http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/T-L/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from T L en-us Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:06:00 +0000 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:06:00 +0000 As we turned the corner walked through the portcullis gate and took our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal we were overwhelmed with the sense that we'd remember this day for a long time to come. It's such an iconic site that when we first booked our 'around the world' tickets with a homebound flight from Delhi we could picture ourselves there at the end of the year's adventures. We stood in the sh http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Uttar-Pradesh/Agra/blog-267947.html After Jaisalmer laden with new rugs and tourist trinkets we arrived in Delhi. Although we had another four or so days left in India in many ways we felt like we had come to the end of our year of travelling. Perhaps because we felt so disheveled after the long train ride our bags were heavier and we were just so knackered and were still suffering from what we later found out to be giardia. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/National-Capital-Territory/New-Delhi/blog-267950.html You arrive at the desert and what you don't expect is rain but that's exactly what we got... The rain put an end to our ambitions of a desert camel trail and stained all our photos of this golden city with a dull grey sky but that didn't stop us from admiring this wonderful sand coloured fortress town. It did dampen spirits a little though and on the back of some rough gastric problems in Jodhpu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaisalmer/blog-267942.html We came we saw we both ate something dodgy so nonmeat we spent two days between bed and bathroom not the happiest of daysI'm sure Liz Hurley if she ate at all didn't eat what we were unfortunate enough to consume... and as quickly as it was eaten it was soon resurfacing and I'll end there... Liz was in town for her lavish multiday wedding to her new Indian beau an event that had the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jodhpur/blog-267945.html The city made famous as the backdrop of the James Bond movie Octopussy was our next stop and proved to be one of our favourites in India. A mxture of palaces lakes ghats and a warren of streets make this a magical place to explore. It's a city that's made a special effort to suit its well supplied tourist count with lovely little havelistyle accommodation excellent cuisine a variety of or http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Udaipur/blog-136618.html Once again the sustained heat of the plains became overbearing and not for the first time we followed in the footsteps of the British Raj and headed to the cool fresh air of a hill station. This time it was Mt Abu.As it was my birthday Laura went to the special effort of booking us into the Royal Suite at Jaipur House the Maharaja of Jodhpur's Summer gettaway. It was lush We had the best vi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Mount-Abu/blog-133735.html Well we originally intended to head to Mt Abu on the 4th of March so we wouldn't be travelling on my birthday but that turned out to be a stupid and illconceived plan since it coincided with the Hindu festival of colour Dhulandi the second day of Holi.On day 1 of the festival fires are burnt showing the effigy of Holika a demoness. The significance of this event stems from religious te http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Udaipur/blog-133733.html Bundi's a local town with local people friendly goodnatured and genuine. It's only a small place dominated by its looming palace and not touristy at all.Most of the guesthouses are in the shadow of the palace and that part of Bundi is very quiet with only small shops and miniature painting schools. For that reason even in a couple of days you start to get familiar with the locals. The town's http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Bundi/blog-133731.html Not since being in Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu have we experienced a town as crusty as this. A town that is still very much integral to the hippie trail. A town where there are as many foreigners as locals and the major enterprise of the latter is servicing the former.Pushkar is Chilledout with a capital C can you see it and very spiritual a holy place for those seeking enrichment of the so http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Pushkar/blog-133730.html We made our first stop in northern India in Rajasthan's state capital Jaipur a very cheap and cheerful flight from Mumbai.We made a fantastic and flukey choice of accommodation NanaKiHaveli truly wonderful familyrun with lovely hosts and a beautiful heritage haveli traditional ornatelydecorated home. It was a little more expensive than we were used to paying but we felt it was tim http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Rajasthan/Jaipur/blog-133729.html Like the middle class Indian families on their weekend breaks and honeymooners we've decided the perfect way to run away from the downsides of India is to head to the hill stations.For Mumbai city folk the small town of Matheran is an oasis of green 3000 feet above sea level and the best place to rest ones lungs. At the top of the hill taxis and other automobiles are forbidden as there are no http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Matheran/blog-132379.html Welcome to the gateway of India Mumbai its biggest city 17 million and it most modern. For the first time we felt like we were in a city and not just a huge town. Skyscrapers funky bars and eateries ATMs on every corner meter cabs rather than rickshaws traffic rules imposing grand architecture all signs of a city and one that truly reflects the 21st century and modern India. Consequen http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Mumbai/blog-132378.html Our 100th Blog EntryNasik or Nashik is one of India's most famous holy cities sitting on the banks of the spiritual River Godavari but that's not the main reason why we came. It is a place of common pilgrimage amongst millions of Hindus but that's not why we came. Nasik is home to thousands of temples and colourful bathing Ghats but that's not why we came. No the reason we came is because Nas http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Nashik/blog-132380.html Travellers use the city of Aurangabad as a base for exploring the nearby caves of Ellora and Ajanta we followed suit. We made our first ballsup of the whole journey so far missing a train by over half an hour. The coolest thing though was despite us being at fault we still were able to cancel our ticket after the train had left and claimed a refund of 50 imagine that happening in the UK I d http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Maharashtra/Aurangabad/blog-132397.html Our next stop took us into our fourth Indian state of our journey so far Andhra Pradesh and its state capital Hyderabad. Once known as the City of Pearls because of its importance in the Indian pearl trade a result of a former Mughal emperor of Hyderabad having a love of the ocean's jewels. That created industries which still flourish today polishing grading and drilling. More recently th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Andhra-Pradesh/Hyderabad/blog-127030.html We really liked Hampi. The surrounding boulderstrewn landscape alone makes the visit here well worth it. This mediumsized village has a peaceful for India air about it helped by a partial road block on autorickshaws and other vehicles. The town has almost the same number of travellers as residents partially due to its proximity to the crowds in Goa. There are lots of chillout cafes serving http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Karnataka/Hampi/blog-127029.html There's a buzz in Bangalore no not the highpitched one emitted from the too numerous autorickshaws but from the many besuited men and women who are the backbone of the global techfinancial firms that have outsourced their operations to India. Now I'm not sure what the work conditions are like and I know for certain they are being paid a hell of a lot less than their counterparts in Europe b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Karnataka/Bangalore/blog-125562.html After Kochi the next place of interest was Mysore apparently a fave with travellers because of the many palaces and architechtural delights that you don't often find in southern India.From Kochi the journey was just that bit too far so we made a brief overnight stay in Calicut. Oddly that night we were informed by the Indian TV version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire Crorepati that the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Karnataka/Mysore/blog-125006.html We were prewarned by passing travellers of Fort Cochin's reputation as a mozziefest and were almost put off from visiting at all. It's island setting and abundance of water is the perfect breeding ground for the little critters who reputedly eat you for breakfast lunch and dinner and the posh mozzies even tuck into you at supper. Regardless we felt we had to visit and brave it anyway as one http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kochi-/blog-125004.html I'm not going to be soft on the city of Kollam it's a bit of a dump with few redeeming features and nothing architecturally interesting. But we didn't come to Kollam for the city we came to use it as an embarkation point to explore the beautiful rural backwaters.With our trusty LP's help we chose Kollam the southern gateway to the Keralan backwaters as the starting point for a cruise. Most peo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Kerala/Kollam/blog-125003.html