Mumbai was our last stop for our trip in India and in true Indian style the flight was late to land and all the ‘carparks’ were full so we had to park the aircraft on the wrong side of the airport and take a bus on the scenic tour of the airfield. By around midnight we had reached our hotel and settled into our room for a nice sleep…until sometime in the middle of the night when I woke up just in time to see Bianca vomit…greaaaaat! For the second time this trip it seemed like Bianca had eaten, drank or breathed something nasty (there are so many possibilities in India!) and it was pretty obvious that she wasn’t going to be going anywhere that day, so we settled in and got acquainted with our TV ... read more

We departed Jodhpur at the extremely civilised hour of 10am and set off for the small town Ranakpur which is about 90kms before Udaipur. Ranakpur is famous for its very elaborate Jain Temple which is constructed from very intricately carved white marble. The Jain religion began in the 6th century BC and is kind of an offshoot from Hinduism. They are very strict vegetarians (no eggs) and the really devout followers cover their mouths with a scarf to avoid inhaling bugs and carry a broom to sweep the path before they walk so they don’t crush insects. The temple was incredible; elaborate is a massive understatement. As soon as you walk up the stairs into the temple you are overwhelmed by hundreds of carved columns (no two the same) supporting an equally intricate roof. The temple ... read more

The drive to Pushkar from Jaipur was the first time that the scenery really began to change into dry, dusty terrain with sparse vegetation and rocky hills - exactly what you would expect from Rajasthan (the Desert State). The drive was relatively good, though there were the obligatory stretches of terrible bumpy road (the kind of road you would only ever consider navigating in a four wheel drive in Australia). Pushkar is famous for its holy lake which apparently appeared when the Hindu God Brahma dropped a lotus flower, so after checking in to our hotel we went for a walk to see the lake. However, as we were walking we passed a pizza place which received amazing reviews in Lonely Planet so stopped for a bite to eat. After scoffing down our delicious wood fired ... read more

Our departure from Delhi marked the official start of our tour of Rajasthan (and Agra) with our driver Vipan. Having a driver is completely different to the way we normally travel however on our way to Agra we quickly saw the benefit as we were able to stop off anywhere we wanted. Our first stop was Akbar’s Mausoleum which is about 10km outside of Agra City. The tomb was a massive and very impressive structure with intricate geometric patterns in marble inlaid into the red sandstone. There were huge walls surrounding a central building which contained the tombs with beautiful gardens full of deer all around. The acoustics of the building were pretty interesting; in the inner part of the complex you could stand at opposite sides of the arch sequence and face into the corner ... read more

Crossing the Nepalese border and entering India is one of life’s greatest experiences…ok well that was a lie. Crossing the Nepalese border and entering India is actually a bumpy, dusty, manic, and poorly organized experience that leaves a lot to be desired. We farewelled Chitwan and the two aussie we had spent a bit of time with at around 9.30 and trundled along in the bus towards Sunauli at a constant 40km/h for up to two minutes at a stretch before pulling over to pick up more passengers or for various other unknown reasons. We are convinced that the distance between Chitwan and the Indian border town is only a few kilometers but the speed of the bus journey and the constant infuriating stopping means the journey takes 5 hours. Eventually the inevitable happened; the bus ... read more