Desicow.com blog

Although I run DesiCow.com, I am trying to share here unbiased ideas.

DesiAirTickets.com does something similar to what Desicow.com is in to. However there certain crucial differences between how desicow.com and DesiAirTickets.com works.

1) DesiAirTickets.com doesnt charge anything to travel agents; Desicow.com charges 10 cents every time Travel agents submits a quote.

2) DesiAirTickets.com shares your email, contact details with all agents who have registered with them;
Desicow.com shares contact details only if some agent offers to submit quote for your ticket.

3) Desiairtickets.com is full of sponsors banner and advertisement;
DesiCow.com is free of any advertisement.

4) Its very easy to register as spam travel agent with DesiAirTickets.com (I know one travel agent who uses DesiAirTickets.com just to gather emails & phone numbers of users); DesiCow.com at this point of time has comparatively lesser number of member travel agentsbut it has very high quality with respect to User privacy.

If I was buying ticket and had to use DesiAirTickets.com, I would simply create a dummy secondary email address for this purpose and would never give out my phone number.

For travellers who love nature, Har-Ki-Doon valley (the hanging valley of gods) is a treat. It is a moderate trek and takes the India traveller to one of the least explored regions of Garhwal, (a part of the State of Uttaranchal in India). Har-Ki-Doon is situated in the Western part of the Garhwal Himalayas, at an elevation of 3,556 metres. Its a cradle shaped Valley which is surrounded by dense forests of pines and glittering mountain peaks.

The destination is not very well known, and hence less crowded, and less commercialized. Thereby giving the tourist, a taste of pristine Himalayas, in India.

The trek starts from Netwar to Osla. Its through dense forests of chestnuts, walnuts, willows and chinars. The trek from Osla to Har-ki-doon is through terraced mountain fields, lush green grassy land and conifer forests.

Har-Ki-Doon Valley is a base for Swargarohini ht. 21000 ft. It is mentioned in the hindu holy books that the Pandavas went to Heaven through this mountain.

Nearest International airport: Delhi, India

Nearest railway station:Dehradun, India.

This is something that happened a couple of years ago when I was fresh from India. I’m sure many of you may have had similar experiences. (Of course my tickets, paid for by my employer, were purchased from Desi Travel Agents, though it is a less known fact that travel agents get you the best of deals on air tickets).

Having recently opened an account with Bank of America, I had to go over to the bank, which was across the street to inquire about something. My office was on the outskirts of the city, so ample space available for parking, courtyard, small lakes, beautiful trees, wild birds, lawn…..

So here I was at a the edge of a road junction, admiring the lawn, the trees and the birds, the beautiful pond, and the sunny weather. Suddenly I realized that a big SUV has stopped about 20 feet away from me while I was looking the other way. The lady driving the now stationary car moved her hand suggesting that I cross the road. And for a split second I was amazed….. too amazed to understand what was happening. I swiftly took control of the situation, realizing that she assumed that I was standing there to cross, with a motion of my hand I conveyed that I’m not going to cross, and took small steps in the direction I wanted to actually go (along the road) with a smile which I hope, conveyed a THANK-YOU. The car then left…. but I couldn’t take the smile off my face.  WOW !!! I was left to myself with a big sensation of WOW. People actually wait for pedestrians to cross first, and then drive away. Though now I take it for granted that they will stop.