This holiday season, let your GPS (Global Positioning System) device help you trace a hidden resort in Goa. Alternatively, sign up for a bonfire storytelling session at an underground resort or simply trek along a frozen river in subzero temperatures.

Go underground, literally, at Guhantara, your subterranean vacation den

Being one-off is the mantra for vacation mongers right now. The ‘been-there-done-that’ brigade is going great lengths to ensure that their picture postcards are sent out from destinations that their friends haven’t even heard about — let alone visited. Inveterate travellers are heading off for off-the-grid holidays, plodding through the snake infested terrain of Indian rainforests, plonking themselves on yaks and even tasting their way across the subcontinent.

And to help them out, a posse of tourism outfits is jumping into the fray with one-of-their-kind properties, secret destinations, out-of-the-box themes and what have you. Says Ajay Salanky of vacation outfit, Great Escapes: “In this day and age, the going should ideally get tough while you travel. The cookie-cutter holiday just doesn’t measure up any more.”

In most cases, you will be spared the ordeal of roughing it out but photography workshops on wild jungle treks with King Cobras for company may be a different story altogether. So, here’s taking a look at some quirky Indian holidays that promise to add a zing to the world weary traveller’s itinerary. Time to hit the roads, people!

Best kept secret

Otter Creek is a resort you cannot give directions to. Sporting über-cool interiors in the form of marine life inspired washrooms, beach houses and old colonial Portuguese furniture, the vacation property operates out of an undisclosed location. It’s perfect for anyone looking for kicks after wading through a stream of uninspiring holidays.

And here’s the catch, you will be quietly slipped the top-secret address — read Google Earth coordinates of the resort location or a pick-up vehicle at the airport — once you confirm your booking.

Indeed, the ocean retreat lives up to the mysterious aura enveloping it. Ringed by a salt water creek that merges into the aquamarine waters of Arabian Sea, Otter Creek is daintily perched on a tiny speck of land, somewhere in North Goa, about 30 minutes drive from Calangute or Baga. The road to the resort ends about 30m from the salt water creek skirting it. You have to wend your way across a bamboo bridge, along a sandy track and traipse around village houses before you reach your final destination.

Denzil Sequeira of Otter Creek says that the exclusive location of the boutique property is a hook for high profile travellers who prefer to stay anonymous. “We don’t even want to publicise the destination,” he adds.

Naturalists get some serious reptile action at Agumbe

What makes this destination a hands down winner are its unique beach houses that are collectively known as ‘Elsewhere.’ Access to ‘Elsewhere’ is via a private, bamboo footbridge across the creek that separates the beach (on which the houses nestle cosily) from the rest of the world.

For The Captain’s House in the Elsewhere category, which can accommodate six persons, tariffs range from $1,477 (Rs 69,101) to $4,371 (Rs 2,04,497) per week, depending on the time of visit. Meals are not included in the package.

Getting there: Take a direct flight to Goa or drive there from Mumbai. Otter Creek is a 20-minute drive from Mapuca and 45-minute drive from Old Goa. Bookings will only be available in 2011.

Spiritual surfing

Lord Krishna devotees are the new surfing gurus down South. Head for the coastal village of Mulki in Karnataka, at the mouth of the Shambhavi River and the Arabian Sea. These surfing swamis, who belong to the Kaliya Mardana Krishna Ashram, are offering a vacation to remember at their beach hideaway called Ashram Surf Retreat. Consider it a mad mix of spirituality and watersports.

Surfing and meditation go hand in hand at the Ashram Surf Retreat in Mulki Ashram Surf Retreat

Surfing enthusiasts will be put through their paces by the ashram-ites at an extra charge of Rs 1,500 per person per day. Room tariffs for non-AC guestrooms are somewhere between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,000 for single occupancy.

Other than riding the waves in the local breaks (that’s an obstruction in a waterbody that causes the waves to break) such as Baba’s Left, Tree Line and Water Tank, watersport buffs can also go kayaking and swimming besides indulging in spiritual activities like mantra meditation (meditation accompanied by chanting mantras like Hare Krishna Hare Rama).

Spending a week with them will offer interesting options like complimentary lessons in Yoga for beginners. Remember the wholesome lacto-vegetarian fare you’ll have to get used to at the retreat.

Getting there: Mulki in southern Karnataka is 30km north of Mangalore.

Going underground

A compelling reason to visit Guhantara, Bangalore’s new addition to the resort domain, is its location in the deep recesses of the earth. Leaving behind the din of the city, breeze ahead on the Kanakpura Road where your subterranean vacation den awaits you. Here’s what you will find: cave-like interiors, walls texturised with rocks and corridors fashioned in the manner of a secret labyrinth, all jazzed up with ambient lighting. Says Parameshwar Appa, manager of the property: “The key to a mind-altering experience is illusion. And that’s what we seek to create at Guhantara.”

The rooms come attached with a private sit-out overlooking a lake created out of rainwater harvesting. More pizzazz is added by way of an underground stream that snakes along the entire perimeter of the resort.

Rustle up some exotic fare even as you enjoy the sun and sand in Goa

The swimming pool is obviously the resort’s prime asset where patrons become vulnerable to the charms of a cavernous dip. The tariff of the Cave Suite is Rs 9,000 per night and includes complimentary breakfast.

Getting there: Cab it to Guhantara on the Kanakpura Road, from Bangalore under two hours.

Animal instinct

On the road through the cold deserts of trans-Himalayan Ladakh, there’s a unique transport choice on offer. On these scenic mountainscapes, studded with glacial valleys and frozen streams, you can thumb a ride on the Dong, the Ladakhi term for yak, as it lowers its shaggy back for you to hop on to. Yes, a yak safari, should be the highlight of your itinerary if you stray into this part of the world.

When you do manage to grab your hot seat on this 1,000kg furry creature that has a temperature threshold of -40°C, do feast your eyes on the towering cliffs, sharply dropping gorges along with gompas and chortens hugging the landscape.

Travel portals like leh-ladakh.com will help you plan an itinerary, offering an assorted platter of one-off getaways including the yak safari package.

Prior bookings help outfits to organise itineraries which may have pit stops ranging from partly frozen lakes to dirt tracks under the canopy of towering willow groves.

The ‘chadar’ trail takes you on the frozen Zanskar river for a chilled out vacation

Getting there: Ladakh can be reached both via road and air but a road trip is always preferable.

Snake peek

Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARR), on the Sahyadri Ranges, in Shimoga district of Karnataka, is where you get some serious reptile action. Founded by Romulus Whitaker, also known as Snake Man of India, this is one King Cobra habitat the true blue adventure buff would not want to miss. Apart from being home to the longest venomous snake in the world, Agumbe plays host to some interesting species of fauna that elude naturalists at the best of times. The cane turtle, flying lizard and the Atlas Moth will earn you boasting rights if you book yourself a holiday with Great Escapes.

The outfit is currently offering photographic expedition packages to the Agumbe Rainforest which can last up to two days or more including an overnight camp in the rainforest. Says Salanky: “The package is designed to suit the needs of two different sets of people — photography and wildlife enthusiasts.’’

The package includes wild jungle treks, jeep safari rides and sleeping in tents. But the highlight of the vacation is the photography workshop that is seamlessly integrated into each and every activity that the participant indulges in.

Average pricing is from Rs 6,900 to Rs 10,900 depending on the duration of stay (two days or more) and time of the year.

Getting there: By road, you can reach Agumbe from Bangalore via Hassan, Chikmagalur, Balehonnur, Jaipura and Sringeri. The nearest airport is Mangalore while the closest railhead is Udupi on the Konkan Railway.

Walking on thin ice

If mountains are a turn on and high altitude trekking a huge adrenaline rush, Ladakh should feature prominently on your must-visit list. Even among hundreds of Ladakh’s snow encrusted trekking trails, there’s one that happens to be the holy grail of both avid mountaineers and serious thrill seekers.

Walking across the Zanskar River that freezes over in the winter months, leading to the formation of a thin sheet of transparent ice on its surface is a great high. Owing to the sheet like ice formation, this trail is popularly known as the ‘chadar trek.’

Escapade Adventures & Holidays Pvt. Ltd is offering a 14-nights 15-days chadar trek programme that also takes you to various hotspots of Ladakh including ancient stupas and gompas. “At Zaribago village, which is a pit stop on your trail, in the eerie silence of the night, you can actually hear a crackling sound when the ice freezes on the mountains around you,” says Sanjay Saini of the outfit.

With a price tag of anything between Rs 7,061 and Rs 9,414 per person, per day, this trek provides a unique opportunity to stay in caves on the Deepyokma-Nyrakpulu stretch, while passing through frozen waterfalls.

The holiday spread

If cooking is at the centre of your universe, then you could lay the table close to the beaches of Goa. Culinary travel outfit Holiday Onthemenu is offering a week-long food extravaganza where cooking enthusiasts will be egged on to wield the spatula and rustle up some exotic fare even as they put their feet up on the picturesque banks of Goa’s Mandavi River.

The proprietors claim that the destination is a perfect spot to cook and holiday owing to the fabulous local produce, fresh seafood and the hands-on culinary sessions which can be ideally punctuated with trips to the beaches. Says Pru Goudie of Holiday Onthemenu: “Our programme takes patrons on a culinary journey from the north to the south of India over three days”.

A yak safari in Ladakh is a must-do — it’s a child’s play

The participants are given a grand tour of the bazaars, while they select ingredients for the classes. Up for grabs is also a trip to the Spice Garden, an ancient plantation growing vanilla, coffee, pepper, cardamom and more.

For a week-long culinary vacation in Goa, with three cooking classes, you need to shell out Rs 46,417 per person for standard rooms.

Truly, the experiences are as unique as they are rich. Of course, those boasting rights are no trifling matter either.