It has been said that one is not a “traveller” until one has been to India. I don’t have a lot of patience with that sanctimonious observation. India is challenging and confounding and unfathomable and it will take us weeks to process everything we experienced, but good grief – travelling through India has not earned … More Making sense of India
There are over 2500 rhesus macaques creating havoc in Shimla; known to the locals as The Monkey Menace. They are easily identified by their bright red faces and backsides, and by their brazen and fearless manner. In our seven days here, we have had a few close encounters with these scary simians. We were hissed … More Monkey Menace in Shimla
For the past 90 days, we have sweltered and sweated our way through India; our faces dripping and our clothes sticky. Three days ago, after five hours of bus travel, we climbed 2200 metres into the foothills of the Himalayas and left the heat and humidity behind. Our last week in India will be spent … More Shimla’s mountain air: cool at last
Chandigarh is India’s only planned city; and at 60 years old, it is one of its youngest. After the trauma of Partition in 1947 and the loss of Punjab’s capital city Lahore to Pakistan, plans began by Prime Minister Nehru to create a capital city that would serve both states of Punjab and Haryana. Work … More Chandigarh: “one of the greatest urban experiments of the 20th century.”
This is the reason that tourists find their way to Amritsar, in Punjab State: the spectacular Golden Temple that is India’s holiest Sikh shrine and a sacred pilgrimage for millions. The Golden Temple is the centrepiece, but it is set within a huge compound and surrounded by the Amrit Samovar, or Pool of Nectar – … More Amritsar: not all that glitters…
Jaisalmer is the most western and remote of the Rajasthan cities: the golden jewel right on the edge of the Thar Desert. Formerly a prosperous camel-trade route between India and Asia, its fortunes dropped drastically after Partition in 1947, and the area seemed destined to dry up. Ironically, its proximity to the Pakistan border gave … More Jaisalmer: on the edge of the Thar Desert
Based on our travels through India so far and with so much yet to see, we can’t say for sure that Udaipur lives up to its marketing slogan, but it is certainly one of the most photogenic we’ve seen. Udaipur is a city of lakes and mountains, with centuries-old havelis ringing every shore – the … More Udaipur: The Most Romantic City in India?
We had hit that point in our travels where the heat, dirt, noise, garbage, cows, dogs, beggar kids and marauding motorcycles were taking their toll. We were losing our energy and worse, we were losing our interest. Emails and photos from home were making us homesick – not just for friends and family but for … More Tiny Pushkar brings us back
Well, we are more than halfway through our travels and I had to jinx myself. “We may make it through this trip without getting sick,” I said. Oh boy, a day later it began, with chills and fatigue (luckily we flew from Varanasi to Jaipur before I began feeling unwell). By the time we got to … More Jaipur: Rajasthan’s Pink City
Varanasi, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, has been described in many ways, but calm, restful and quiet would never be among the chosen adjectives. Of all our destinations in India, this was the one I was most apprehensive about – anticipating noise, sights and smells that would be well beyond … More Benediction on the steps of the Ganges
Leaving Ourselves Behind 