Again, we had to leave Goa sometime, but unfortunately the trains didn't go when we wanted so we had to leave after just six days to get to Chennai to catch our flight. That is where we are now, in a busy city were every one seems that little bit too manic. Waiters hover over you tapping pens waiting for you to order. On one occasion the waiter slid the menus over to us, waited 5 seconds and said 'what do you want' (to read the menu-we thought)! Rickshaw drivers aren't as persistent here but we have had one follow us [View Full Entry]

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We found that to enjoy Goa you have to be selective which area you visit. The first resort - Colva - we didn't really like that much. It was a bit like a shit package holiday resort without the facilities. The next resort - Palolem - was lovely. In the guide book it said a true paradise lost, we'd agree. Palm lined beaches, Goan fisherman hauling in nets early in the morning, very idilic. We also met some nice people there (hello nice people), who made the stay even more pleasant. A last comment about Goa - the best food we've [View Full Entry]

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Haven't got many nice things to say about agra, then again neither did many of the tourists we met there either. The hassle factor goes through the roof - especially from the rickshaw drivers (one particular one who stated passionately that he was an honest man, then ripped us off). It was hot, sweaty, smelly - very smelly, and overpriced. For westerners to visit the Taj Majal it was 10 quid, 32.5 times the price Indian nationals paid - try that at the London museums! To be fair it was very beautiful, but they didn't allow photos inside, and you couldn't [View Full Entry]

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Many have heard of, and many praise Shimla for its British heritage. It was an old hill station when the British were in residence. To be honest, we weren't that impressed. If we'd visited it first then yes, we would have liked it. But after visiting the beauties of Leh and McLeod it didn't match up. It has an old British style Christian church, and oddities like a small 40's style 'Gaiety' theatre (which we would have loved to see used) but we had more issues of misunderstandings with language and dodgy food there than any where else. It has its [View Full Entry]

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We left McLeod to visit a chap (paragliding instructor) mentioned to us by some paragliding friends in Algodonales. After emailing him we set off to a small Tibetan colony in the mountains (technically the foothills of the Himalaya - still looked bloody big to us), called Bir. The journey on the local bus took a couple of stages and about 5 hours - but wasn't that unpleasant. Still in the mountains, the temperature was nice and the people still happy. We arrived at the little colony and met up with Bruce (hi Bruce)! We stayed 3 days, walked around the small [View Full Entry]

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Got a night bus to McLeodganj, Nr. Dharmasala. This place was the highlight of our trip so far (only just, Leh was very close). We arrived in Mcloed at 5-30 am and couldn't find anywhere to stay. We later found out the reason - the Dali Lama (who we already knew was in residence there - why we went) was giving teaching to the monks in person. This was an added bonus to the already very good reason to be there - it was soon to be his 70th birthday. Also (it just gets better and better) we had been told [View Full Entry]

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When we reached Manali it was about 10-30pm and we had to tag on to a queue of traffic waiting to get over the one little bridge. After about 40 mins (and one hit and run later - not by our jeep, and the bloke was OK) we decided to get out and walk. We didn't say anything to the jeep driver as we left, by now he was best left well alone - and whatever was to be said wouldn't have been good. To cut a long story short - Manali town wasn't nice (Indian Blackpool on speed). We followed [View Full Entry]

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We had to wait about 4 days for the next road to open to get us down to Manali. We teamed up with 4 other travellers and hired a jeep to take the 20 hour journey. We left at 2 am and were excited by the expected trip over the 2nd highest drivable pass in the world. It didn't disappoint at first. The pass was amazing. At 17,500 ft it was just white peaks everywhere. We were encouraged to get out of the jeep to see the views - which we did, but at about 6am and that high it was [View Full Entry]

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Leh is beautiful. It was described in guide books as a moonscape - now never having been to the moon this is difficult to substantiate, but we can say it is bleak, majestic and with an amphitheatre quality set by the surrounding mountains. Situated at 11,800ft Leh flourished until the 1950's when the silk route from China was closed, but the town was revived in 1974 when it opened to tourism. Oh, and interestingly the electricity is only on from 7pm until 11pm - so candles are essential if you're a night person or have a weak bladder. Our main passtime [View Full Entry]

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Our trek took us to where we were meant to catch a bus to Leh, and were once again met by Shafi. Unfortunately due to the weather and the poor condition of the road it wasn't ready for bus travel, but Shafi, being a very well connected man, managed to get us into a jeep to Kargil - the halfway point. Once squished into the front of the jeep for the 8 hour journey Gill tried to find a position where she wasn't sitting on the gear stick - but no luck. When we arrived in Kargil we had the option [View Full Entry]

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