Our first sunny day in Darjeeling, typically, was the day we were leaving. For the first time we could see the snow capped peak the world’s third largest mountain, Kangchenjunga. We didn’t have time to take in the views however as we had a shared jeep booked to take us to the capital of Sikkim, Gangtok. The drive over was fantastic. Three hours of beautiful mountain roads that often had me fantasising of a shinny red Integrale… Upon arrival we picked a nice sounding hostel we found in the Rough Guide. It was a good choice. Not only are the…

… starts tomorrow with what is promised to be a mighty fine Chicken Byriani. As more teams arrive in Cochin I’m starting to get quite excited. This blog will remain quiet for the next 2 – 4 weeks as I attempt to drive 2000 miles in a Rickshaw. See our team page for updates: www.shesagoa.com

I spent a long time yesterday writing a post about our three day train journey. I spell checked it in gmail and in the process of copying it back into wordpress I lost 80% of the post (It was a good one too). Most frustrating. Anyway, here’s my second attempt. I’ve always liked train journeys. Ever since I was a kid the hours seemed to pass a quickly as the scenery. Even so, the idea of three days couped up in second class was quite daunting. From Jaipur we had several options to get to Cochin. The first was a…

We’ve been in Jaipur for 4 days now, which leaves me with rather a lot to tell. That said I’m trying my best to keep these entries short and readable. So, here goes. Jaipur is the third corner of India’s Golden Triangle, our two previous destinations being the other two corners. The city itself is huge but the old town is surrounded by pink walls with most of the buildings are inside also painted pink. On Sunday we went into the city palace which was reasonably impressive, followed by the Royal Observatory which is full of large astronomy / time…

Having heard all about Indian buses from friends before arriving, the time came to experience this for ourselves. We wanted to take the train, however the two trains going from Agra to Jaipur left at silly AM and silly PM respectively, so the hourly bus it was. In India, bigger vehicles have right of way. Bullying tactics is the order of the day. Use of the horn seems to permit buses to cross onto the wrong side of the road and drive at whatever is coming. Bikes, rickshaws, autos, cars and jeeps are left with little choice but to swerve…

I must first start off by saying, contrary to my earlier comments, that eating curries twice a day is fantastic. Especially at less than a pound a pop with rice and chapaties included. Anyway, we are now in Agra. See map (provided I manage to update it). Home of the Taj Mahal. Now I have to say it is the changes that make traveling tough. You are presented by immense highs as well as big lows, but they generally follow each other in such quick succession that they really hit you hard. Yesterday was a prime example of that. We…

This place truly is off the hook. Despite traveling to places such as Thailand, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, nothing could have prepared me for this place. The traffic is manic. bikes, rickshaws, scooters, auto rickshaws, cars, buses and trucks all fight for the same small space. Not a second goes buy without hearing a horn. Even small alley ways, barely big enough for two people to pass, have motorbikes hurtling down them. Just walking along the street is scary business, requiring 100% concentration not to be hit by whatever is passing buy. On top of that, as a tourist one…