We hopped on a local train for the short 40 minute journey to Thiruvananthapuram (better know as Trivandrum - and more easily pronounced) where our train to the state of Tamil Nadu would depart from. We were extremely lucky that we arrived at the opposite platform to where our train would depart from and we only had to wait another hour to board the train. Sitting on the platform, again Neil had a strange Indian guy talking to him - this time about the bible...that went down well and as soon as we could get on the train we scarpered! Again with another stroke of luck, we initially had the 4 berths to ourselves so we had a mini picnic with crisps and biscuits while we watched Wall-e on the laptop (as an aside what a ... read more

A lovely luxurious journey in a taxi was a real treat for the 2 hour ride to Alleppey from Kochi, after all it only cost as much as the bus would when it was split between the 4 of us, it’s a rare treat that we get to use taxis between places as they are usually too expensive! The taxi driver was very helpful when we arrived and suggested a place to stay and as we were only planning on being in Alleppey one night we went with his suggestion - an ok fan room with (we were told) hot water. The four of us headed out straight away to get some lunch (as at this point Donna was close to eating both hers and Neil’s right arm) and to investigate the houseboats/river cruises that Alleppey ... read more

The beaches of Goa was just what we needed for our Indian Christmas, yes this blog entry is a bit post-Christmas so we won’t go on about Christmas too much. During the 9 hour train journey from Mumbai to Goa the scenery slowly changed to palm trees, rice paddies and luscious tropical greenery of Goa. There are so many beaches to see in Goa we couldn’t possibly see them all in this, our one month snapshot of India. We got off the train at Madgoan station in Margao and following Donna’s OCD like research prior to our visit, we headed to Palolem beach in the south of Goa based on the following. Palolem beach has nice food, nice beach for swimming and sunbathing and is quite good value. All we had to do was get to ... read more

A strange title but very suitable as you will see when you reach the end of the blog. The train from Jaipur to Udaipur ran almost like clockwork (if you discount an hour’s delay) and took 8 hours on a 2AC sleeper carriage - the second poshest class on the train...we know how to travel in style! It wasn’t that posh really, we had the bottom berths and an elderly Indian couple had the top berths and we offered to swap with them so they wouldn’t kill themselves climbing up and down the ladders. The rickshaw drivers outside Udaipur station put Donna in a bad mood very quickly, the personal space was invaded a lot here by the drivers trying to offer over inflated prices as the pre-paid rickshaw booth was supposedly closed. This was a ... read more

How do you like the snazzy panorama picture of the Taj? Yes we took this with our new camera...not bad eh for amateurs? Our 2 hour train journey from Delhi to Agra (home of the Taj Mahal) was very classy with us being served a pot of tea each, newspapers, breakfast and even chocolate éclair sweets. We used the pre-paid rickshaw stand to get our rickshaw to the hotel but Donna decided she didn’t like the attitude of our designated driver, she says he pushed her and shouted in her ear one too many times and so demanded to the policeman that he change our driver for a nicer man, which he did with a little giggle. So we left for the hotel leaving behind a very bemused and sad driver because he had lost a ... read more