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<br /> The year 2013 is on its way out but are we really planning a blast to ring in the New Year? The good news is – Indians are still undeterred by the falling <keyword id="6355302" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rupee">rupee</keyword> and looking forward to outbound travel in the coming holidays, just like they did this summer. But the way they travel is definitely changing, according to a senior executive of a Delhi-based <keyword id="6607315" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="OTA">OTA</keyword>. Overseas travel no longer means the ritual rush through <keyword id="6357117" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="bangkok">Bangkok</keyword> or <keyword id="6356662" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Singapore">Singapore</keyword> – the global destinations closest to home and perhaps the least expensive. Of course, these places are not yet marked off the list, but the experienced and the well-heeled seem to have caught the travel bug of a different kind.<br />
<br /> <keyword id="1960912" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Offbeat-destinations">Offbeat destinations</keyword> are getting increasingly popular among Indians, says Saurabh Srivastava, vice-president (marketing &amp; product strategy) at ixigo.com, a travel planning site and search engine that aggregates and curates travel information to help consumers.<br />
<br /> “Of the 2.5 million visitors coming to our site month on month, we see some very clear and emerging trends. While the <keyword id="1960914" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Regular-overseas-travellers">regular overseas travellers</keyword> are increasingly looking at offbeat destinations to try out something different, first-timers or those who haven’t ventured outside the country too much, are still looking at <keyword id="1960915" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Popular-destinations">popular destinations</keyword> like Bangkok, Singapore, <keyword id="8695" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Malaysia">Malaysia</keyword> and <keyword id="6355478" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Australia">Australia</keyword> – the main attractions being <keyword id="6396451" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="beaches">beaches</keyword>, <keyword id="60543" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Water-sports">water sports</keyword> and <keyword id="6368952" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="shopping">shopping</keyword>,” he observes.<br />
<br /> We have talked to a number of <keyword id="722880" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="travel-agencies">travel agencies</keyword> and rounded up 12 out-of-the-ordinary (but up and coming) places that people are closely following (and booking) these holidays. Here is a quick look at each of them with a glimpse of the local flavour and the basic cost per person on a twin-sharing basis. However, costs are only indicative and are bound to change, depending on your <keyword id="472754" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tour-schedule">tour schedule</keyword>, quality of <keyword id="6358762" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Package">package</keyword>, customisation and service provider. Also, prices may fluctuate as dates get closer.<br />
<br /> Try planning a holiday if you love these destinations too. Just remember, sometimes, the best travel happens farthest from <keyword id="823132" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="home-and-away">home and away</keyword> from your everyday ambience. Catch the sun on a <keyword id="1553372" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="foreign-soil">foreign soil</keyword> this New Year and bon voyage!

<b>Want To Vacation Abroad? These 12 Places Are Creating The
Buzz These Holidays</b>

<p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?id=tag%3Areuters.com%2C2020%3Anewsml_RC2NGF9HHI6Y&amp;share=true">Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters</a></span></p><p class="caption">Nile cruise ships and feluccas docked on the River Nile bank following an outbreak of coronavirus in Luxor, Egypt, March 9, 2020.</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>A coronavirus outbreak on an Egyptian <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-outbreak-grand-princess-cruise-ship-2020-3">cruise ship</a> called the MS A'Sara has left the vessel quarantined on the Nile River.</li><li>At least 18 coronavirus cases in the US have been linked to the ship, while over a dozen others are connected to unspecified Egyptian cruise ships.</li><li>For the latest case totals, death tolls, and travel information, see <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-virus-everything-we-know-deadly-2019-ncov-wuhan-spread-2020-1">Business Insider's live coronavirus updates here</a>.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>At least 18 Americans have tested positive for the new coronavirus after returning from a cruise on the Nile River.</p><p>The cruise ship, called the MS A'Sara, is currently sitting in quarantine on the river as passengers and crew wait for test results. </p><p>On the ship's voyage to the city of Luxor, home to tourist attractions like the ancient city of Thebes, 12 workers tested positive for the coronavirus.</p><p>"Some of the worst thoughts go through your head," Javier Parodi, a tourist from Miami on the ship with his cousin and mother, who are both over 60 and have underlying health conditions, told the <a href="https://apnews.com/fcbe7bc478342c4fa2937ffb5cc0234c">Associated Press</a>. "Those crew members were the ones serving our food and cleaning our sheets."</p><p>The Egyptian government said those workers weren't showing any coronavirus symptoms. But a chef on the ship, Amonios Salah, <a href="https://apnews.com/6903f73a46a0eda9fb550de039826cc3">told the AP</a> that some crew members had shown symptoms such as fevers.</p><p>Since then, a total of 45 people on board have tested positive, according to the <a href="https://eg.usembassy.gov/health-alert-u-s-embassy-cairo-egypt-march-7-2020/">US Embassy in Egypt</a>. </p><p>"It's still unclear how many people came in contact with the group in the infected ship," a senior police officer in Luxor told the AP.</p><h2>At least 18 US cases are connected to the MS A'Sara</h2><p>Public health officials have tied at least 18 coronavirus cases in the US to the ship. At least 12 people in the Houston area of Texas who had recently been on the MS A'Sara have tested positive for the virus, according to the <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/egypt-cruise-ship-coronavirus-california-florida-15118483.php">Houston Chronicle</a>. Another <a href="https://governor.maryland.gov/2020/03/10/governor-hogan-announces-ninth-positive-case-of-covid-19-in-maryland-issues-new-guidance-for-long-term-care-facilities/">six</a> cases in Maryland are connected to the ship, the governor's office said on Tuesday.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/06/world/middleeast/egypt-nile-coronavirus.html">New York Times</a> reported that a couple in California had also tested positive after a cruise on the MS A'Sara.</p><p>A number of other cases in the US are linked to unspecified Egyptian cruises. Among 21 Iowans who took an Egyptian cruise in late February, 12 have <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/10/kim-reynolds-holding-her-weekly-news-conference-capitol-coronavirus/5009567002/">contracted</a> the coronavirus, <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2020/03/10/kim-reynolds-holding-her-weekly-news-conference-capitol-coronavirus/5009567002/">the Des Moines Register said</a>. Another two infected people in <a href="http://www.floridahealth.gov/newsroom/2020/03/031020-florida-department-of-health-announces-new-positive-covid19-cases-florida.pr.html">Florida</a> had recently traveled on a Nile River cruise, as did a coronavirus-positive <a href="http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/news/2020-news-releases/virginia-department-of-health-confirms-fourth-and-fifth-presumptive-positive-cases-of-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-in-fairfax-and-in-spotsylvania-county-virginia/">couple in Virginia</a>, according to state health officials.</p><p>On the MS A'Sara, passengers were told to stay in their rooms, and the crew set up a makeshift medical center in the ship's library, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/on-the-nile-american-tourists-among-those-quarantined-on-ship-hit-by-coronavirus/2020/03/07/51b0f29a-60a1-11ea-ac50-18701e14e06d_story.html">The Washington Post</a> reported. At least 26 people currently on board are Americans.</p><p>"They did, in my opinion, mess up at first," Parodi told the Post. "But they've done everything they can, as far as I know, to address our concerns and to make us feel as comfortable as possible."</p><p>Some experts and Egyptian citizens are concerned that the country isn't sufficiently screening and reporting new cases of the coronavirus.</p><h2>The cases raise worries of 'silent transmission' in Egypt</h2><p>"The feedback I get from my patients shows that there is a state of fear and skepticism among the public when it comes to fully trusting official statements regarding the coronavirus in Egypt," Mohamed Ashraf, an orthopedic specialist, told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/as-more-virus-cases-trace-their-origins-to-egypt-questions-rise-over-government-measures/2020/03/09/d77fc718-61f3-11ea-8a8e-5c5336b32760_story.html">The Washington Post</a>. "Some of the patients I have seen suspect that the cases are much more than those the government has announced."</p><p>The World Health Organization (WHO) has also acknowledged the possibility of unreported spread in Egypt.</p><p>"Concern continues around silent transmission occurring in Egypt due to reports of cases in other regions with history of travel to Egypt," a March 5 WHO <a href="http://www.emro.who.int/images/stories/coronavirus/covid-sitrep-issue1.pdf?ua=1">report</a> said.</p><p>Egypt reported a total of 59 cases in the country as of Tuesday.</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-outbreak-grand-princess-cruise-ship-2020-3">The coronavirus-hit Grand Princess cruise ship is unloading passengers in Oakland, California. Here's a full timeline of the ship's outbreak.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-cruise-ship-company-norwegian-misleading-sales-talking-points-report-2020-3">'The Coronavirus can only survive in cold temperatures, so the Caribbean is a fantastic choice for your next cruise': How cruise company Norwegian is reportedly training salespeople to mislead potential customers</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/flying-us-domestic-economy-during-the-spread-of-novel-coronavirus-2020">I flew back to New York after it declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak. Here's how I prepared for and protected myself during my flight home.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-test-how-it-works-2020-3">How coronavirus testing actually works at one private lab that can process hundreds of tests a day</a></li></ul><p class="tagline"><a href="/intelligence/digital-health?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_subscription&amp;itm_content=health&amp;itm_campaign=digital-health"></a></p><p>Featured Digital Health Articles:<br />- <a href="/telehealth-industry-explained">Telehealth Industry: Benefits, Services &amp; Examples</a><br />- <a href="/value-based-care-pay-for-performance-healthcare-model">Value-Based Care Model: Pay-for-Performance Healthcare</a><br />- <a href="/senior-care-market-trends">Senior Care &amp; Assisted Living Market Trends</a><br />- <a href="/wearable-technology-healthcare-medical-devices">Smart Medical Devices: Wearable Tech in Healthcare</a><br />- <a href="/artificial-intelligence-healthcare">AI in Healthcare</a><br />- <a href="/remote-patient-monitoring-industry-explained">Remote Patient Monitoring Industry: Devices &amp; Market Trends</a></p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-myths-debunked-wuhan-china-2020-2">Pathologists debunk 13 myths about the coronavirus, including why masks won't help</a></h3>

At least 18 Americans who've come down with the coronavirus are linked to an Egyptian cruise ship quarantined in the Nile River

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/harrisonxjacobs">Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>While <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/egypt">Egypt's</a> best known sites are the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/downside-to-visiting-pyramids-of-giza-in-egypt-2019-1">Great Pyramids of Giza</a> -<span> </span>the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World still standing - and the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, those bucket-list destinations can be crowded and give only a small picture of ancient Egyptian society.</strong></li><li><strong>An Egyptian local told me, upon arriving in the southern town of Aswan, that if I wanted to really get to know ancient Egyptian culture, I should visit the ruins of Abu, l<strong>ocated on the small, quiet Elephantine Island in the middle of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/egypt-economy-egyptians-entrepreneurial-creative-2019-1">Nile River</a>.</strong></strong></li><li><strong>Few tourists take the time to visit the site, making <strong>Abu a treat to explore. Its fascinating ruins</strong> are that of an ancient border town and military stronghold, showing what life was like during ancient Egypt all the way through the ancient Greek and Roman empires.</strong></li></ul><p>While most tourists visit Egypt to cross the Great Pyramid of Giza off their bucket list, the country is jam-packed with historical monuments, ancient temples, and artifacts.</p><p>After spending a month in the country this past December, I was surprised to find that the highlight of my visit wasn't the Great Pyramid, or even the<span> Luxor and Karnak temples, the country's most famous ancient temples. Instead, it was ancient ruins near Egypt's southern border that I didn't even know existed before I got there.</span></p><p><span>After I visited the pyramids in Giza, I took an overnight train to Aswan, a small town in Upper Egypt that serves as a jumping off point for tours up the Nile River. I was picked up at the train station by my tour guide, a man named Michael. </span></p><p><span>After a day of sightseeing around the town, he took me on a felucca, a small wooden boat, across the Nile River to Elephantine Island, where he told me I'd be staying. From far away, the island doesn't look like much. There's a Movenpick Resort on one end and a Nubian village on the other. But, after he got me settled in the Nubian bed and breakfast, he took me out to the balcony and pointed towards the tip of the island.</span></p><p><span>"When you have free time tomorrow," he said. "Walk down there. Trust me, you won't regret it." </span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/harrisonxjacobs">Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span>The next day, I turned out to have <em>a lot</em> of free time, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/egypt-tourism-industry-leaves-tourists-frustrated-2018-12">after a snafu with the Nile cruise ship</a> I was supposed to be on. I decided to take advantage and headed where Michael had directed me.</span></p><p><span>I stumbled past an unmanned gate into what looked like ruins that were still mid-excavation. As I wandered through, I couldn't help get the feeling of an archaeologist still surveying the field for new discoveries. </span></p><p><span>The ruins turned out to be that of Abu, sometimes called Yebu, which means ivory or elephant in Egyptian. The settlement of Abu has existed since prehistoric times and was continually inhabited up until the Middle Ages.</span></p><p><span>After I'd walked through the area for a few minutes, a tour guide on the site flagged me down to point me in the direction of the ticket booth. Then he offered to give me a tour. I was glad I took him up on it.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/harrisonxjacobs">Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p>As the guide explained, Abu is fascinating for a few reasons.</p><p>While the Valley of the Kings and the Pyramids are structures dedicated to the deceased, Abu was a thriving town for thousands of years. It provides a real window into what Egyptian society was like through the ages.</p><p>For a long time, Abu marked the border between the kingdom of Egypt and the kingdom of Nubia. It served as a major military fort for the Egyptians and experts believe it served as a major trading center for ivory, hence its name.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/harrisonxjacobs">Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider</a></span></p><p class="caption">The god Khnum, depicted as a man with a ram's head, is all over the town.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The ruins look to be mid-excavation because they are. The <span>German Archaeological Institute <a href="https://www.bluffton.edu/homepages/facstaff/sullivanm/egypt/aswan/satet.html">began excavating Abu in 1969 </a>and it continues to do so to this day. </span></p><p>While much of the ancient town has been knocked down by the Ottomans and other empires, it was never built over because of its isolated position on the island. That means much of the materials are still mostly intact and can be reassembled into the various temples and structures that once stood. </p><p>The town <a href="https://www.egypttoursplus.com/elephantine-island/">was an important religious center as well</a>. In ancient Egypt, locals believed that Khnum, the god that controlled the Nile River, lived on the island. The largest structure in the town is the reconstructed <span>Temple of Khnum, built during the Old Kingdom and then rebuilt when the Greeks controlled Egypt during the Ptolemaic dynasties.</span></p><p>The god Khnum, depicted as a man with a ram's head, is all over the town.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/harrisonxjacobs">Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider</a></span></p><p class="caption">Historians believe the indent in this wall exists because that is where people placed their head when they prayed.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>There are nooks and crannies to explore throughout the town at your leisure. Whereas top sites like the Luxor and Karnak Temples and the Pyramids were swarming with tourists when I visited, Abu was deserted. The tour guide and I were the only ones in the entire complex.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/harrisonxjacobs">Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>That left plenty of time for him to point out interesting phenomena that I would have never noticed otherwise, like this indent in the wall of one of the temples in the below photo.</p><p>According to the guide, historians believe the indent exists because that is where people placed their head when they prayed.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/harrisonxjacobs">Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The guide said that this reconstructed seating area was once part of an ancient bathhouse. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/harrisonxjacobs">Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider</a></span></p><p class="caption">This reconstructed seating area was once part of an ancient bathhouse.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>And this shrine was made from a single block of granite. Much of the ruins and temples near Aswan are made of granite due to the ubiquity of the stone in the area. Elephantine Island, on which Abu is located, had several ancient granite quarries.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/harrisonxjacobs">Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider</a></span></p><p class="caption">A shrine made from a single block of granite.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>As the town was inhabited for thousands of years, there are temples, carvings, and monuments to the kings and gods of ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and ancient Rome.</p><p>While Romans worshipped their own gods, and then later brought Christianity, the ancient Greeks paid tribute to Egyptian gods, likely to make it easier to rule the locals. For example, this <a href="http://www.travelcenturies.com/depdetails.aspx?ID=514&amp;Name=The_Temple_of_Khnum,_Aswan">stone gateway was built by Alexander IV</a>, the son of Alexander the Great, to honor and worship Khnum.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/harrisonxjacobs">Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider</a></span></p><p class="caption">This stone gateway was built by Alexander IV, the son of Alexander the Great, to honor and worship Khnum.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The most interesting part to me were the Nilometers, ancient devices that were <a href="https://www.egypttoursplus.com/elephantine-island/">used to measure the annual floods</a> of the Nile. So far, archaeologists<a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/05/160517-nilometer-discovered-ancient-egypt-nile-river-archaeology/"> have only uncovered around a dozen</a> in Egypt. Two of them are on Elephantine Island.</p><p>While they vary somewhat in structure, this Nilometer is a rectangular staircase that leads down to the river. When the river flooded, water rushed into the passageway. The severity of the flood was determined by the scales built or carved into the walls.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/harrisonxjacobs">Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider</a></span></p><p class="caption">This Nilometer, which measured annual floods of the Nile, is a rectangular staircase that leads down to the river.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The Nilometer was used throughout the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman periods. Each civilization used its own measuring method, evidenced by the differing limestone and rock measurement carvings along the wall. They served a very important purpose.</p><p><span>"During the time of the pharaohs, the nilometer was used to compute the levy of taxes, and this was also likely the case during the Hellenistic period," Robert Littman, an archaeologist at the University of Hawaii, <a href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/05/160517-nilometer-discovered-ancient-egypt-nile-river-archaeology/">told National Geographic</a>. </span></p><p><span>"If the water level indicated there would be a strong harvest, taxes would be higher."</span></p><p><span>After two hours meandering through the deserted town, I was ready to leave. But I couldn't have been happier that I took the time to explore.</span></p><p><span>Often times, the best tourist experiences are the ones you didn't plan and had no expectations for.</span></p><ul class="read-more-links"><li><strong>More about visiting Egypt from Business Insider's international correspondent:</strong></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/egypt-tourism-industry-leaves-tourists-frustrated-2018-12" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">I'm convinced Egypt could be the world's greatest tourist destination if it weren't for a troubling pattern</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/egyptair-boeing-777-economy-class-flight-review-2019-1" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">A flight on EgyptAir showed me even the most basic flag carrier can be better than American airlines</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/egypt-pyramids-of-giza-look-like-2019-1" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Staying in the shadow of Egypt's iconic pyramids is more surreal than any photos can show</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/overnight-sleeper-first-class-train-egypt-2019-1" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">I took a 12-hour overnight first-class sleeper train through the heart of Egypt, and it's an experience I won't forget anytime soon</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cairo-most-polluted-city-in-the-world-americans-air-pollution-2018-11" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">I visited what's possibly the world's most polluted city, and realized Americans have no idea how good they have it</a></li></ul>      <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boogers-snot-eat-nose-unhealthy-science-virus-bacteria-2019-1">There are serious health reasons why you shouldn't eat your boogers</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Forget the Pyramids of Giza. A local tipped me off to a little-known site of ancient ruins that's equally fascinating and never crowded

You Searched For "Felucca" and got 3 results

Want To Vacation Abroad? These 12 Places Are Creating The Buzz These Holidays

Sanghamitra Mandal

At least 18 Americans who've come down with the coronavirus are linked to an Egyptian cruise ship quarantined in the Nile River

Morgan McFall-Johnsen

Forget the Pyramids of Giza. A local tipped me off to a little-known site of ancient ruins that's equally fascinating and never crowded

Harrison Jacobs

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