Are you interested in doing an internship In India? Go for it - it's easier than you might think! The story of former Knowledge Must intern Julia is a great example. Longing to go back to India, where she spent a year as an exchange student when she was 16, Julia joined our team for three months in late 2012. Read on to find out how Julia got interested in India, her experience living in Delhi and how her time with Knowledge Must complemented her studies.

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Part 1. Never Travel on Boxing Day.

Back in the year 2008, I was a second year student in University of Nottingham in England. Knowing that I would ‘enjoy’ the Chinese Spring festival in between exams, I decided to make the most of my Christmas holiday by traveling to the northern part of Great Britain. So the plan was to invite some friends to clean up my fridge on Christmas day and go for a 10 days journey in Scotland with two Chinese classmates. However, I was told on Christmas dinner that the two classmates who had already booked the trip (350 quid) didn’t bother going any more, since they felt like falling ill after a visit to London and thought Scotland would be cold as hell. My expectation of the journey went a ‘30% off’, yet I insisted on going alone.

Continue reading "A Journey in Search of Deep True Scottish Love"

Kumbh Mela is the biggest pilgrimage festival in the world and in fact also by far the largest gathering of people for any purposes anywhere. This festival attracts tens of millions people every about 12 years, when it takes place in Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh, India). The pilgrims’ crowd is so big, it could even be seen from space. The main purpose of the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage is to bathe at the Triveni, in the most holy of places – the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and the mythical river Saraswati.

Continue reading "Kumbh Mela 2013 - Tours Organised by Knowledge Must"

When I booked myself on a Historic Mehrauli Walking Tour I was really excited, was really looking forward to go. Why was I so excited about this walking tour? I had arrived in India only two weeks before to complete an internship as part of my studies in Germany. And of course, everything still felt completely new and adventure-like to me. It was my first time in India, as you may have guessed. You must remember your first time being here and can imagine how I felt.

Continue reading "Mehrauli Walking Tour - Exploring Delhi's Oldest Neighbourhood"

India is a land of surprises! From the majestic Himalayas and the stark deserts of Rajasthan, over beautiful beaches and lush tropical forests, to idyllic villages and bustling cities, India offers something unique for every individual preference. Vibrant, mesmerising, completely absorbing, the country stimulates all of your senses - often simultaneously. If you plan to travel to India, I am sure you will find our following tips helpful:

1. Keep a scanned copy of your passport and visa in your e-mail box at all times. You will need it more often than you think, especially while booking services like accommodation, transport, etc.

Continue reading "Things You Should Know Before Coming to India - Tips for Travellers"

Whether you come for business, education, or leisure, India's capital city Delhi offers you countless opportunities to spend your time. To help you make the most of this mega-city, we have gathered together over 100 interesting, fun, and often unconventional ideas into one handy guide. See how many you manage to tick off before you leave - that is, if you intend to leave behind the city's excitement at all…


ACTIVITIES:

1. Learn Hindustani, the lingua franca of the Indian Subcontinent (that covers the continuum of the standard registers Hindi and Urdu). For Delhi this is a real Must - and will make you enjoy the city all the more!

Continue reading "101 Things to Do While in Delhi"

Lili Jiang, 23, is a Chinese student from Sichuan Province, China. In July she went to travel in India and she has decided to share her experience with us.

KM: So, first of all, Lili, how come you decided to go to India? Isn’t it still a quite unusual destination for Chinese tourists?

Lili: Well to be honest, I think you are right, there aren’t many Chinese tourists in India (yet!), and on the plane I had a hard time explaining to the Chinese hostesses and passengers why I was travelling to India as a tourist. Most of the Chinese people on my flight were going to India for business purposes and they didn’t understand why I was going there just for fun! The hostesses were actually worried for me, telling me things like: “Why are you going to India? Are you mad? If you need help you can stay with us, here’s our Indian phone number!” Despite their concerns though, my experience in India was great! The main reason why I decided to go was that I’ve always felt an attraction for India! We’re neighbours, yet so different!! My friend (who was flying from Hong Kong, while I was flying from Beijing) and I were scared we would miss each other in the airport. Luckily enough, I guess I looked too different from my Indian sisters and brothers and my friend recognized me right after I got out of customs!

Continue reading "Being a Chinese Tourist in India! "

There is loads of fun to be had during your time in Chengdu, whether you come for business, education, or leisure. To help you make the most of this "heavenly city" we have gathered together over 100 ideas into one handy guide. See how many you mangage to tick off before you leave - that is, if you manage to leave at all…

Continue reading "101 Things to Do While in Chengdu"

I had never made the experience before of how it feels to guide somebody in a place that is so well known to me. On the 28th of May 2011 I held my first guided tour of my native place Old Delhi – and it gave me such a fresh feeling of being a representative of my culture and not just a sheer local of the place I have been living in for almost all the years of my life. If you ask locals of Delhi about Old Delhi, their first reaction often is a feeling of discomfort. It is a place which is mostly considered by people as a cobweb of streets that are overcrowded and where you can get lost easily if you walk alone and don’t know the place well. Even for me living in Old Delhi, before preparing for this walking tour, my locality was just so humdrum and tiresome – everything was so fatiguing to me.

Continue reading "Rediscovering My City – Guiding a Walk through Old Delhi"

From Moscow to Beijing via Ulan Bator in Mongolia. Crossing 7 time zones. If measured from start to end it accumulates to a vast total of 7622 km (4735 miles). You will have heard about it. It is the Trans Siberian Express. It is not just a train ride. It is one of the amazing experiences in the world! If you choose to not make any stops after departure from Moscow, the journey can be made in 6 days. However that’s not how I did it and I’m darn happy about that because otherwise I would have missed an amazing experience!

Continue reading "A Journey Crossing Two Continents: Riding the Trans-Sib"

Interaction with people from different cultures is next to the obvious change in landscapes the most striking thing while going abroad. You talk about cultural issues that are different like eating habits or local traditions. So of course it was also one of the things I talked about a lot while being abroad and it was at this time that I discovered how odd foreign people find Queen’s Day, which is maybe the biggest Dutch-specific public holiday. People find this odd because how are people partying everywhere and dressed up like crazy in orange be related to the Queen of the Netherlands?

Continue reading "The Dutch Monarchy and the Day the Netherlands Turn Orange"

The ascent of the 660 rock-cut steps, all of them polished smooth by uncounted bare feet of humble worshippers seeking to perform Darshan (“the beholding of a deity”) at Shravanabelagola, one of the oldest and most important Jain pilgrimage sites in the world, is truly worth each drop of sweat shed. The gigantic 18 meters tall and blindingly white gleaming statue of Lord Bahubali carved from a single piece of granite stone and located on the summit of the Indragiri Hill can be seen even from as much as 24 km afar and is considered to be the world's largest monolithic stone statue. Each day thousands of Jain pilgrims as well as curious visitors make their way up, passing the numerous smaller shrines. Even elderly or handicapped people get the chance to take a closer glimpse at the towering statue on top, as there is a palanquin transport service available to avoid the strenuous hike.

Continue reading "Worshipping Lord Bahubali - The Jain Pilgrimage Site at Shravanabelagola"

This is not an average travel narrative, replete with the wonders of a world that is truly wondrous: a jazzy world that, yet, has a large, welcoming heart. This is, perhaps, not an image run-of-the-mill Hollywood WW2/spy-flicks generate, immersed, as they seem to be, in anachronistic assumptions and the resultant antipathies. But, it is clear to this writer, Germany and Berlin define the new Gross European Cool, framed in terms of “Multi-Kulti” (multiculturalism, in colloquial German) and a Kalkbrennerian Zeitgeist.

Continue reading "Under a Northern Sky: Feeling “ich bin ein Berliner”"

Innovations in the Indian hospitality sector can be analysed on many different levels. This analysis makes the attempt to give a broad overview on innovations taking place in the industry according to various categories of hotels as well as relevant functions, concluding with a brief outlook on future directions these innovations might take.

India holds a special place in the international world of hospitality. Culturally the country might very well be the most diverse place in the world. It is a vivid kaleidoscope of landscapes, magnificent historical sites and royal cities, misty mountain retreats, colourful people, rich cultures, and festivities. Luxurious and destitute, hot and cold, chaotic and tranquil, ancient and modern - India's extremes rarely fail to leave a lasting impression.

Hospitality is a long running tradition in India. From the majestic Himalayas and the stark deserts of Rajasthan, over beautiful beaches and lush tropical forests, to idyllic villages and bustling cities, India offers unique opportunities for every individual preference. However, until fairly recently this was hardly evident when looking at India's hospitality industry.

Continue reading "Innovations in the Indian Hospitality Industry"