A number of private airlines offer mountain flights with panoramic views of the Himalayas. The flights take off from Kathmandu airport in the early morning for an hour's worth of spectacular mountain scenery. The flight tickets can be pre-booked at any travel agency in Kathmandu (US$ 100 to US$ 130). I got up early and arrived at the airport at 7am. Although I was planning to return to the very same airport later that morning I had to pay the domestic departure tax (NLP 170 or EUR 2) before being allowed to the departures lounge. At around 8am, I boarded the [View Full Entry]

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I arrived at Kathmandu airport - Nepal's only international one - in the early afternoon. After I paid the visa fee (US$ 30, passport photo required) at the immigration desk I was allowed to proceed to the luggage belt to find out whether my luggage had arrived. Despite the chaos at Delhi airport where I had boarded the flight my luggage had actually made it. I left the airport and took a taxi into Kathmandu. The Last Resort It was only a few hours earlier that I could study my Lonely Planet Nepal guidebook. There was one article which sparked my [View Full Entry]

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Munnar The day after I had been to the Backwaters I took a taxi to Munnar (Rs 1750, EUR 30). Munnar is located in the high ranges of the Western Ghats, nearly 1,600m above sea level. The climate is much milder compared to the coast which is why it was chosen as a Hill Station by the British. In 1870, Munnar was developed to cultivate tea plants. Today, the tea industry is the most important employer in this region as the Tata Tea Museum (Rs 50) in Munnar demonstrates. [View Full Entry]

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The 1.30pm flight from Goa to Kochi via Bangalore with Kingfisher Airlines was excellent. The decision to go by plane was a pricey one (Rs 6,100 or EUR 110,-) however it allowed me to cover some 650km in a few hours only rather than loosing a full day or more on a train. I arrived at Kochi airport in the late afternoon and took a taxi (Rs 650) to Fort Kochi. Here, I found a spacious hotel room (Rs 1,700) in the Ballard Bungalow Hotel, a building which dates back to the Du [View Full Entry]

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I left Aurangabad and the magnificent caves and temples of Ajanta and Ellora behind and spent the night on the sleeper bus to Mumbai (Rs 450). I arrived at Mumbai airport in the early hours of 25 March 2007, a Sunday. I had a few hours to kill before I could board my flight to Goa, so I took the train to downtown Mumbai. One of the highlights of my short visit to Mumbai was visiting Mani Bhavan. This building acted as the focal point of Mahathma Gandhi's political activities in Mumbai between 1917 and 1934. Today, [View Full Entry]

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I left Jaipur in the morning and flew to Aurangabad via Mumbai. After I had spent a few nights on buses and in a number of budget accommodations I was tempted to stay in a proper hotel (ideally one with a large pool). When I arrived at Aurangabad airport I spotted a representative of the Taj Hotel in Aurangabad and - due to low-season - negotiated quite a good deal. The room rate of Rs3800 (EUR 70) included luxury tax, free tra [View Full Entry]

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Jaisalmer After spending 6 hours in a hot and sticky bus, driving 325kms from Jodphur to Jaisalmer I was very relieved when I finally arrived just after 4pm. Disembarking from the bus I must have been easily identifiable as a tourist since I found myself surrounded by a bunch of taxi drivers, each of them wanting to take me to a hotel. I picked up my backpack from the dusty luggage compartment in the back of the bus whilst the taxi drivers were undercutting themselves. When the first one had gone as [View Full Entry]

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After completing my visit to Agra and the Taj Mahal I took the sleeper bus to Jodphur for Rs350. The bus was due to leave Agra around 5pm and to arrive in Jodhpur in the early hours of Monday 19 March 2007. I opted for the slightly more expensive sleeping bunk ticket, basically a small cabin above the usual bus seats. The sleeping bunk was approximately 180cm long so I just fitted in. Here I could lie flat on a well-worn, smelly, dusty and sweat-soaked thin mattress (I was so pleased that I thought to bring my light silk sle [View Full Entry]

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In March 2007 I started my three-week holiday to India and Nepal. I arrived in Delhi in the early hours of Saturday 17 March 2007. A taxi took me straight from the airport to Agra, some 200km south of Delhi. Agra's Taj Mahal is one of the most famous buildings in the world but only one of three World Heritage Sites in Agra. The other two are the massive Agra Fort and nearby Fatehpur Sikri. Obviously all three of them were on my things-to-see list and I was keen to get started. So as soon as I had arrived in Agra [View Full Entry]

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Pisa Pisa's Leaning Tower is one of the world's most recognizable buildings. Founded in 1173 it is famous for leaning 4.4 meters out of line. It was built to stand vertically but began leaning soon after construction started in August 1173. It tilts because its foundation was built on unstable soil. A 293-step spiral staircase leads to the top of the tower which offers superb views of the Duomo and the Baptistery. The Duomo was already begun in 1064 and is built in a fine Romanesque style with double aisles and cupola. The nearby [View Full Entry]

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