Varanassi is probably the most bizarre place I have ever visited. Apparently it is one of the most holy places in the world, probably because the average person would drop dead after drinking holy water from the Ganges, providing a short cut to the grave! We have just spent the morning floating down the Ganges in a rowing boat while witnessing some of the most insane sights that I am still struggling to comprehend. While floating down stream we would pass a local going to the toilet in the river followed by someone drinking from the same water. A little further, and someone would be cleaning their clothes next to a sewage outlet while his friend lathered up in soap and jumped into the river. We would watch in amazement while dead goats and cows would ... read more

We have left Alleppey after traveling around the Indian Backwaters on a thatched house boat. We spent our time floating down the small rivers watching the basic way of life on the river banks. I got to steer the house boat across the largest lake in the Indian state of Kerala. The Indian Backwaters are extremely peaceful and beautiful in contrast to the rest of India. Unfortunately because of the trouble in Tibet and the elections in Nepal we have been told by the British Embassy not to go into the countries since the entire region has become dangerously unstable. This has caused us major headaches in re-organizing our trip into China since we can not pass overland invalidating out visas. In addition to our Nepal/Tibet problems, since arriving in Mumbai we have been hit by ... read more

After another 24 hour train journey traveling from Mysore to Kanniyakumari via Bangalore I was yet again climbing the walls of the train. Complete boredom is the only words I can use to describe the long train journeys we endure... and for what? to see yet more mayhem in another part of India! Is it worth the effort .. Probably not, but we keep pushing on to try and find the real India advertised in those glossy magazines. We left Mysore (eye sore!) very disappointed. Apparently it is supposed to be the next big IT centre following Bangalore. I still can't imagine it to be true. The place is a shit hole and the fastest internet connection I could find ran at 128kbps. Again everyone tries to rip you off and you have to suffer constant ... read more

After visiting the Taj Mahal we got caught up in yet another scam and ended up boarding the Goa Express Mail Train from Agra to Goa. We had paid for the fast train which was estimated at 22 hours, but it took us a staggering 36.5 hours. Although we had a decent bunk, I was climbing the walls by the time we reached Goa. We were exhausted, so I crashed out and slept most of the first day in Goa. We spent 5 days in Goa, most of which was spent on the toilet with food poisoning. Goa has got a nice chilled out atmosphere but has nothing on the beaches of Thailand. To be honest, I was a little disappointed; probably from the hype I had been lead to believe. On Palolem beach, it is ... read more

The Elephant Festival initially looked like an organized event which quickly turned into chaos with locals and tourists walking in-between Elephants and the band, eventually blocking the procession. It was fantastic to watch lots of elephants painted up in different colours strolling around a stadium, but the lack of control made the event insane, with a few angry looking elephants about ready to mow down anyone in their way. Later that night the locals lit bonfires on every street corner adding to the intoxicating pollution of India, making Jaipur look like a war zone. Drunk locals ran amuck and all madness broke lose! The Festival of Colour was probably the most bizarre event I have seen. Words can’t describe the insanity of the day. At about 6am I climbed out of bed and wondered into the ... read more