Ohh, deep resounding joy...I made it…. and while I might of exchanged one city for another, Bangalore or Bengaluru as its now know called, is much more business like and it feels like everybody and everything is always up on its feet, always on the go. Business probably is exactly what keeps this city going, one clue being the fact that everyone calls you Boss here instead of usual Sir! Being a huge and well developed military and industrial centre, not to mention the heart of the computer industry here in India, things are not cheap! It almost feels like my [View Full Entry]

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So far my trip has been great …. Everything has more or less gone to plan and I haven’t really had anything to complain about…. well that was until now! Having had quite a long day of travelling, im very tired and the first thing I attempt to do on arriving at my new destination is to get some food. I find somewhere that looks very clean and hygienic and sit down waiting for the waiter to appear with a menu …… however about 15 minutes later a bemused looking woman comes up to me and asks me what I want, [View Full Entry]

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Time to get moving again!!! Trivandrum is only around 100km from the southern most tip of India and will be about as far south as I go, where this country is concerned anyway. Not far from here, in late April, nature gives onlookers a great show. If you travel down to Cape Comorin, which is the southern most point of India, you can see the sunset and the moonrise at the same time. Unfortunately ive arrived here a couple of weeks too early and by the time this starts happening, I hope to be on my way up to the famous [View Full Entry]

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Ive been on the move for the last 10 days or so now, so its time to chill out again, hit the beach and wind down for a couple of days. Varkala isn’t very big, its actually one of the smallest beaches ive seen so far here in India, however the vibe here is completely different to anywhere else. In some way it’s even more laid back and chilled out than Goa, which is saying something. I met up with Tim again (the guy from NZ who I went boating with) and we have quite simply just spent the last couple [View Full Entry]

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There are several ways of getting into the Backwaters of Kerala, some of them are easy, some of them hard work and some of them damned expensive!!! But if your going to come here then there is no point in scrimping and saving, if there is one place you need to splurge, then it is here. Listed in many lists as one of the 100, 1000 or 10 million things you have to do before you die, Kerala's Backwaters most definitely deserve their place in these listings. First of all, I decided to be a typical cheap skate and take the [View Full Entry]

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Have you ever experienced 6G?? And no, its not the latest in mobile phone technology….. Well neither had I up until yesterday. Travelling from Kottayam to Kumily by bus with Kamakaze Ken as our bus driver was like spending 4 hours being tossed around the inside of a tumble dryer. I don’t know if its some kind of Indian machismo to drive fast and take corners like Nigel Mansell, I normally wouldn’t mind so much as hitting something in a bus (as long as it isn’t another bus) is akin to swatting flies, however, I didn’t take into account the fact [View Full Entry]

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After a 15 hour train journey ive finally arrived in Kerala! Gone are the beaches for now, these being replaced with good old fashioned, history and culture. My first stop in Kerala is Ernakulim and Kochi (Cochin). From here I intend to make short hops down the coast finally ending up in Trivandrum from where I will be heading East to Madurai, before I start my journey North again. Im going to need some convincing as to why train journeys must take so long ….. 800km in 15 hours strikes me as being a tad on the slow side (that’s about [View Full Entry]

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So much for making my way down to Kerala!!! When you travel in India, trains have to be booked several days in advance as they tend to fill up very quickly, so I decided to travel as far South as I could in Goa and bide my time on another beautiful beach while I wait for the day of my train journey to come around. The main city in South Goa is Magdeon or Margao. It’s a small town with a small park in the middle of it and hardly any tourists to speak of. Most people usually just come here [View Full Entry]

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Ive found paradise and paradise is a place called Goa!!! After the 14-hour bus trip from Mumbai, 35c warm weather, beautiful sandy beaches, palm trees and beachfront shacks that serve cold beer are just the tonic you need. Driving out of Mumbai was great fun. We stopped every 30 seconds to pick up more passengers or to allow the food and water wallahs onboard. At one stage I actually thought it might be wise to start writing my last will and testament as it felt that I would probably be spending my last days onboard this so called “luxury” bus. We [View Full Entry]

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First your picked up, spun around in the air before eventually being flung to the ground. Then it picks you up again, chews you up and spits you out….welcome to Mumbai!!! After a 12 hour journey this is the last thing you need, especially when you still have to get into the city and find a place to stay. As luck had it I managed to hook up with a German girl called Anna at the airport and we spent the next 3 days seeing the sights together. This city of roughly 17 million people often makes you wish that you [View Full Entry]

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