Okay I admit it. The drive between Manali and Leh was something I had been dreading for a long time. I had read horror stories about the horrible roads, dodgy buses and the insane drivers. To do away with all these issues, we decided to travel the famous road in comparative luxury. We hired our own jeep and driver and spread the journey over four days instead of two. While it cost a lot more than a space in a mini bus, we got the chance to get out of the jeep for frequent toilet stops, photo stops etc. Yes, many [View Full Entry]

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After our time in lovely H.P, we were keen to get back into the country side. We had booked ourselves onto the Himalayan Queen toy train that slowly climbs up the hills from Kalka to Shimla. Our car driver was waiting for us at 5am in Rishikish but that’s where his efficiency ended. We explained that we absolutely HAD to be at the train station for the 12:30 train because the trains were fully booked for the next couple of days. The last thing we wanted to do was spend the next 3 nights in Kalka. This didn’t stop our driver [View Full Entry]

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After lots of one night stop-over’s, a bit of time to recharge the batteries was just what we needed. After the scenic drive from Shimla to Manali, we found ourselves in the very chilled out, attractive and quiet ‘Johnson’s Hotel’ Manali was really touristy but has plenty of places to escape. With a bit of imagination, it could be Queenstown in New Zealand with all the adventure activities on offer. (Well Queenstown without the lake… and quite a bit more rubbish… and monkeys… and yak riding… and snake charmers… oh and stray dogs o [View Full Entry]

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Arrival into Haridwar, confirmed our idea that we were well and truly ‘over’ Indian towns. Hardiwar was absolutely jammed packed with people, most of which had come to do their pilgrimage to the sacred waters of the Ganges. Haridwar is an interesting enough place. The Ganges properly begin here and thousands and thousands of devotees and pilgrims come to the sacred ghats to take a holy dip in the waters. It also attracts beggers, sadus (holy men - easily spotted in their orange robes, slightly wild eyes and hair down to their backsides) people with deformities and everything el [View Full Entry]

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It’s has been awhile since the last update. Looking back… Waiting at Falma train station, we got our first taste of ‘India late train frustration.’ To be on the safe side, we arrived at the station an hour early. How naive! Of course the train was delayed for over two hours so we sat sweating on a concert slab for over three hours. Our only entertainment was watching a pack of railway dogs ‘get busy’ creating the next generation of railway dogs. Pretty sad really. After a night in Jodphur, we caught a morning train to Bikaner and checked into our [View Full Entry]

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We have been laying low since our last blog. After my last session on the Internet, we went back to our hotel in Udaipur for an early night. I woke up at about 2am with stomach cramps. I woke Chris up who turned on the lights and shouted “Oh god - why’s there a bloody bat flying around the room!?!” He was right, there was a bat flying around our room - flapping like a mad thing, only inches above our heads. Chris (in a moment of bravery) whacked it with a sheet and sent the poor little thing reeling to [View Full Entry]

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We experienced our funniest bus ride recently. After catching a train from Jaipur to Kota, we were left with no real option but to take a public bus for the remaining 40 or so kilometres to Bundi. 40 kilometres wouldn't take too long in NZ or the UK, but this is India! Somehow we managed to find the dodgiest looking bus ever and managed to hurl ourselves and our packs onto the back seat. Tourists don't appear to be much of a common sight on the public buses over here so as soon as we entered the absolutely packed bus, every [View Full Entry]

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After a comfortable evening train journey, we made it safely to Jaipur. Our accommodation in comparison to the rest of our stay so far was absolute luxury and even included... a pool! Woohoo! After our touring around, it was good to have half-day unwinding and relaxing by the pool. Well, as relaxing as much as possible in an Indian city! Unfortunately our hotel was next to a building that was undergoing a bit of construction and the workers made good use of their prime position overlooking the pool. Chris and I used the code word 'cat' to let each other know [View Full Entry]

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Hi guys! Have a bit of catching up to do, so will try to drown out the lads prattling behind me and get a few blogs done. After leaving Delhi we made our way to Agra. And just as expected, it was horrible! Things started going a bit pear shaped the moment we arrived. At the train station, Chris nearly got us in trouble with a dodgy dude who took the liberty of pushing in front of us. Chris found it a tad offensive and mentioned it to the guy. They stood their eyeballing each other while I tried to stand [View Full Entry]

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Well, here we are..only three days into it and already it feels like we have been here for weeks. We are having a great time and coping better than expected! Tomorrow morning we train out to Agra for a few nights before moving on to our next stop. After a fantastic flight on Jet Airways (my new favourite airline: fantastic new planes, friendly staff and great food - not that it mattered since I was so zonked out on pills anyway!) we arrived in Delhi. What an arrival it is! Whoever said 'no amount of reading or watching India DVD's can [View Full Entry]

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