Very early start up at 5.30am this morning - but definitely worth it. Went up to Periyar National Park just 5m away by auto rickshaw and set off around 6.45/7am on our jungle walk after first putting on our leech socks. The 3 hour walk began by crossing the man made lake on a raft that is pulled by rope from one side to the other and then setting off on foot into the jungle with our guide at the front and Chandra at the back. We stayed up front the majority of the time which turned out to be very beneficial as often shortly after our guide had spotted something it would dash off so only those at the front would have seen. This happened with a mouse deer that was hiding in a hollow ... read more

Best day yet! From Kochi to the beautiful backwaters of Kerala Today was amazing! and almost indescribable. Left the Grand Hotel just after 8.30am and took a tuk tuk to the bus station to then catch a bus to Allepey where we then boarded a boat and began our journey into the backwaters of Kerala. The entire journey was about 3.5 hours, after which we arrived at an island village to stay with Thomas Zachariah and his lovely family - his wife Elizabeth and their children Anne (6) and Anina (4). His brother Matthew was there too and their mother who I believe was also named Elizabeth. The house we stayed in was their sisters who has been in Manchester for 6 years but will return in November. Th house was beautiful with an en-suite for ... read more

Had a great sleep last night and got up at 9.30am today to catch breakfast which was nice. Then got showered, ready, and moved to the standard room for tonight and tomorrow. Room just as nice really, slightly smaller and has two single beds rather than two doubles. Bathroom just as nice which is good. Really liking Kerala. Had a tourist map and hotel is on main road so had a wander along and looked in a couple of shops. It's really different to Delhi and great to be able to walk around and not get much hassle at all. Went past a lovely park, and across to the water for a stroll along the edge. Stopped for an ice lolly and to take pictures - couldn't eat the ice lolly quick enough and it got ... read more

Got up around 10am and had breakfast before setting off on a day sightseeing in Amritsar. A driver took us near the Golden Temple (Harminder Sahib), parked a bit away, walked us down the road some then pointed us towards the temple and went back. We wandered up and managed to figure things out. After depositing our shoes we had a pleasant wander round. Had to queue for a bit to get into Sri Darbar Sahib where the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji is during the daytime but moved through eventually. Felt a young man in a black shirt may have been following us but soon lost him! We went through the museum and saw lots of gruesome art. Lots of killing/beheading paintings. Saddest one was showing babies being taken, cut up and then the pieces ... read more

The Trip Has Officially Begun Arrived in Delhi this morning from London having flown down from Glasgow yesterday afternoon. The trip has officially begun The flight was fine but did find it a bit odd when we landed and they walked up and down spraying something along the plane... Quite a random first day. When we arrived at the airport they were filming at one of the baggage claim belts which was pretty cool! A little chaotic as we tried to contact the hotel since we couldn't see our pick up. Having walked outside there were tons of men with signs waiting for people, but none appeared to have our names, and there were tons of others trying to offer us transport. Had no money to use a pay phone, but it wasn't like a normal ... read more