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Planning your first trip to India? A guided multiday tour in India for first-timers offers the perfect blend of safety, insight, and stress-free travel. In this blog, you’ll discover why it’s the smartest way to explore one of the world’s most vibrant and complex destinations. India is a fascinating place; many countries within a country […]

This Rajasthani cuisine travel guide takes you beyond just eating—it’s about exploring traditions, stories, and the warmth of shared meals while travelling. In Rajasthan, every dish has a history, and every flavour narrates a tale of royalty and resilience. Rajasthan’s cuisine is as diverse as its deserts and interesting palaces. 1. Daal Baati Churma – […]

Michael Hussey Visits Dharavi with Reality Tours & Travel, and what seemed like an ordinary day quickly turned into an unforgettable experience for all of us. As I sipped my usual morning chai, a colleague casually mentioned that we had a “Michael Hussey” booked on one of our Dharavi walking tours. I brushed it off, […]

Welcome to Naujheel – A Time Traveler’s Favourite! Welcome to Naujheel – A Time Traveler’s Favourite! Remember the good old days, when we relied on simple joys, lived in harmony with nature, and didn’t worry about getting ourselves dirty while playing in the field? Who wouldn’t want to reminisce these cherished memories, before the ever-so-important […]

South India is a treasure trove of untold stories, vibrant cultures, and hidden gems waiting to be explored. Sure, you know about the famous temples and beaches, but have you ever ventured beyond the well-trodden paths? Here are 7 offbeat experiences that will make you fall in love with the region, and I promise you, […]

Mumbai, India’s bustling metropolis, is known for its glitz, glamour, and diversity. However, beyond the well-trodden paths of Bollywood and Marine Drive lies the heart of the city: Dharavi, one of Asia’s largest slums and a thriving community with an incredible spirit. If you’re interested in exploring the city beyond tourist spots, the Dharavi Slum Tour offers an […]

Dharavi, one of Asia’s largest and most densely populated slums, is on the verge of a major transformation. With the Dharavi Redevelopment Project officially underway, this iconic neighborhood of Mumbai may soon undergo a dramatic change, altering the landscape, community, and industries that have thrived here for decades. As plans take shape, now might be your […]

In 2008, Slumdog Millionaire’s success put Mumbai’s slum community on the world stage. Millions around the world felt as if they really were a part of it, engrossed in the film, as they followed Jamal through the crowded streets of the city’s underworld Finally being on the world stage, in many ways, was one of the […]

Guests are always asking us what our most popular Mumbai tours are so here you go! While we are most well-known for our signature Dharavi slum tour, as you can see we have lots of amazing experiences to offer our guests! Dharavi Tour An economic powerhouse, a city within a city, the heart of Mumbai […]

Between the intricate carvings, jungle views and visiting monkeys, Chaumukha Mandir, the Jain Temple at Ranakpur, will transport you to another world. Built in the 15th century, this enormous complex has 1,400 pillars, each one hand-carved with its own unique patterns, icons and elements from nature – no two pillars are alike. Wander around the […]

Show almost anyone a picture of the Taj Mahal and they’ll recognise it instantly. Imposing yet graceful, its true beauty can’t be appreciated in a photo alone – this is a site that has to be seen in real life to be believed. A romantic idea… But let’s face it – you won’t be the […]

If you are talking to an Indian and mention the Kolkata, the first response is generally a wistful sigh and an explanation about the amazing street food available there. When you are in a country that is known globally for having delicious food, this says quite a lot! However, there is more to Kolkata than […]

India is considered one of the most diverse countries in the world and it is not difficult to understand why. With over 100 languages widely spoken, a stunning array of landscapes and a plethora of food to choose from, a trip to India is the equivalent of a trip through Europe. So how do you […]

Without a doubt, traveling as a sole female in India presents a few unique challenges compared to other places in the world. People stare at you, personal space is non-existent and you have to be aware of your surroundings at all times. (You can read more about safety in India here!) However, India is much safer […]

The temperatures in Delhi are finally dropping and it is time to get back out and explore the city. Delhi is well-known for its proximity to the Taj Mahal and the Pink City of Jaipur and for its bustling old town but few know of the intriguing history of the city or how cosmopolitan today’s […]

Dear readers, After a scrumptious Dharavi Cooking Experience, getting hands on and learning how to make Indian dishes, we thought: why not pay homage to the ingredients that make the cuisine unique–a post in appreciation of some of India’s most beloved spices? India boasts a diverse range of regional cuisines where varying spices and ingredients […]

Dear readers, We are well aware that India has a reputation for being unsafe and that women in particular should not travel alone. However, this is not the full picture. India is a country replete with culture, experiences and, of course, people. People, people everywhere. This means that you’ll be hard pressed to find yourself […]

Hello readers, Just before summer heat kicked in here in Mumbai, we were busy creating a new experience for you. After a few enquiries and subsequent research, we found out that magnificent ancient cave temples existed not too far from Mumbai. And so, we hopped on a train to Aurangabad to see the sights and […]

Dear readers and fellow travellers, Today marks International Women’s Day! (Though in Reality, every day is Women’s Day.) We asked our girls who run the Reality Tours Mumbai office what the day means to them. Here’s what our formidable ladies have to say: Evelyn, Reservations Manager Every day is Women’s Day! I don’t think this day […]

Mumbai is known as one of the most popular tourist destinations of India. Because of the unique seaside location, this city has expanded to fill the surrounding seven islands. It has also become one of the biggest trading hubs of this world. Traveling in this city can help people to understand modern Indian culture. Full […]

Dear readers, Mumbai is one of the leading metros in India if not the leading one already. It was earlier referred to as Bombay. It happens to be the biggest city in India and is also the capital of the western Indian state of Maharashtra. To begin with, Mumbai was a collection of 7 islands […]

Happy New Year everyone! A new year means more opportunities to explore, new destinations to visit. And of course, India should be on your list! To make your trip to India easier, we’ve put together a few helpful resources to aid you in choosing transportation, finding accommodation, and more nitty-gritty elements needed to build the […]

Hello travellers, We’ve curated a shortlist of things that may not necessarily be on the top of your list of things to have on hand while travelling. We are certain that these items shall prove useful—whether you’re in accessible or remote areas, travelling in a group or solo, irrespective of your situation. Charcoal tablets: We […]

“Wait, you’re all alone? I could NEVER travel all by myself.” I can’t relay the number of times I’ve heard people say this to me, a solo female traveller. And every time, I return their question with a smug smile and respond: “but of course you CAN!” India can be a daunting country to visit: […]

Photo courtesy of IGIA New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) is the nation’s busiest airport. We aren’t surprised by this, as the city boasts a myriad of monuments, markets and food options to discover. We’ve put together a list of ways to make it easy for you to decide how to get into New […]

Finally, you’ve made the decision to visit Mumbai and explore all it has to offer! We’ve put together a summary to help you decide how to get into the city upon arrival at Chhatrapati Shivaji International airport: 1) Taxi This is a straightforward method to get into the city. There are two types of taxis […]

My name is Balaji and I am 27 years old. I live in Dharavi and have worked as a tour guide at Reality Tours and Travel for over 5 years now. As a local from the slum, I have a lot to say about my neighbourhood – the way it has changed with time and […]

Mumbai is known to be a fast city, where life just passes you by. Hailing from Mumbai, there are still various facets of our city which we are not exposed to. Mohammad Ali Road, one of the oldest quarters of the city, is one such facet most Mumbaikars have never experienced. Throughout the year, the […]

Our very first tour of Dharavi was in January 2006; shortly after this, we introduced a ‘No Photography Policy’. Some press coverage had been critical of people going to Dharavi and taking photos, and when we saw the results, we agreed. Over a decade on and the policy remains unchanged: guests on our educational slum tours are not […]

My name is Manoj Ramesh Medwal and I was born and brought up in Mumbai. My parents both come from Delhi and I have one elder brother and one younger one. We live together with my mum. My elder brother is married and has two wonderful children. I’m really proud to be a nice uncle. We […]

My name is Shehnaz and I am working as a tour guide at Reality Tours and Travel. My family is originally from Bihar but my father moved to Delhi about 25 years ago to work and sustain the family. I was born in Delhi in a middle-class family and we are six siblings. My father […]

Slum tourism has become extremely popular in the 21st century, especially in Mumbai. With its escalating use, throughout media and existing scholarship slum tourism has generated a heated and critical debate especially concerning ethics and its so-called ‘voyeuristic’ nature. However, scholarly research on slum tourism remains limited and fragmented. Reality Tours & Travel began, first […]

Salman Rushdie once wrote that “to understand just one life you have to swallow the world“. In Dharavi there’s an estimated one million lives. In Sanjay Colony, there’s a not inconsiderable 50,000. As we try to convey on our educational tours, these communities are incredibly complex. Whilst the word ‘slum’ evokes a negative view (The […]

Since 1984 ‘Technology, Entertainment, Design’ (more commonly known the world over as ‘TED’) have been sharing ‘ideas worth spreading’ relating to all things, from education to business, science to development. In the last 30 years, they’ve shared over 2,400 talks in more than 100 languages which have been viewed 500 million times. These talks are a regular […]

India is a very diverse country and every city has its own rich history and culture. A particularly striking aspect of this is the range of different festivals celebrated throughout the country. One of the biggest festivals celebrated around this time of the year in Mumbai is “Ganesh Chaturti”. Ganesha is the son of Lord Shiva […]

In a loose replication of Portuguese adventurers centuries ago, over the last couple of weeks thousands of the world’s top athletes have been seeking precious metals in Brazil. However one country in particular is slightly conspicuous by its absence from the upper echelons of that ultimate game of temporary national one-upmanship, the Olympics medal table. […]

For the past two years, I have had the privilege of working in Dharavi: the heart of Mumbai, its center of small scale enterprise, and “one of the largest ‘slums’ in Asia”. Dharavi is an incredibly unique area that outsiders rarely get the opportunity to work in and learn from for such an extended period […]

Your average Mumbaikar might wonder why Dharavi, one of Asia’s largest slums, has survived, slap bang in the middle of India’s burgeoning financial capital, for so long. As the city has grown and expanded, Dharavi has come to occupy a prime piece of real estate. Why not bulldoze it down and start again? What people across […]

Freshly cooked dal, okra, rice and roti are packed safely into a metal tiffin when the doorbell rings. A white capped dabbawallah is anxiously waiting for the lunchbox but he is sure to flash a smile before he speeds away on his bicycle. At the local train station, he adds six more lunch boxes to a wooden plank that is

Since the British were finally forced to retreat from India many of the reminders of the colonial period have also gradually been pushed aside. From statues of royalty being taken down to city names being changed, in general as a hard fought single nation pride has begun to develop so too has the confidence of […]

India is a vast and vibrant country with endless experiences available wherever you look and a culture that is truly unique. Many travelers flock to this birthplace of spirituality, home of mouth-watering cuisine and endless geographical beauty. However, with so much to experience and such a different way of life to the one visitors are […]

Earlier this year our Operations Executive, Mayur Parmar, had the opportunity to join Jagriti Yatra, a 15-day, 8,000 kilometre journey around India. The trip brings 450 young Indians together on a train to learn about our country. The journey is punctured by stops to learn from local leaders who are building India through innovative enterprise. […]

Will and Kate are in Mumbai, kicking off their whirlwind trip around India. In 2012, Prince Andrew visited Dharavi with the help of our founder, Krishna Pujari. For this royal visit, however, our services weren’t called upon. But that didn’t stop us from imagining the perfect one day Mumbai tour for the royal couple! Our […]

Kaveri and Hasnain, two graduates from Reality Gives’ Youth Empowerment Program, recently joined youth from the French NGO Global Potential for a four day leadership course in our partner village, Chinchoti. Global Potential is an 18 month leadership and entrepreneurship program for youth from underserved communities. A key aspect of their program is a 45 […]

1. Definitive Guide to Riding Mumbai Trains (With Pictures) Mumbai’s local railway is aptly nicknamed the “lifeline of the city.” Mumbai is one of the densest cities in the world and the trains are its saving grace, transporting a staggering 6.9 million people per day. Trains can get so overcrowded during peak hours that it […]

The months of monsoon bring joy to millions of people not only in Mumbai but all over India. The torrential rains arrive after a torrid, long and tiring summer. The monsoon begins during the first week of June in the southwest coast. It then travels up through the Indian state of Kerala, up towards the […]

Mumbai, a city of over eighteen million people, is home to an estimated 300,000 ‘beggars’, people who survive by asking others for money or food in public spaces. Many are children, female or the elderly. A large number are physically maimed. From the bona fide Mumbaikar to the tourist in India for the first time, having to […]

India will not be what you expect. You will meet people that are friendlier and more generous than you ever thought possible. You will taste foods so delicious you’ll begin to wonder why Indian food isn’t everyone’s favourite. You will see sights so beautiful that they will remain embedded in your memory for the rest […]

On January 4, 2016 Reality Tours and Travel celebrated 10 years of working in Dharavi. To mark the occasion, we’ve created a video that looks at the different ways in which we have impacted some of the lives of the tens of thousands of people who have been a part of our story. As a […]

Among the first of many realizations you’ll have when you arrive in India is that there is no such thing as “Indian food.” The Indian subcontinent packs in as much or more diversity than Europe and the food is no exception. To help you get your bearings, we’ve created a guide of our “must-try” foods […]

Please introduce yourself. Where did you grow up? What were you doing before joining Reality Tours? My name is Ravi Mishra. I grew up in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh but I ran away from home when I was 13 because of issues at home. I picked a train at random and ended up in Navi […]

Suraj, one of our senior guides, recently wrote an article about Dharavi for the German magazine, Masala, a publication that aims to build an intercultural bridge from India to Germany. What is a slum? I have met many people from all around Mumbai and the world and when I ask them this question, 90 per […]

India is a country where great wealth and prosperity sits side by side with incredible hardship and poverty and making sense of the great contradictions is a nigh on impossible task. But that hasn’t stopped people trying. Here are some of our favourite attempts to understand and explain this diverse, compelling and fascinating country that […]

I was recently invited to Dharamsala along with three entrepreneurs from Dharavi to sit on a panel discussion organized by American Enterprise Institute. Abundance without Attachment was the theme of the program. They wanted to discuss about enterprise and poverty, and how to lift people up. There were around 50 people present in the room […]

New Delhi, the modern day capital city of India, has been the centre of a multitude of different empires throughout the ages, the remnants of which can be found scattered throughout the city. From rich, diverse history and architecture to arguably India’s best food and shopping, Delhi truly has something to offer every type of […]

Diwali is tomorrow! In this post, two of our guides, Jitu and Balaji, explain the history of Diwali, why it’s important, how they celebrate and how it is celebrated by Jains. To learn more join us for our Diwali Dharavi Tour and Celebration next year! Diwali is very commonly recognised as the festival of light […]

This week we have a special guest post by Krishna Ganatra from Happy Travelling Girl, an organization dedicated to making traveling a safe reality for women. They share with us their top trips for travelling solo in India. I was reclining at one of the pillars at Vitthal Temple in Hampi. We had been cycling […]

Nick takes us through his experience last year during Ganesh Chaturthi and explains what he learned. The Modern Origin There weren’t any crowds when we turn onto the side street indicated on our map. It was surprising considering my friend and I were trying to find the housing society responsible for the modern form of […]

It’s 6pm, you’re in Colaba and you need to go north, what do you do? Risk a traffic jam in a taxi? Get a free body massage in the train? Weave in and out of traffic with your motorbike? We decided to put six forms of transport to the test and figure out the answer […]

Chris Way, co-founder of Reality Tours, takes us through his work with Smokey Tours in Manila and compares it with the challenges he faced in Dharavi. I have been acting as a Consultant for Smokey Tours since March 2013, when I visited Manila for the first time. Juliette Kwee, from the Netherlands, who was working […]

Vada: spiced, mashed potatoes deep-fried in a batter of chickpeas. Pav: the ubiquitous white bread rolls. Put these two simple foods together with some spicy chutney (sauce) and it transforms into Mumbai’s iconic street food: vada pav. The idea is said to have originated from a street vendor named Ashok Vaidya who worked outside of […]

Prison escapes, a forbidden city, treacherously high mountain peaks, ancient belief systems – forget Shantaram, Seven Years in Tibet is the best travel story I have ever read. But while I was impressed by what he saw and learned, it was how Henrich Herrer accomplished these things that stood out to me. The story highlights 4 essential pieces of […]

Chris, a university student from the United States, shares with us what he took away from his visit to Dharavi. This past May, I made my first trip to India. My mother and I have been traveling internationally every summer for the last several years, but had only recently set our sights on the second-most populous […]

Fantastical, lyrical and awesome in its nature, Indian fiction often derives much of its inspiration from real life events, lending credence to the old saying “the truth is stranger than fiction”. It can offer incredible insight into the country’s history, politics and culture in an incredibly engaging, entertaining and all too often, heart breaking manner. A common […]

Research is an important aspect of traveling responsibly. If you’re going to support a travel company, whether it’s a hotel or tour operator, you should ideally research them before choosing them. We have created the following list of 4 questions to help guide your research. If it is difficult to find the answers, if the answers are […]

Mumbai can be a difficult city for tourists; it’s hot, crowded and difficult to get around and on top of that there aren’t many famous sights to help guide your visit. But there is actually a lot to see and do once you start searching beyond the well-known sights. Instead of searching for sights to see […]

Born and raised in Dharavi, Mayur has worked with Reality Group for over five years. In his own words, Mayur tells the story of his journey with Reality Group and how it led him to find his passion. Working with Reality has been an achievement. I joined Reality Gives as a caretaker. Through this job, […]

Delhi is my home and I love it because I know a ton of places, people and things to do here. I can’t imagine my life without these five places in Delhi. Almost every day, I go to one of these places. 1. Habitat Center (Central Delhi) Past Exhibit: Coexistence Ecological Conversations The Habitat Center is a […]

“You’re doing WHAT?!” This sentiment, be it a sense of enduring fascination from friends or a cry of anguish from a long suffering family, has pervaded most of my adult life. Six months after leaving a well paid and highly respectable job in London to go on a bicycle ride from the UK to Turkey this […]

The morning of Eid, after repeatedly assuring us that it wouldn’t be an inconvenience, Asim kindly invited the foreigners from the office to his family home nearby Dharavi for Eid al-Adha. I’ll admit I was a bit nervous for this: I had never seen anything sacrificed before. We wound our way through the narrow streets to […]

Mumbai’s local railway is aptly nicknamed the “lifeline of the city.” Mumbai is one of the densest cities in the world and the trains are its saving grace, transporting a staggering 6.9 million people per day. Trains can get so overcrowded during peak hours that it is common to have 14-16 people per square meter. If this […]

The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story. CHIMAMANDA ADICHIE In her brilliant TED talk, novelist Chimamanda Adichie discusses how only hearing one story about a people or place can lead to misunderstanding. In […]

One hundred and thirty five hutments jut out into the Arabian Sea, bravely defying nature and real estate moguls. Slated for redevelopment for almost a decade, Worli Koliwadi, or Worli fisherman village has, like so many other Mumbai settlements, continued to survive due a mix of legal, bureaucratic and geographical factors. But for us this means that there is […]

Note: this one isn’t for the faint of heart! It was a boiling hot Saturday morning and my stomach was not feeling 100%, but there was no way I was missing this. When you get invited for a behind the scenes peak at your friend’s most meaningful religious holiday, one I had never even heard […]