http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Lila-bean/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Lila bean en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:26:43 +0000 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:26:43 +0000 Took a short flight to Varanasi the sacred city of the Hindus aka city of light and so far I think it's one of my favorite places in India. Manageable and less crowded albeit that it's Sunday and there's not much traffic on Sundays.After we settled into our hotel and rested a little we headed out to the Ganges River to take a boat ride. Ghats of Ganga are perhaps the holiest spots of Varanasi. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Varanasi/blog-414194.html June 11On our way to Agra we stopped by Fatephur Sikri which is a palace and a mosque during a sandstorm. Sand and dirt blowing up into our faces and mouth not very pleasant. Maybe it was the long car drive but we were feeling miserable and was not in the mood to be harassed by taxis tuk tuks and tour guides but this little precocious boy of 15 was not aggressive and for some reason we bo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-411975.html Today we did a tour of Daulatabad Fort Ellora caves and Mini Taj Aurangabad aka Bibi Ka Maqbara.Today was more or less the same as yesterday Ajanta caves and being photographed for being Korean etc We first started off seeing the Daulatabad Fort. We literally took about 10 mins to look around and I didn't think it was worth seeing but it was on our way to Ellora so we saw it. I wouldn't recom http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Aurangabad/blog-411185.html From Cochin took a flight to Mumbai then from Mumbai hired a car to take us to train station and our driver drove us through the Dharavi slums as in the movie Slumdog Millionare then took an overnight train at the Mumbai CST train station formally known as Victoria Terminal to Aurangabad... and boy what an adventure. When we first arrived at the station we were overwhelmed by this reall http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Aurangabad/blog-411165.html Yesterday we arrived in Goa and it's beautiful... at least our hotel that is. For the first week in India we're just trying to relax and take it easy... trying to prepare ourselves for the Delhi belly but we haven't gotten it yet... knock on woodToday we did a tour of Goa. Guilty to say we did most of the tour in our car though. I don't mind the heat that much here but it's the humidity that i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Anjuna-Beach/blog-411161.html Today we went did the Kerala Houseboat that was recommended as a must do. We rented a 1 bedroom houseboat which was really nice. It was really beautiful and relaxing but 6 hours on a luxury houseboat was a bit too long for me. If I was able to do some fishing or prawning that'll be a different story. The food on the other hand was a pleasant surprise. I usually expect small sandwiches but in this http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-410853.html Finally internet access and tvWe arrived at our hotel Khem Villas around noon... just in time for lunch. I knew we would be having vegetarian for the next 3 days so I wasn't thinking our food would be good but it was so amazing My gosh the hotel grows their own vegetables and herbs so everything we ate is grown here... so fresh 18 days in India and I was starting to feel homesick for som http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Ranthambhore-National-Park/blog-407722.html What an amazing adventure India is truly incredible with everything in extremeextreme beauty extreme culture extreme wealth extreme poverty extreme traffic but most of all this is a country of extremely kind and generous people. Yes India can be daunting and frustrating at times but we believe that's what makes this trip so special. It takes a bit of work but with proper planning p http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/blog-406363.html June 5th We arrived at our hotel which is considered to be the best place in town but that's not saying much... food was horrible and their pool is not a pool but a pigeon fountain totally gross No internet access here and nothing else to do right now but to ride camels here.June 6th We left early to go to the Ghats. Pushkar has 52 Ghats and 500 temples. All devout Hindus try to make at leas http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Pushkar/blog-406206.html When we left our room they were lighting the lake w tea lights... so beautiful I'm just sorry I couldn't take a good picture to upload. When we got to the restaurant there were dancers and live musicians. I'm so surprised how many people there are at the hotel since it's the low season and also bc it's really hawt and muggy.Our first dinner at the hotel was so good The chicken tikka just m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-406131.html Ok my first sad attempt at a blog. Warning may be really boring but hopefully it will get better or if not I hope you can enjoy the pictures I plan to upload...Landed in Mumbai around 10pm. When we left the airport for an hour to drive around instantly you felt a muggy heatwave. I'm still getting over my flu but you can smell the spices in the air Smells so good that my stomach started to r http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-406126.html