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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. 
 <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. 
 “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. 
 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. 
 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!

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

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A female royal from the first ancient Egyptian dynasty was found buried in a lavish tomb. </li><li>She was buried with 41 courtiers and servants, and dozens of wine jars. </li></ul>A lavish <a target="_blank" href="https://medienportal.univie.ac.at/en/media/recent-press-releases/detailansicht-en/artikel/5000-year-old-wine-for-egyptian-queen/">5,000-year-old tomb</a> is fueling speculation about the position of one of the most powerful women in Egypt.Meret-Neith, who may have risen to power after the death of her husband, King Djet, around 3,000 BC, clearly held a lot of power during the first dynasty — her name was found on an ancient list of rulers under the title "king's mother," <a target="_blank" href="https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/ancient-egyptians/egypt-had-an-unusually-powerful-female-king-5000-years-ago-lavish-tomb-suggests">Live Science </a>reported.Now researchers excavating her grave in Abydos, Egypt, say that the sheer extravagance they have discovered suggests she may have been the first female <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/egypt-mummy-burial-ground-of-the-pharaohs-could-change-history-2021-10">pharaoh</a> in ancient Egypt.If they are right, the discovery could rewrite the history of ancient Egypt.<h2>5,000-year-old wine and the remains of 41 people</h2>The recent excavation of Meret-Neith's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/3000-year-old-ancient-city-discovered-egypt-lost-golden-city-2021-4">grave</a> revealed the mud-brick tomb was lined with large <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/egypt-2600-year-old-pots-cheese-found-at-pharaohs-necropolis-2022-9">wine jars</a>, containing dried grape seeds, according to a press release from the University of Vienna.Many of the wine jars were still sealed with the stoppers intact.The queen's tomb was also surrounded by the graves of 41 courtiers and servants. Archaeological evidence suggests these were built over a long period of time, so it's likely that they were buried near Meret Neiths as they died, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/misconceptions-about-ancient-egyptians-mummies-cleopatra-that-are-wrong-experts-12">rather than being killed</a> to accompany the queen in death."It most certainly is a tremendously important tomb," said Ronald Leprohon, an Egyptologist and emeritus professor at the University of Toronto, who was not involved in the findings, per Live Science.<div type="image" title="A picture shows a close-up of the dessicated grape seed, placed on a blue cloth, found in Meret-Neith's grave." height="1240" width="1654" msid="104582800" hostid="261" sizebytes="465158"></div><h2>Scientists disagree on whether she was pharaoh</h2>For archaeologist Christiana Köhler of the University of Vienna, who led the find, these discoveries add weight to the idea that Meret-Neith was considered a pharaoh in her own right.Other scientists, however, disagree.Margaret Maitland, a curator of at National Museums Scotland, told Live Science in an email that "wives and daughters were not typically considered in terms of royal successions," though she noted the tomb suggests Meret-Neith was unusually powerful for her time."It really would be striking if you had a female king as early as the first dynasty," said Elizabeth Carney, a professor emerita of history at Clemson University in South Carolina, per Live Science.If proven to be right, Meret-Neith would then become the first female Pharaoh of Egypt, rewriting the ancient Egyptian dynasty.Egypt would see another female rule for another 1,000 years. The next known female pharaoh was Neferusobek and then Hatshepsut, who ruled about 500 years after Neferusobek.

An opulent ancient Egyptian tomb containing 5,000-year-old wine may have belonged to a long-forgotten female pharaoh      

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

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An opulent ancient Egyptian tomb containing 5,000-year-old wine may have belonged to a long-forgotten female pharaoh

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