My last day in India has been spent around the Jangli Maharaj Road or Revenue Colony area of Pune. It’s a student area full of colleges, it has an old sunken temple carved from stone as if it were scraped from the very ground, there are vegetarian restaurants nestling across the road from McDonald’s where the students are getting a taste for Silicon Valley Continue reading Leaving India
Tag Archives: India
Pune Bombing
I arrived in Pune after a night bus journey from Goa to be met by the information that The German Bakery had been blown up. Some Swiss people on the bus had arranged to meet friends in there, a taxi driver told them that the Bakery isn’t really there anymore. Continue reading Pune Bombing
Arambol
I last came to Arambol 17 years ago when my daughter was in her mother’s tummy, I was getting some R&R before becoming a dad. Continue reading Arambol
Canyoning
What can I say, incredible fun with one of the craziest french guys I ever met, Manu.
Firstly we drove through the Goan hills on roads that became ever increasingly appalling, then we threw ourselves down a canyon in leaps of up to 13 metres, abseils and slithers that left me knackered and a little bloody, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Continue reading Canyoning
Palolem
Palolem Beach is probably the most scenic of Goas Beaches. Arambol up in the north does have it’s fresh water lake and other beaches are certainly less crowded like Agonda beach, which is a little further North. But Palolem is a hut filled riot of colour where you Continue reading Palolem
Goa Bike Ride
It’s been a while since I have been in Goa and it has changed less than I thought it would in some ways, more in ways I perhaps cannot see. But I am a little wiser and am enjoying the bits I am seeing more and am willing to travel a little farther afield to see them. Continue reading Goa Bike Ride
Bollywood Calls..
I got approached whilst walking the streets to see if I wanted to be a Bollywood extra and I said yes, I was sure they would see my star potential and ask me to do something a little more Satjiat ray in the future, but for now it was to be 500 rupeesfor a day, Continue reading Bollywood Calls..
Mumbai Again
I’m not sure if I like this place or not, but I get the idea that I’d love it if I stayed here for a year. I’m a bit of a sucker for old colonial houses, I’d have to get one of those – and a posse full of those locals that speak English in such a flowery way, Continue reading Mumbai Again
Leaving MUWCI
I went out and got drunk with my daughter and her friends at the MUWCI or the Mahindra United World College. How good is that, but again time to move on to Mumbai and leave her to get on with getting an education. Continue reading Leaving MUWCI
The Train back to Mumbai
It was a bit of a relief to get away from the cold weather, but it’s a double edged sword as we went from the chilly north to the hot sweaty weather of Mumbai. At night in the train I was so cold I just paced back and force reading a book occasionally shadow boxing to warm up… Continue reading The Train back to Mumbai
Leaving Varanasi
So, we had made varanasi our own over the course of  our stay, learned to fly kites, learned about Japanese food, saw a few bodies roasting in a manner not to be seen except by the fella at the crematorium and had a whole lot of fun. Time to move on…. Continue reading Leaving Varanasi
New Year
New Year in Varanasi has been a sobering affair. Christmas was a succession of warm days followed by cool nights that allowed for deep untroubled sleep, but new year was met by a cold weather front that left Varanasi draped in cold, damp air that left many people wandering about draped in blankets. Any locals unlucky enough to be sleeping rough were in danger of their lives as they are often not healthy enough to cope with such a cold snap, spirits seemed dampened too as rooms are unheated and places where people often frequent are outside. Continue reading New Year
Ganpati
It can take time to find a good place to stay in a town, but we landed on our feet here at the Ganga View Hotel for Christmas and anywhere is going to be downhill after that. Continue reading Ganpati
Varanasi
I read today that Varanasi is the world’s oldest inhabited city with an unbroken lineage back to 800BC, and there is evidence of early Aryan settlements as far back as 4000 years ago. I can certainly believe it, the small alleys and dirt roads that snake around the back of the ghats look timeless, every nook and cranny seems to have grown as slowly as a snails shell, encrusted with time. Continue reading Varanasi
Mahindra College, Pune to Varanasi.
I woke to a sunrise that calmed the clamorous valley of the previous night. I walked up the arcing stairs of the YHA to the roof and was met with a far warmer world. The laborers on the neighboring building site were huddled around warming morning fires, Pune had become solid after the little pinpricks of light had joined together. Continue reading Mahindra College, Pune to Varanasi.
Bombay to Pune YHA
Arriving in Bombay was like going straight from Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here on a walkman to having Johnny Rotten singing in your face. I’d think it a privilege if Johnny would do that, but I’d have to be in the right mood and when I arrived in Bombay I wasn’t, so I muttered my way to an overpriced hotel and battened down the hatches until I felt cheerful enough to make the journey to see my daughter at her college near Pune. Continue reading Bombay to Pune YHA
Pokhara to Kathmandu to Bombay
God knows how I made it out of bed on the morning of my flight to Kathmandu, but the same goes for the morning of my flight to India; my autopilot seems to work fine and I arrive at the airport in good time, if not really in any kind of fit state for flying. Continue reading Pokhara to Kathmandu to Bombay