In a word, WOW! This is paradise from start to finish. Even before we arrived looking out of the window was spectacular, the colours of the sky, ocean and the coral atolls were just calling out, "swim in me, swim in me, partake of my piscean goods". We got picked up from the airport in an air conditioned speed boat that seemed more suited to high speed pursuit of game fish rather than ferrying passengers to Bandos Island about 15 minutes away. The Maldives for those that don't know is around 1200 islands of varying size, of those about 200 are [View Full Entry]

---

---

Just a quick one to let you all know we are safe if not well in Kerela, Kochi to be exact. We both thought we had got used to the food and water here and that we had been pretty careful with what we had been putting into our bodies. Alas we both got struck down with a major lurgy of which only I am mostly recovered. After my last message we moved down the coast from Goa to Gokarn in Karnataka and from there we went to Managalore on our first local passenger train. It was rammed full of people [View Full Entry]

---

---

Have been in Goa about a week with the majority of that time spent one of the quieter areas in South Goa called Benaulim, which has a white sandy beach stretching for between 22 - 35 km depending on who you ask. Life is more peaceful here and we have managed to do hardly anything at all except visit the spice farm near Ponda. There were only a few beach front guest houses and restaurants which was perfect for us as we found a good one straight away that produced the best fresh fish we have had so far. The nearest [View Full Entry]

---

---

Forgot to write this in my rush the other day but we went to a Bombay cinema, which they call cinema halls over here to see a movie. Not Bollywood as the neither Shabana or I appreciate the finer arts of singing and dancing Indians expounding the virtues of love, love lost, family and probably Swiss mountain sides. We saw Aliens vs Predator and I thought it was pretty good, especially the last scene. But the cinema did just about everything wrong. Firstly they started the film early, not by a couple of minutes but by about 20 minutes. Luckily we [View Full Entry]

---

---

Hi All, Just a quick one to say not much to see or do in Bombay, we should have stayed in Nepal a touch longer. Our inner peace and calm took all of a hour in the taxi ride from the airport to the hotel to disappear. The traffic is so much worse that anything we have encountered so far and the poverty is much worse than in Delhi. Shabana is having a tough time dealing with the beggers that appear at each traffic light and we are thinking about buying some fruit rather than giving nothing or money. Well we [View Full Entry]

---

---

At last we arrived in a place that makes sense, Nepal is everything we wished India was like (although we are reserving judgement on the south of India). The place has less people, less noise, less dirt and a much more relaxed atmosphere and is much more organised in terms of infrastructure. We have spent the last few days in Pokhara which is prettier and calmer that Kathmandu, we are within a few minutes walk of the beautiful lake and can just see the mountains from the hotel if the sky is clear. We hve just come back from a wee [View Full Entry]

---

---

The Taj, We were here, we saw it, an it was magnificent. Although there are some stories which dispute its reputation of the greatest symbol of love ever built. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Truth be told I am not sure what to write to keep everybody up to date. We have been to too many places and seen too many things to remember not withstanding actually writing them in a blog. We are in a nice hotel in Udaipur at the moment and will be braving the roads to Puskar in the morning. Probably about a 7 hour drive. For all those that don't know about the India road system let me expand. (Mum I think you to stop reading now.) Rule one: Might is right, everybody makes way for trucks, bikes make way [View Full Entry]

---

---

My first entry from the land of India, and as I suspected a long time coming. We have been to 3 internet cafes so far and there was no service at two of them. The last one we visited also had the bonus of rampant mosquitoes that bit me about 5 times in a minute before we got out of there. We are currently on a whistlestop tour of Rajisthan after a moment of weakness meant sorting out all the train journeys was too much hastle so soon after we arrived in Delhi. As a result we have a driver (Syed)and [View Full Entry]

---

---

I did a test pack of Shabana and my stuff into the bags the other day, we both of us ending up with about 10Kg of stuff. There are still a few more bits and bobs to go in but I think starting off light if the way to go. Shabana is also amazingly considering leaving some more stuff behind, although I think that may be a pre-emptive strike to allow her to bring one more pair of shoes. The house is an absolute state with the bathroom still not finished. There is dust everywhere and bags of grout, plaster and [View Full Entry]

---

---