bread making workshop.





No wonder it’s slowly becoming a bit hit with new age Indian Travelers looking for more. Have you been to Israel yet?

The beaches were full, people were out and about and I was playing Matkot with the locals on the beach on Saturday after the last night Friday Party. Tel Aviv is appropriately called the party city of the world because this is the city where mostly younger crowd gets into full action in their bikinis and their swimsuit. Don’t believe me? Well, I wouldn't have had either, had I not hiked there solo for 2 days post my sponsored trip. 



In fact, the party scene in Tel Aviv is world known and we had a little pub crawl and then we danced in one of the Silent Parties in Tel Aviv before ending up our night wildly dancing on the sands on the beaches of Tel Aviv. 









 Luckily for me, Day 1 started as Friday evening where I could still enjoy the celebrations and the parties where Day 2 was quieter because it was Shabbat weekend and it was Saturday and on Saturday local buses don’t run generally or their frequencies might be less, but getting Taxis to everywhere was expensive too. After taking half a day rest at my leisure hotel Herods, I chose to walk away from my incredible view of my hotel at Marina to all the way to Tel Aviv Port and Tel Aviv Jaffa and the Tel Aviv Promenade.





It was hot and it was sunny, but the walk along the beaches of Tel Aviv were well worth it. Thats why a lot of people bike in the city, the distances aren’t a lot, and it cuts down on your ability to walk in the hot crowded sands during afternoons. It can get hot and humid as India so do keep your sunscreens ready!




Why visit Tel Aviv, Israel ?

Tel Aviv Jaffa is also a good place to buy Dead Sea Minerals / Souvenirs whereas in Tel Aviv you can buy Swimwear. So last time when I talked about Israel, a question popped up on my shares on social media by one of the readers on why would we go to such an unsafe country. I believe as every country Israel has had its own share of hardships and testing times, but that does not in any way define the most part of Israel. In fact, in my stay and my hike I never felt unsafe. Whether it was walking from the marina to the port or from walking from my hotel in marina to Jaffa, whether randomly dancing on the sands with locals or whether taking a bus.
















In fact, most of the time, I just chose to walk, the vibe of the city of Tel Aviv is incomparable -it surprises me till today on how cool is the city and how open is the culture. So, when I met locals at the beach in Tel Aviv and played Matkot with them on the waters of Israel, I asked them what do they love about Tel Aviv and they couldn’t stop raving about the Sin City they love so much that attracts people from worldwide!


 And the added advantage is, as part of gateways you can always go to Jerusalem or Dead Sea /Masada or Eilat Red Sea. Israel is so versatile from one place to another that exploring it in itself would not only takes you to spirituality, union of cultures and history, and scrolls , and tunnels, food from different cultures but as you move on from one place to another, you would realize that it is for everyone - from young to old to adventurous

The Indian Connect

For some reason, India is very well reciprocated there. They love Indian culture is what I got to know when I talked to a few locals, whether its selling Bollywood DVDs in markets or knowing about Bollywood movies or enjoying Bollywood Nights




There is flourishing IT industry in Tel Aviv and so I also got to interact with a guy who was working there, with whom, I walked a bit of Tel Aviv and had Indian Food at a local place but forgot to take his number. I don’t even know his name. That’s what travel does to you, it brings you to pleasant encounters like this one. I was walking solo, then I wanted my picture to be clicked in a circle, and so I met this guy and requested him for a click, and next thing I know we chatted about how cool Tel Aviv is and parted ways. A few minutes later, I met him again by coincidence and then we decided lets head to an Indian restaurant. And that was the end of it all. And then I walked towards Marina and met few more families and heard their stories at 11pm.

The Encounters

In one of the celebrations I remember at night, I had requested folks to take my picture, and then they were acting inappropriate, probably were boozed to saying they love me and so I had to move on facing other way. Things like these happen everywhere, but with mideastern countries, especially Turkey and Israel, although they are beautiful beautiful countries, men generally are little more flirtatious. I had faced something similar in Tel Aviv Jaffa when traveling solo, 'I give you this ring, marry me’ said one of the vendors at Jaffa Market and all I could do is move on. Turkey takes it to completely different level - I have a lot of Turkey stories to tell you guys.. most of them are ridiculous flirtatiousness and as much as you are enthralled and blushing it can get overwhelming (or a little too much) at times. Tel Aviv is not at that level but just be aware that yes its a party city, so people coming late night may be a little drunk and disoriented , so avoid conversations with them or ignore.



 Enjoy the city as much as you can, as long as you can. And if you are a bachelor its a perfect city. If not, then also, Tel Aviv has a lot to offer for every age group. The vistas of the sea from Herods marina is gorgeous and in my whole time there, I just spent it lavishly enjoying the views, then walking on the beaches, munching on local food at the bistros and just primarily walking.

As we walked through the Jerusalem Old City in Israel, we discovered Jerusalem Western Wall, Tunnels, Landmarks, Quarters, Market and Food in the Holy Land. Come catch me live from Israel in my vlog #travel #israel #jerusalem


Guys, Jerusalem is one of the places in Israel where even if you believed in your own world that these things never existed,it gives you ample air of faith to make you believe that it did. Check my blogposts on Israel, if you happen to travel there in the near future.

 New York of all, celebrate the spirit of Halloween in the world’s largest Halloween Parade called New York Village Halloween Parade where hundreds of puppets, bands of different types of music, dancers and artists, and thousands of other New Yorkers in costumes of their own creation participate.

Watch my vlog on New York Halloween Parade 2016



 So why is Halloween Celebrated? 

 The word Halloween comes from “Hallowe’en” meaning”halloween evening” or “holy evening”. It s thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic Festival where people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts.

Activities such as Halloween Costume Parties, Carving Pumpins, Trick or Treat, Lighting Bonfires ,visiting Haunted Attractions, visiting Horror Films and very popular during Halloween. Halloween is celebrated on Oct 31, during this time the Celts believed that the barrier between living and dead was the thinnest and hence it was possible to communicated with the deceased.

 Where to shop for Halloween 












 I got a Halloween Glow Mask and Glow Hair Spray from Village Party Store at 8th Street whereas my hubby got a similar to Joker Mask. Unluckily for me both the glow mask and glow hair spray didn’t glow at all, so I got face paint from Michaels and painted my face under my mask, which when now I look at pictures, looks scary too!




 So How Did It Start

 Since the subways were diverted, at a lot of places, we took a Ferry from Port Imperial New Jersey and landed at Midtown. From there we took a Ferry Bus which had drops near to Halloween Parade Start location. As soon as we entered the bus, the few people that the bus contained, were all Halloween Parade attendees.

One of which was dressed like a football player with the big ball helmet head gear and the whole costume of a player. He said he would walk in the parade than be a spectator because last time when he was standing someone threw something from their balcony of their home. Now that's scarier :P

 So How Did Our Parade Go 

 A day prior to Halloween celebration on 31st Monday, Central Park had their small Halloween event for free, where they were supposed to have Halloween Costumes Parade / Spooky Stories / Pumpkin Flotilla / Live bat encounter presentation / Pumpkin Carving at Charles A Dana Discovery Center. But due to rains, it got cancelled.We had to change 3 subways to reach Central Park from Times Square because the routes were diverted.

As we reached by about 7:30 pm, the crowd was overwhelming, in fact, one thing I am slowly learning about New York is: Waiting Time happens. Whether you want to be part of Travel Massive Any Event or Pizza or Michael’s Free Craft Classes, I wonder how is it, that it is always loaded and I end up in waiting. Sometimes waiting moves, sometimes not. 

 And that is exactly what happened on that fateful night. Due to crowd and barricades plenty, it was only till 8:30 pm we could sneak in the parade. I wonder if people arrive 1 or 2 hours before to be a spectator on 6tth avenue or a parade participant. Because even if we tried to be a spectator, there were people in front of us, who we couldn’t squeeze through, and so as many, the option we had was to either capture with selfie stick upheld or some how be in the parade. Finally, we could make it to the parade.

 Being in the parade is an experience in itself. The crowd sizzles with rhymes of music and dance in Halloween costumes. Spectators get to enjoy the view of it all. One of the great ways to know what goes inside the parade is to be a volunteer, which I had no idea about prior. Else I would have definitely participated in volunteering to animate puppets or to marshal the parade. Probably next year!

 Anyways, guys here are my few glimpses from the parade which I could capture from my phone and a short video to take you through it all.