Kev Arriving in Goa and hastily rearranging the train back to Mumbai meant that our holiday effectively ended in Goa, rather than the planned day in Mumbai. It also meant that we had an extra day in Goa to put to good use. Even if the highly-acclaimed author William Dalrymple states that the true definition of … Read more
After rejecting the awful Silver Sands hotel after just a couple of seconds I did the rounds of some other hotels that I’d read about in the various guides. First it was off to Soul Vacation, an upmarket place where they only had one room big enough, a suite at Rs4000 a night, that’s £58 … Read more
Vindaloo orginates from Goa and so there’s was no way I was going to miss trying it whilst here. When last in Goa I bottled it, opting for the lesser spicy dishes as I’d not even had Vindaloo in England, but now I can handle hotter dishes. I’d almost ordered it at the Leda restaurant … Read more
Goa was nothing other than a convenient stopping place between Hampi and Mumbai and I wasn’t really looking forward to coming here, that’s why we were only due to stay for 2 nights which gave us only one full day. As we were due to only stay for such a short time we decided to … Read more
Leaving Hospet and Hampi quite early in the morning on the train we’d come here on from Hyderabad, we continued on to our train’s final destination, Goa, although we got off one stop early at Madgaon, or Margao as the town’s also known as – this double name thing doesn’t half make travel confusing at … Read more
It’s a question anyone making a visit needs to find an answer to: would it be better to stay in Hospet or stay in Hampi? My solution was simple: do both. We were arriving on Independence Day and I didn’t fancy trying to find a hotel in Hampi just in case it was really busy … Read more
Yesterday morning both Emilia and Amy had henna applied to their arms, a process which took less than an hour for all four arms. Once applied Henna dries within an hour and can then be washed off, leaving the same pattern on the skin, which should hopefully last for a week or two. Here’s some … Read more
Yesterday we went on a tour of some of the 500 temples, palaces and buildings in Hampi, most of which are between 500 and 800 years old. We hired a rickshaw driver from the area who calls himself Patrick just to distinguish himself from the rest of the drivers. Most of the places here in … Read more
In some ways I didn’t want to stay at this place, a place my friends Madhu and Savita – of 10yearitch.com, but you know that, I’ve said that once or twice before right? – had recommended. I wanted to be responsible for finding somewhere for myself. Arriving in Hampi Bazaar went went here first, to … Read more
Visiting Hampi had been one of the things I’d most been looking forward to on this trip although I’d originally only planned to spend two nights in this area. How grateful I am to a lot of my IndiaMike friends who told me I was mad; that they’d spent four days here and it wasn’t … Read more
After checking out of the Hotel Grand Plaza we left our bags in their cloakroom and went exploring a little bit more of Hyderabad. Heading off in the direction of Big Bazaar(/Bizarre :-)) we decided to have a spot of lunch and went into the family restaurant by the entrance. Jane fancied a grilled sandwich … Read more
The Hotel Grand Plaza in Hyderabad sits opposite the public gardens to the north of Nampally railway station in Hyderabad and a short walk away from the shopping area of Abids Circle and its collection of shoe, sari and kurta shops, not forgetting the bizarre shopping experience that is Big Bazaar. Here’s a link to … Read more
If I had to answer a question on what’s been the best part of the trip so far then I’d have to say that spending time with people I’ve known online for a while, met through friends of theirs or the residents of the homestay would have to top the list. These are pretty strong … Read more
Although we’re doing this trip by ourselves, as opposed to using a travel company, we decided that we had the need to get a driver whilst in Aurangabad. I got the number of a driver, Bhagwat, from my friends Madhu and Savita (10YearItch.com) who had used his services during their time in and around Aurangabad. … Read more
The caves near Aurangabad (Ajanta and Ellora) have been on the top of Jane’s ToDo list for some time. She could almost have crossed Ellora off the list 22 years ago when she visited Ellora whilst touring India with a friend. But in Aurangabad last time her friend fractured her collar bone and couldn’t visit … Read more