Harish Bali – a traveller in search of tastes

Harish in Jaisalmer

Harish Bali is a techie turned traveller from Delhi, who is in search of the different tastes of India.  A blogger and Youtuber with thousands of fan base, Harish has an interesting life story like in films.

After working in sales in consumer durable, FMCG, telecom and internet marketing, he has started his own start up in Feb 2014 in digital marketing. Harish started his journey with blogs through www.technofare.com, which was a tech guide.

Harish  started two YouTube channels – ‘Digital Spot’ and ‘visa2explore’ – in November 2016, where he shares his experience as a techie and food enthusiast.

Harish in Punjab

The food enthusiast was in Kerala recently and Manoj Attingal of Tourism News Live caught up with him. “I started posting my food experiences as fun, but when I noticed that people are interested in what I have been posting and asking about the location, tastes, recipes etc., I became serious about my travel in search of new tastes. Gradually it has become my full-time career,” said Harish, while explaining how he has evolved as a food blogger.

“I travel across the cities to explore food and bring to people the mouth-watering delicacies from different localities. I like learning and sharing experiences of my travel and the variety of tastes from around our country,” said Harish

“It gives me delight when people like, comment and share my experiences. It excites me to work more hard and to provide them with newer experiences each time I complete my travel,” he added.

Harish in Jodhpur, Rajasthan

When asked about his favourite Kerala food, Harish said ‘Puttu and Kadala’ is his choice. “I always look for indigenous food and tastes of the place I visit. Here in Kerala I liked the Puttu and Kadala combination the most. Appam, Idiyappam, Dosa etc. are also some of the breakfast items one can experience while in Kerala,” said Harish.

Puttu aka steamed rice cake is Kerala’s traditional breakfast that is usually served with Kadala (black chickpeas/kala chana) curry or moong dal curry. It is also relished with ripe banana, jackfruit or fish curry. Puttu recipe calls for the use of coarsely ground rice flour and grated coconut. It is steamed in a metal puttu maker (a steamer in cylindrical or dome shape).

Puttu & Kadala

While talking about his travel experiences in Kerala, Harish said the elephant ride was an unforgettable experience.

“I have experienced elephant ride before also, but the ride in Thekkady was a different experience. Normally we sit on the elephant with some seat or cushion on top of it, but in Thekkady there was no such seat. For the first time in my life I have experienced the skin of the elephant. It was like I was travelling through the jungle,” said Harish.

Cycling with his son in Thekkady

“Scuba diving in Kovalam with Bond Safari was also a different experience. It was the first time I am doing scuba diving. Thanks to Jackson, for giving me the courage and encouragement to do it,” he added.

After Thiruvananthapruam, Harish visited Varkala, Alappuzha, Kannur and Wayanad. Before leaving to Alappuzha, Harish made a suggestion that the hotels and resorts should provide accommodation for drivers, who accompany the tourists.

“I strongly suggest that the government should make it compulsory to have accommodation facilities for the drivers of the tourists, either free of cost or at an affordable rate. It will not be humane to leave the drivers sleep in the car, and most of the travellers like me cannot afford to provide them accommodation in star hotels with higher tariffs,” said Harish.