Travellers’ tales

F5 Escapes, a travel start-up on Sunday organised a programme titled ‘Just Go’ at Phoenix Arena. In the event, travellers Aruna Chandraraju, Diyanat Ali, Gopala Krishna and T Usha, shared their stories, ideas, tips, guidelines and pitfalls of travelling in the programme.

Aruna Chandraraju is an independent journalist, photographer and translator, besides being a travel writer; she is also a music and dance critic. Speaking about her travel experiences Aruna said, “Travelling is one of the pleasures of our lives. Many people think that a traveller needs loads of money and resources but it is a wrong notion.

We can find the great travel places in our cities and cover them on a low budget. Every city has great heritage and culture. I travelled around 30 countries of Europe. In most of the cases, many people don’t know the great places in their own backyard until we reveal it to them.”

“In my opinion, one has to start their travel experience in their own city. We have to start exploring ourselves. There are thousands of travel blogs on the internet and you can find best locations to travel around the world with the help of these blogs,” Aruna added.

Another traveller, Diyanat Ali, who founded the Great Hyderabad Adventure Club (GHAC), said, “The one who travels the most is the wisest guy in the world. For me, nature and outdoor are my teachers.

In my schooling days, I used to bunk regularly to visit some places in Hyderabad. Most of my travels are related to adventure and wildlife. I always choose tours, which have some challenges. In my opinion, travelling enables one to discover what we are.”

Gopala Krishna, organiser of ‘Hyderabad Trails’, that curates shared experiences of the city through organised walks, gatherings and events, shared, “We did many Heritage Walks in the city to create awareness among the people of Hyderabad about its great culture.

Our city has some great stories about its culture and unfortunately, not many people know about it. Gatherings like these will surely help people to know different things about the city.” T Usha, an architect by profession visited more the 20 countries, about her experience she shared, “I started as an independent traveller.

Over the years, I have enjoyed all genres of travel but I am passionate about adventure, rural and eco-tourism, spiritual, wildlife, trekking and I specialise in Hindu pilgrim centres for which I have great affinity and keenness. I invariably factor in this aspect while planning my itinerary, where I find history, culture and discover customs and traditions of the past.”

By V Sateesh Reddy