This is how I'd imagined monsoon in Palolem! We are blessed with sunshine which stretches on for days, before the humidity builds and releases torrential downpours which reflect and revive. We get a fantastic deal on a penthouse apartment on the Palolem - Patnem road, just 5 mins walk through coconut groves to the beach. We are living in sparkling clean luxury complete satellite TV, internet connection, our own kitchen and huge, completely private sunbathing terrace. I take advantage of the seclusion with some serious tan line free sun worship! We go to market in Chaudi every few days for fres [View Full Entry]

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The train ride from Goa to Karnataka takes us up through the Western Ghats, passing the spectacular Dudhsagar Falls near the state border. The heavy monsoon rains of the past fortnight have swollen the rivers, so the falls are heavy with water and, up here in the hills, it is cool and misty. As well as the main falls, a huge 600mtr drop, we pass many smaller waterfalls and rivers coloured rich red-brown, looking like a Wonka creation…I keep my eyes peeled for Oompa Loompas. We are literally up in the clouds and it is beautiful. The forest is never greener [View Full Entry]

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A pigeon poos on my head whilst we wait for our bus to Mumbai...I feel very lucky, especially as for the next two and a half days we will spend over 30 hours on ‘sleeper’ buses. It’s a long way from Udaipur to Goa, but we are stopping in Mumbai, the half way point, to break the marathon journey. We catch a bus to Ritch’s Auntie Faye’s apartment where we’re staying. We had thought we’d spend a few days in the city but the just arrived monsoon is torrential so there seems little point. We’re rained in for most of the [View Full Entry]

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It's funny how quickly you get used to the finer things in life. Following the 'incident with the rat' in Pushkar, we've steadily upgraded our way through Jaisalmer and Jodhpur, culminating in our night in a maharaja suite, courtesy of Peeping Tom. And now there's no going back! Udaipur is a town of many palaces, most now converted to hotels charging hundreds (thousands in some cases) of dollars per night. But we have a recommendation from Andrew and Helen about the Ring Niwas Palace Hotel, where we haggle an amazing monsoon deal of just over a fiver per night...we decide to [View Full Entry]

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From the Golden City to the Blue City...six hours on a bus takes us back east, to Jodhpur. It is much bigger than Jaisalmer; the urban sprawl housing around one million people. Jodhpur is the Blue City because many of the buildings are painted with whitewash tinted with indigo. Originally used to mark out the houses of high caste Brahmins, the colour wash caught on and has spread throughout the walled old city. We check into the Sing-vi Haveli, a beautiful old merchants house in the neighbourhood of Navchokiya, right in the shadows of the imposing Meherangarh Fort, which looms 400ft [View Full Entry]

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We paid in advance for a double sleeper berth on the 'deluxe' overnight coach to Jaisalmer, and sit waiting by the side of the road covered in dust from the constant stream of trucks trundling past. When it pulls in at 11pm it is far from deluxe and already jammed full of people...three people squeeze into seats for two and even the floor space is knee deep in slumbering bodies, and it smells like it's been this full for many hours already. The ticket guy assures us he will have our sleeping berth empty and ready for us in no time. [View Full Entry]

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There's another English girl on our bus to Pushkar who I get talking to. I ask how she's finding traveling on her own here, and how she's been coping with unwanted male attention. She has more than a couple of tales of harassment; her trip sounding more like a test of endurance than anything else. As if to illustrate our point, a group of men get on the bus and take the rows behind us, eyes on stalks as they nudge each other. The one sat behind Ritch leans right forward, holding onto Ritch's headrest and gawping at me. We ask [View Full Entry]

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Jaipur is the gateway to Rajastan...a huge transport hub and shopping mecca, it is known as The Pink City after the painted city walls. In reality it's more a dirty salmon colour, and the heavy pollution in the intense heat don't really help my first impressions! We hook up with a young rickshaw driver and his ever-present sidekick, who takes us to a good, cheap guesthouse and offers his services as guide for the evening. We decide to go along for the ride, but as we head off, the pair's enthusiastic high-fives leave me concerned we're being taken for a ride. [View Full Entry]

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No one ever has anything nice to say about Agra, the town that surrounds the Taj Mahal. Everyone has stories of hassle from agressive touts and scammers, so my expectations aren't that high. On the other hand, everyone has loads of good things to say about the Taj Mahal, and so, as we're finding is the way here, we're ready to take the rough with the smooth. Our delayed train finally pulls into Agra at midnight, there are no touts around and the pre-paid rickshaw stand is still open, so we have an easy escape from the station. We end up [View Full Entry]

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Our plane lands in Delhi, it's 33C, which would be fine, if it wasn't 2am. I'd emailed the Star Hotel to reserve a room and airport pickup, but not having received any reply was not holding my breath. So it's a very pleasant surprise to see the young man holding the sign with my name on it. We'd decided to soften the blow of arriving in Delhi, a destination that seems to fill every traveller with dread, by booking a more expensive hotel complete with aircon and satellite TV. God knows what the cheap digs are like here...the room is OK, [View Full Entry]

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