We were up very early the next morning to catch our taxi to the airport, ready to take our flight back up north to Delhi, for our last night in India. We were very organised and had already packed the night before, so all that we needed to do in the morning was to get washed and dressed and then be off. Well, Nathan kindly set the alarm for 1 hour before our taxi was due (he knows I like to take my time getting ready)........ the only problem was that he had set it for 5:45am - the time our [View Full Entry]

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Arriving in Bogmalo could not have been more different from Patnem. It consisted of a concrete hotel right on the beach front and another guest house with a bar overlooking the small sandy bay. Our accommodation was set back from the beach in a pleasant oasis called Coconut Creek. With meandering creeks set amongst coconut trees....surprise surprise... we spent our time here lazing by the pool reading our books and reflecting on our travels around India. It really is incredible what you can achieve over a short period of time when you have the energy and inclination to do it. It [View Full Entry]

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Goa.... for us, a little piece of paradise and a welcome relief from the intensity of the rest of the trip! What a difference a few hundred kilometers can make. After an early flight via Mumbai we arrived in Goa late afternoon. The evening before, we had rung ahead for accommodation. Some bamboo huts right on a beach called Patnem (south of Palolem). Palolem itself is now a famous over run beach where lots of tourists and backpackers head. There are cocohuts lining the whole length of the beach, as well as bars, restaurants and plently of burnt tourists. Too much [View Full Entry]

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After a lazy morning walking around Udaipur drinking tea and eating Cinnamon danishes from a 'German' bakery, we decided to try out the ONLY rooftop pool in Udaipur, which also just happened to be the hotel we were staying at too! Fast forward a few hours and we were still on the rooftop, but this time eating delicious curry, overlooking the lake and with live Indian 'chillout' music playing in the background - It couldn't be more different from the hectic sights and sounds of most of the other cities we visited on our way here. The next morning we were [View Full Entry]

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Our journey to Kumbalgargh was nearly three times as long as we expected and very winding and up and downy! Once you start heading south towads Kumbalgargh and then Udaipur you end up in the Aravalli hills (they look more like mountains to me!) so the roads are a bit unforgiving ... add to that a confident driver who bats along and it makes for a bit of an uncomfortable ride - well for me anyway (Nathans stomach is made of steel I think!). We passed through some amazing villages though right up in the hills, completely cut off from anything. [View Full Entry]

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The first part of the journey from Jaipur to Jodhpur was made down what we understand as a highway with three lanes! Our first experience of such a road since we have been here! The only difference between the highways here and the highways at home are that there are zebra cossings every now and then and cows meandering along the central reservation looking for something to munch on! It wasn't long before this smooth road ran out to resume the normal Indian highway of single carriageway with traffic constantly playing the game of chicken with each other. A quote from [View Full Entry]

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We missed the cacophony of fireworks in Lewes this year and traded it in for the horns of the traffic on our journey to Jaipur. We arrived in Jaipur at about 2ish and were taken straight to the City Palace there. This was quite interesting but not as good as some of the sights we had seen. One of the best bits was looking at the armoury section. An array of weaponry is shown with some quite inventive tools. The best one for us was probably the dagger which transformed itself into open scissors once thrusted into the victim! Nice. He [View Full Entry]

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We were picked up from The Bagh by our prearranged driver (networking amongst taxi drivers is amazing....if ever you need a cab there is always someone who knows someone who will be happy to take you 1km or 300km away! - just make sure that they are legitimate taxi drivers with a tourist permit.) who took us to Agra via Fatepur Sikri which is a ghost city. We agreed to a guide who turned out to be very good and showed us all the sights there, which were very interesting. From here we continued on to Agra. We arrived there at [View Full Entry]

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After a very cushty night at The Bagh, we needed to stay another two nights to see what we had planned. Unfortunately The Bagh was full the second night so we were left to our own devices to find alternative accommodation...and so we proceeded.... Lonely Planet to the rescue...well kind of anyway. The best we came up with after some poor recommendations was New Spoonbill guesthouse. Plain, dull, no bedding, a horrible bathroom and a noisy ceiling fan...we new it was going to be a long night. After checking in first thing in the morning (after forgetting our lunch box kindly [View Full Entry]

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We arrived at our next desination 'Orchha' after a 3 hour car journey and were dropped off right outside the massive Fort there.....which also happened to be our hotel too! (Sheesh Mahal). We were taken to our Marharaja suite (only the very best of course!) which was very grand! We spent our evening sipping the local brew and watching the sunset from our private open window seat in true marharaja style followed by a breakfast the next morning at our very own alfresco dining area! For the rest of the morning we explored the rest of the fort and the village. [View Full Entry]

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