DECIDING TO LEAVE INDIA A LITTLE EARLIER THAN EXPECTED

India has been the most amazing experience that we could possibly have expected. It is colourful, loud, spicy, welcoming and eye-opening. We have met lovely people; explored temples; been followed around by (three legged) dogs for a day; been treated like royalty by local children and eaten like kings. We have also been bitten raw,…

THE BEAUTIFUL BACKWATERS OF KERALA

I can remember sitting at my desk in rainy Exeter, dreaming of floating down the backwaters of Kerala in a houseboat. Well, that dream came true. To get there, another long sleeper bus journey was in order. This was an ominous thought because, you’ve heard it here first, I’m the grumpiest person on earth when…

BECOMING THE MAIN ATTRACTIONS IN BEAUTIFUL HAMPI

Hampi leaves you feeling like you’ve discovered a designer dress amongst the moth-eaten jumpers in a charity shop. It is just beautiful; with stunning temples built amongst stacks of boulders which are described as “the Gods’ marbles”. It has a river running through the middle and has two separate towns, and you take a cruise…

MISERABLE MAPUSA AND A SLEEPER (OR NO SLEEP) BUS TO HAMPI

(from Saturday the 10th of December, the wifi to upload has not been my pal!) For some reason, we decided not to chill out in Goa and instead moved on to the next place on our agenda. Whilst in Anjuna, we booked ourselves a bus to Hampi, which is more mainland and further South. North…

EXPLORING ANJUNA DURING INDIA’S CASH CRISIS

We were staying in an amazing hostel called Tantra Beach Shacks, where there are 3 storeys of tree houses built on the beach. Ours was right in the middle so you had to climb up very wobbly wooden steps to make it in. There are no walls or windows, just frames and then curtains that…

THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO: MAKING OUR WAY FROM DEVON TO GOA

IT HAS BEGUN!  So, on Tuesday I woke up and scrabbled to do last minute things (such as packing my whole bag, which I discovered was a mistake as I finished seconds before I left the house, crying my eyes out because I knew I was going to miss my mum. Embarrassing because she stayed…