I left Shimla by bus, and endured a cramped but beautiful 11-hour bus ride through the hills and down to the relatively low-lying state of Uttaranchal. I was heading for Rishikesh, a small town on the holy Ganga river. Rishikesh is a major pilgrimage site for Hindus, being near the source of the Ganga and therefore home to several major temples. It is also known in the west as the place where the Beatles came when they went all weird and spiritual, and today attracts western tourists in their droves, who come to meditate, practice yoga or simply soak up the vibe. As a devout athiest, I wasn't here to do any of the above - I just wanted to enjoy the fresh mountain air some more and kayak in the clean, cool waters of this ... read more

We knew that the famous camel fair at Pushkar was to start sometime around the end of October/beginning of November, but weren't sure that we'd be in Jaipur at the right time. Luckily, we found out that we would be around for the pre-meet, in advance of the madding crowds, so booked a trip to Pushkar on our last day. Before that, however, we had one more day in Jaipur, so decided to head for the hills again, but this time to the east rather than the north. Our main destination was Galta, within a small valley directly east of Jaipur itself. In the bottom of the valley are a series of cascading tanks, providing fresh water from underground springs. Because we timed our visit to Galta during the holy month of Kartika, it was swarming ... read more

The meticulous planning back home in England worked, and I met my parents on the platform at Sawai Madhopur station on the afternoon of the 19th October. After four months on the road, it was great to see them, and I was relieved that they'd managed to negotiate New Delhi train station, Agra and a taxi ride to meet me at a small stop somewhere in eastern Rajasthan! We were here to visit Ranthambhore National Park - one of the best known tiger reserves in India. Following the obligatory catch-up drink, Mum's anecdotes of trying to get a 'proper' cup of tea in Agra (a quest for separate, cold milk that was to continue throughout our time together) and an exchange of supplies (Dad is my unofficial support team, providing me with a new 18-70mm lens, ... read more

Jodhpur was my first taste of luxury since arriving in India. We booked into a hotel within a colonial-style villa on the edge of town, and spent our first morning in the Blue City reclining on comfy chairs outside our air-conditioned rooms. Lovely. Our relaxed mood vanished pretty quickly though after getting a rickshaw to Jodhpurs main bazaar, which spreads out from the old clock tower. With sweat running in rivers down our backs, we decided to up the core temp by sampling some street food, a spicy little number which we ate standing right next to the pan of hot oil... with hindsight not the most intelligent move, but it was rounded off with a big glug of mineral water and some tasty Indian sweets, the name of which I still can't remember. We worked ... read more

So, hopping off the train early, to shouts of ye bye Jon from nearly half the train, I found a bed and checked that Sasan Gir Wildlife Sanctuary was indeed open early... and thankfully it was! The Asiatic lion used to roam freely across much of central Asia, but after ruthless hunting and loss of habitat, was reduced to a little over 30 lions by the 1930s. Mercifully, the Nawab of Junagadh, the local ruler, decided to protect what remained of the species, protecting the Sasan Gir forest and instigating a breeding program at nearby Junagadh zoo. Sadly, my safari didn bring any lion sightings (the President apparently saw 23... a little unfair I think), but I did see lots of Indian wildlife, including nilgar, chittal, samba deer and a jackal. Halfway through the afternoon safari, ... read more