Love it! Udaipur was good, spent a lot of time chilling in the markets and chatting to locals, Puskar is fantastic, spending an extra day here jsut to hanf ou8t by the lake and swim in our pool!
Going to keep this update short cos the internet here is useless though. More next time, love to you all! Current Fantasy: Samosas Last Man standing!!! The girls have died a death teh last couple of days with some pretty nasty food poisoning, ironically enough from the very expensive restaurant by Indian standards inside our hotel, which we only went to because it was too late to find another one in a town wed just arrived in.
So in between looking after them the last two days have shot by, more random then I thought possible even in India. Ive had my aura read by a guru who has published several books worldwide, and though i still stand by the opinion that all that new age rubbish is highly unbelievable he seemed to have me pinned down fairly well.
It wasnt generic stuff either- his comments included me having a dodgy left knee from marathon running and my mum having arthitis also true. He seemed to be able to read my past without even knowing my name as well which was very strange. The girls were equally freaked out and Katie came out of here meeting nearly crying. His dad is the second richest man in India so he also refused to be paid for any readings, which was a very refreshing change for India!
Ive also taken to random mountain climbing. I think its because with the girls ill its something i can enjoy on my own, but in the last 24 hours ive forced myself up three different fairly major hills to visit temples and taken some pretty spectacular photos. I met a devout buddhist man half way up one who gave the food I was supposed to be giving as a gift at the temple i dont really feel right giving gifts to gods i dont believe in and though he didnt speak a word of english he insisted on blessing me half way up the mountani and throwing his flowers over the edge whilst saynig a prayer.
Sounds very tacky but it was a suprisingly touching experience. And again he wasnt after money- maybe were starting to look more like we belong! Havge spent ages trekking around markets and eating the food from stalls- samosas and samosa like things galore. Ive also started drinking the local water instead of the bottled stuff. Ive been chlorinating it so hopefully itll be ok. I feel too bad drinking bottled water all the time as they dont recycle out here and our last room had aboutn 15 empty bottles in it when we left.
I thought that multiplied by 60 days is horrific. Other random stuff- went to Jaipur fort this morning and went swimming with elephants, which was amazing. The fort itself was very tacky adn touristy apart from a couple of fairly elaborate rooms, and the elephant ride up to the fort felt a bit tacky too but it was well worth a trip for the swimming.
Wasnt planning to go right in but my elephant soaked me with water from its trunk so i figured why not! AS soon as ive written this im off no another samosa hunt and then heading for Agra and the Taj Mahal. Cant wait!! Love to you all, miss you, James xxx.
Current Fantasy: cheese. Next Up: Three days in Varanasi then off to the Himalayas Were off on our own now, no more of our current favourite man in the world, Bhuwan. Hes Neaplese and has a very different attitude to a lot of the indians, he flat out refuses to take money from us and wil only let us buy him a meal at a push. Anyway, we said goodbye to him last night, after forcing a tip on him, and we miss him like crazy.
Were thinking of rushing back to Delhi to go to his birthday party in a couple of weeks, and hes promised to come and take us to the airport when we go home.
Yesterday was the Taj Mahal. Katie loved it and hasnt stopped raving about it since, but ive got to say it didnt really wow me.
As spectacular as it was, I think the ore i travel the more it becomes about the people rather than the places. Im still glad ive been, but i couldnt help feeling like an overl safe bus toured package tourist stood there, I defintely wont be back.
Lauren will probably need to be as she spent most of the time within rushing distance of a loo, she seems to hav recovered now though. What was far better was going on a walk down the river the other side of the Taj Mahal, where we met about 50 local Indian kids indian children crowd round anyone white who comes into there neighbourhood.
I know how stupid it sounds but for me thats a far more cultural experience than any building and i wont forget it in a hurry. I have some great photos which ill put up when i have my usb cable. We caused a near riot by handing out what was left of our sweets when we left, well need more next time!
Just got off our first sleeper train, which as actually one of the best nights sleep ive had in a long time. The journey from Agra to Varanasi is about 13 hours, though, typically for India, the train was running about four hours late. Trains were a pretty crazy experience, looking forward to more of that. Our next one if coming up to two days in length So now we have three days on the banks of the ganges in Varanasi.
Weve found one of those guesthouses with an amazing atmosphere first really special one of this trip and i have a feeling were just not going to want to leave! Im off to watch some dead bodies floating down a river and sample the local Lassis. Love to you all, yours, James x. Current Fantasy: Mountain streams and waterfalls only a day away! Next Up: Dharamasala and nights under the stars So weve just got on the Amritsar after three days next to the sacred Ganges in Varanasi.
We expected Varanasi to be a stressful expereince, people weve met on the way told us the hassle was horrendous and you coudl only relax in the hotel room, but it turned out to be far from true for us. As it turned out i spent a whole day in the hotel room anyway with my first of no doubt many bouts of Delhi Belly, but that seems to be fading and we made the most of the other two days.
Met up again with Charlie and Amy again, they were great fun as usual, hopefully well catch up with them around the north but if not well def be meeting up back in the UK. Avoiding the main ghats steps doen to the Ganges seemed to be the way forward with Varanasi. WE stayed in a fantastic guesthouse towards the end of the series of 60 odd ghats and spent our time flitting between the guesthouse and the ghats. The owner of the guesthouse was an indian eccentric who has lived in britain for most of his life and pins a label on his quests as soon as they walk through the door, but he was a lot of fun with it.
Full of philosphical remarks and amused us no end with his opinionated ranting. It honestly was a good thing! The ghats and river are central to the lives of everyone in Varanasi so we decided to follow there lead and spend as much time down there as we could. Lauren adn I took a dip in the sacred water, which was suprsingly nice bearing in mind it had ,00 time the level of bacteria that is safe to bath in and conatins numerous ex-people- although what with it being monsoon season it was incredibly fast flowing and pretty scary to get out of your depth in.
The speed of the water made it feel a little more like the worst of the dirt was flowing past pretty quick, though i must admit i was more than normally careful not to put my head under.
I think weve been here too long already- watching a dead body float by 20 metres away didnt really bother us. Charlie and I had a hilarious attempt to start a game of cricket with the locals- we stupidly left it till after dark and then managed to lose the ball after the second bowl, though having the bat has proved to be a good conversation starter. I really need to learn more about cricket so its an even better one!
We also took a boat ride down the river, and watched the bathing buffalos and the hindu ceremonies in which they burn there dead and throw the ashes into the water.
The rituals seemed strange but after an explaination back at the hostel the whole ashes to ashes idea and the focus on the river, which is the centre for the community on the whole, actually makes a lot of sense. The sunset was beautiful as well. On our last day we visited a charity hospital set up by Mother Teresa hoping to volunteer for a while, but after a tour we realised they had over nuns looking after 80 patients so were going to look for somewhere more useful to volunteer later in the trip.
Ill definately be on the look out for some similar places, everyone in there reacted like the Western world had acknowledged there existence when we walked in, its an experience you dont forget in a hurry. Now, after a 26 hour sleeper train ride weve arrived in Amritsar, which is kind of the starting point for the Indian Himalaya expereince. Although Amritsar does have some fairly special stuff to offer in its own right the golden temple for example were fairly keen to get to the mountains so this will probably be another one day job.
Were staying in a Sikh dormatory opposite the temple for free though we will leave a donation- seems a bit mean not too! They sound amazing so im very excited. Tomorrow im going to hit out on my own for a few days and meet up with the girls later in Manali- I want to see India through my own eyes without any kind of comfort blanket for a while, and also see what its like to travel alone.
I think there a little bit put out by it but i feel like its something i need to do to really know what india is like for real, away from any western influence. And im sure theyll appreciate me more when im back yeah right! I hope you are all well back home and having a fun summer, thanks for the emails and messages, its always great to hear whats going on back home.
Miss you all, wish you were all here to hit the cool himalayan streams with me! Loads of love, James x. Current Fantasy: needing to go up a mountain right now- being surrounded by them seems to do that to me!
Only two days, but they seem to be a lot fuller and longer when you dont have constant company, and emotions see to have much bigger highs and lows with no one to keep you in check. I left the girls at the bus station heading for Dharamasala and decided to hang around for another day in Amritser, which in a strange way reminded me a lot of Dalyan, really chilled out night life and very sociable for those who i havent already dragged to Dalyan- not many of you now!
I decided to head for all the unusual sites of Amritser yesterday afternoon, so I visited Jallianwala Bagh, where the British army slaughtered 2, peacefully protesting Indians in Most people wre friendly but in a way i felt a little unwelcome, particularly when people started asking where im from Ive worked out saying Canada is the way forward in this situation lol , so didnt stay long.
Next I took a cycle rickshaw to the cave temple, which was fantastic, wading through six inch deep water and walking through halls with walls made like mirror balls.
It was really chlostrophobic, at times only just big enough to squeeze through. I had a packed evening, a couple of locals i met at the golden temple took me to the Pakistan border to watch the border ceremony, in which the border guards march up and down and make aggresive motions at each other while a whole stadium full of people theyve built a stadium round the border post especially for this! I ate at the golden temple - literally a house sized temple surrounded by a massive man made lake- in my opinion far more beautiful then the Taj Mahal and with a wonderful relaxed atmosphere with a dutch couple i met in the dorms- we had the food the sikhs give out for free to travellers- dal, chapati and rice which was really nice!
Being alone has definately bought out my sociable side! Met one of the locals again at the temple this morning for breakfast, he bought me a sweet local dish which was really nice. Hes moving to London to study in a month so will probably meet up when i get back home.
So life alone I think ive learnt more about india in the past two days then i had in the previous three weeks, i feel like im learning and growing in confidence with every step, but at times it does feel like a constant hunt for company so dont worry girls i will turn up- i miss my wives! Im really glad of the experience though and can see myself running off alone again. Maybe a few days with the girls and a few apart is the way forward, we shall see. Anyway, must go, love to you all, James xxx.
Current Fantasy: None. Ok maybe one little thing- stop bloody raining! Well I say alone time- over the past few days it feels like ive been in the company of more random strangers than the rest of my life put together! Yesterda I took the bus up to the hippie mountain haven of McLeod Gang metres above sea level- though the clouds are too thick for the views to be worth seeing.
I dumped my bad straight away and decided to head for the nearest village without having any idea what was there- always the best way i find! I walked over with 4 locals who took me to an open air public swimming pool full of running moutain spring water in the middle of town.
They insisted i swim though funnily enough they didnt want to- i soon foudn out why, it was about 2 degrees! But stayed in a good half an hour. The village is remote enough for them not to see too many white faces so I attracted wuite a crowd, and got thrown around the swimming pool and made to jump in continiously, great fun, but i think i may actually have managed to get a cold in India- must be a first!
An american eco warrior hippie type called david had been standing over the pool watching and laughing the whole time, we got on pretty well so spent the rest of the afternoon with him. We walked back via a monestary and sat with the monks while they chanted there mantras I have a beautiful recording of the singing , which was really serene amongst the forests and they were really welcoming, particularly as it felt a little to us like we were intruding on the ceremony.
I did all this still soaked through with freezing swimming pool water- having not known there was a pool i didnt take anything to change into- so by his time it was definately time to go and get dry! When i got back to the hotel about 9pm there was a power cut and i couldnt find my room so i spent an hour or so talking to some Indians who were on a couple of days holiday from Amritser ironically they live about 50 metres from the place we stayed 2 days ago.
I ended up experiencing Indian binge drinking culture first hand yes it IS worse than English binge drinking culture! Indians down mess around with there drinking- they were drinking a shot of whiskey with water at least every ten minutes for about two hours always down in one as well!
This morning I went to a Tibetan cookery class, where we learnt to cook various Tibetan soups, which were all gorgeous. My alone time is over for now- Katie had actually booked on the same course as me and walked through the door straight after me which was a little bizarre!
The girls dont like there hotel so there checking out and coming to join me later today. It also make sme realise how much you change when you travel- imagine walking around any english town or city, not knowing anyone or anything about the place.
Its a wonder anyone knows anyone else! The more time i spend out here the less i want to go back to normal home life. Enjoy it while it lasts i guess, not even half way through yet! Anyways, my next thrilling task is to lug some bags through the rain to my hotel, its not all glamour you know! Love to you all, miss you but, but i damn sure dont miss England!
James x Oh and one more thing Up the Villa! Current Fantasy: Full moon party actually going ahead! Next Up: Treks around Manali So whats going on now? To be honest not a whole lot, this will be the dullest update so far! Have been pretty ill for the last couple of days and so havent done a whole lot. I ended up not really liking McLeod Gang, it just felt too small and too Westernised to make me feel like a traveller, though i think me feeling ill probably didnt help my opinion of it.
If its anything like the thailand one though itll be fantastic. I walked up a the mountain earlier today to check out the venue and its just a mountainside cafe with loads of tie dye flags and a bar!
Anyway, McLeod We took and overnight bus last night to get to Manali, on which we managed to sleep for about 3 hours between us, so have spent to day trying to catch up on sleep. Id be suprised if Manali isnt out longest stay so far! Cannabis grows wild in the streets here and the entire place stinks of the stuff, which is more than a little bizarre, especially with a delicate stomach!
Were hoping to get in some long treks and maybe some white water rafting before moving on. I warned you it was a dull entry Loads of love, J x. Current Fantasy: Not feeling constantly punch drunk just from breathing! Next Up: staying in an Ashram in the mountains. In fact the reason Lauren and I left when we did is as much to get out of Manali and away from the constant smell of cannabis as to come to the next place!
Had a really fun time though - I did loads of walking in the hills around Manali, hunting down waterfalls to swim in and visiting little hillside hippie cafes. We found Charlie and Amy again, theyve already been in Manali a week and are planning on staying another week until they have to go home- I think Charlies found his idea of paradise!
Lauren, Charlie and I visited a nearby village called Vashisht for the day, we managed to go past the turning the first time and walked about 3 miles up river before realising it, into a very poor mountain village made up mainly of tents which was quite a weird experience.
Most of the people in these villages have nothing more than there tent, which is made out of a plastic sheet and a few sticks, I have no idea how they survive as there is no apparent income. Its strange to see such poverty so close to Manali, which is a comparitively rich area. Vashisht has a public hot sulphur springs inside its temple, which we went to but only managed to put our feet in- it was incredibly hot and stank of eggs.
A lot fo the locals wash there every day- I couldntnt even hold my feet in for more than a few seconds so they must have very hardened skin. The ferris wheel looked like it was lined up for a comedy roll down the hill at any moment. Israelis seem to have taken on Manali as a second home, the place is totally dominated by them, a lot of them are staying abroad travelling for a lot longer then they would have been because if they go home theyll be put back into the army.
Theres as much Israeli influence in the town as Indian. Ive become a big fan of Israeli food never though id order Falafel out of choice! Lauren and I have jsut arrived in Rishikesh, which is famous for being where the Beatles came to meditate and wrote a lot of the white album. Weve just finished a 17 hour bus journey overnight from Manali, so excuse the slight incoherence of this entry!
Lauren and I are probably going to split after here as well, Im thinking of heading down the east coast to Calcutta, Puri and then Madras and Lauren wants to hang out for a while in the Ashrams, so well probably all meet up again somewhere down south in a week or two after Rishikesh. So far All I have seen of Rishikesh is the Ganges much nearer the source here so its very clean- more swimming coming on!
Still having a great time! Love to you all! J x PS- No im not growing a beard, i just didnt have the energy to shave when i was ill! And thankyou for all the emails saying i look worryingly thin, about time! Im getting slack at this, sorry! Weve just left Rishikesh, where we stayed four days, which was great, really needed to slow down a bit after the fast paced travel at the start. We didnt do a whole lot on the sight seeing front, just met some really nice people and soaked up the atmosphere.
Laurens been working on her photography ready for her interview with the bbc and we met a great couple called Ade and Zoe, who have been travelling the world for years working on photography and videos.
Theyve sent us off on a trek up tpo the source pof the ganges, which they said was incredible when they went its there fifth time in india , so were on ou way up there now. Anyway, Ade and Zoe helped Lauren take and put together a great portfolio of pictures of monkeys on Rishikesh footbridge, so weve spent a lotof the last few days hanging around there next to the Ashram the beatles stayed in. Weve sent most the time here hanging around with Ade and Zoe talking about there travels Ade once spent 7 weeks walking the land in india with the sadhus!
After all whos ever met anyones whos truly happy with a career?! I spent a day cycling round on a bicylce as well with a scottish girl whos working as an architect in Delhi for a year, swimming in the river and seeing a bit more of the town.
Shes going to take us out for a last night in Delhi to one of the upmarket clubs apparently its based around a swimming pool! Parents dont read this paragraph! I had a crash course in how to ride from Ade and then we went up the Ganges for about 20kms on either side, past all the paddy fields and little villages. Its great to get away from the cities as th atmospheres totally different- nobody want anything from you except to say hello, and you get a bit of a crowd everywhere you go.
We found a little waterfall where a load of Indians were swimming there way of celebrating Indian independence day , so went for a bit of a swim. The rest of the time we just blasted up and down the mountain roads and enjoyed the view. A really fantastic day! Today we are in Uttakashi, a small mountainside village on the way up the Ganges, where the locals are celebrating Krishnas birthday in style with lots of flags and bright colours draped everywhere.
We havent seen another white face since we left Rishikesh, which is wonderful, feels like the real side of india. Tomorrow well be heading up to Gangotri, which is at about metres and is one of the holiest places in india. Having a wkd time, love to you all, J x PS Katie- internet rubbish and cant get at emails, hope your enjoying Leh, think well be down south by about the 20th ish so will meet you there x.
Or it has been for the last five days anyway. Lauren and I went trekking to the source of the ganges, which is a glacier at around metres. We left Rishikesh five days ago and spent a day getting halfway to the start point of the trek- a little village called Uttakashi.
Uttakashis only real redeeming feature was its warm showers until today we hadnt had a shower warmer than the temperature of the Ganges- almost freezing in the mountains- since there The locals were celebrating Krishnas birthday and had a few banners strewn around the place but it wasnt that spectacular. The next day we went up to Gangotri, the start point for our trek. Its at a height of about 3, metres and left us a little short of breath to start with, and the drive up was horrific we saw a truck go over the edge of the cliff and spent most of the journey worrying about our jeep doing the same- the drops were massive.
Gangotri has a really spectacular Ganges waterfall which looked like a huge rainbow in the sunlight. Power only lasts a about three hours a day and food supplies up the mountains means menus are extremely limited- we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere!
Hardly any tourists either which was great. The first day of our trek was a 16km walk down cliffside paths to the little village of Bhojbasa, four kilometres short of the ganges. This took about seven hours, pretty hard going having to concentrate all the time due to large drops being next to the path constantly , and arrived in Bhajbosa in time to collapse and go to sleep- by this point a combination of constant travel and high altitude were really bugging us! The only food available all the way up the trek was packaged noodles and chocolate bars from little mountainside huts.
We drank water from the moutainside streams, which was crystal clear and much better than the bottled stuff! We slept in a tent huddled under about four duvets! Im making this sounds bad- it was amazing, just really hard work. I wish I had a usb cable to put the photos up because the views were unreal. On the last trekking day two days ago now we walked 22kms up to the glacial source of the ganges and then back to Gangotri, by which point we were totally dead on our feet and slightly hyperactive from the increased amount of ocygen in the air coming down- i dont think i said a coherent sentence for a good few hours after arriving back.
The glacier at the source was icnredible- i went right down in front of it next to the river and managed to narrowly avoid being hit by a football sized boulder, and we washed and ate the ice from the river. The whole second day was wet and cold and we walked for around 12 hours in total were not really slow, honest, you shoul see the paths!
Spent the night totally collapsed in Gangotri and aching all over, having stuffed oursleves with anything that wasnt prepackaged noodles, and slept for about 12 hours. It was incredibly hard work but im really glad we went, there were so few tourists and the scenery was spectacular so it felt like seeing a totally new localised side of india, especially with the pilgrims in the coloured robes and porters heading for the peaks walking the paths.
We managed to get all the way back to Rishikesh in one go by arranging to share a jeep with a big group of Italians and Isralis, so got back last night, ate and picked up our bags from the old hotel and got straight on a sleeper bus to Delhi, where we are now collapsed again after about six days constantly on the move and trying to arrange trains down south for later today.
Lauren and I are going to go our seperate ways for a few days so we can both see india through our own eyes for a bit and meet back up in a few days. I cant wait to see a warm sandy beach down in Goa, but theres over a day of solid travelling probably via Bombay for me to come first.
After the mountain paths itll be luxury, bring it on! Your all up to date, only about three weeks left :. See you all soon! J xxx. Im having one of those days where India just does my nut, so before i start my usual rambling story i thought id give you all my take on it.
But the Indians are doing my head in today because: 1. So i look like i want to buy as childs size pink bracelet, a 6ft yellow pear shaped balloon or any item i just watched you collect from that pile of rubbish?
If I just got out of a rickshaw, i dont want another one. If im walking in the enterance to a station i dont want a rickshaw. This is why i dont like tourist resorts! Shoving an elastoplast in my face when your begging for money does not make me want to give you more, we have cuts in europe too.
I know that you double the price on any item for me when i try and buy, thats why i offer you half. No i dont want any drugs. I dont want to come back to your room and let you steal all my stuff and i even if i did want drugs i wouldnt buy them from you when i just saw you talk to that policeman! I dont hate india honest! Theres just all these things that you learn to deal with until it comes to a bad day then it just makes you want to kill someone! Anyway, since i last wrote ive spent a day solid on a train getting to Mumbai.
On the train I met a wonderful Indian guy called Mukesh. At first i was a little wary because very few indians want to make friends with westerners jsut to be friends, but i think he sensed my slight unease and convinced me he had nothing to gain from it. It turns out hes a male model showed me a billboard! I spent my night in Mumbai aka Bombay being shown the real India by Mukesh and sleeping on his floor in his suburban flat.
Mumbai is very indian in some senses but highly westernised in others- it maintains its indian culture but is very rich compared to most of india. Anyway, he let me ride his motorbike to the beach mmm beach- first of many! Luckily repairs only came to about 2 quid, which he insisted on paying anyway- he drove after that though! We also went to a Mumbai shopping mal hard to describe, its very Bollywood! This was all in a suburb about 45 mins short of Mumbai called Borivali.
The next day i went to Mumbai proper and saw the gate of India, where the British first landed in India, and Chowpatty beach, which is full of hand powered fariground rides and indians relaxing- its party central.
I also went to the slum regions of Mumbai, which are a massive culture to the glitz of the rest of it. Mukesh persauded me to buy a really tight indian style shirt, which has actually had people asknig me if im indian a few times and makes me happy cos i can feel how much weight ive lost to get into it!
It can be the benchmark from now on. In two days time a religious festival starts in Mumbai in which the locals all take there god statues down to the sea and dump them in the water, so im heading back for that and a bit of Mumbai nightlife with Mukesh free passes to clubs for models, so saves a stack of cash, and hes finding me a local girl to take with me as its couples only- very strange!
In the meantime i decided i had better do soemthing with the two days in before the start of the festiva, so last night i took an overnight train to Auganabad in central Maharasta. Im leaving on the same train back tomorrow night. All ive done today mainly cos of feeling ill is visit the Ellora caves, which are a set of 35 religious temples about 30kms from Auganabad.
Tomorrow im going to just walk into a school and im hoping to teach a little english to the locals. If not it could be motorbike to the villages time. Anyway, the caves were pretty spectacular but it was really spoiled by the overly eager touts and the lack of tourists- jsut me and one other guy fending them off!
Hence me being in a bad mood now- that and having a bad stomach, the train arriving at 4am so im a bit short on sleep, and the fact that i intentionally got a posh hotel room with sky knowing i was going to be bedded for a while and the bloody electricitys not working in the district its in. Im sat in an internet cafe on Palolem beach, one of the most famous beachs in Goa, Indias tourist central.
But its off season, almost everythings closed, the sun is shining and there are far less tourists than you might expect so its all good. Weve all met up again, Lauren and I are staying with a lovely local family, whove been really great to us.
Its a bit off the beaten trail but still within spitting distance of the nearest beach, weve been told by the woman in the local shop were the first tourists ever to shop there. Its been great defying the Goan stereotype of all nght parties and westernised beach resorts and see the real, local side of things. Our room has no running water and only enough electricity to run two applicances at a time, we have to shower using buckets and collect water from a well ni the middle of the village.
The children are fascinated by our electronics and have developed a slight obsession with playing mobile phone games. Hopefully itll work out ok! If nothing else it wil make a good chage from the mum cooking every night pretty much always fish curry as the dad is a fisherman. We all now have indian names mine is Bhajat! Weve been very lucky with out timing as the Ganesh festival is currently in full swnig- weve had a night of fireworks on the beach where the locals celebrate and put there idol statues in the sea.
The party was so community based and atmospheric and everyone made us feel so at home. During the day Lauren, Katie and I have taken to hiring mopeds and trying to find some deserted beaches. Today we hit gold, with a palm fringed beach about metres long on with gorgeous clear water, a little waterfall we used as a shower at one end and only us and the odd inidan fisherman on it.
Absolute heaven! I still havent really recovered from the illness i picked up in Mumbai, but i feel totally accepted here and will be really sad to leave Goa tomorrow. Anyways, Im off for a bucket shower, followed by some much needed sleep and a bit of cookery for the family, love it!
If only my stomach would settle and everything would be perfect. Miss you all, lots of love, J x. This entry dedicated to Leanne and Ant, sorry i wasnt in reading with you, hope it was as good as anticipated, and ill be up to see you both in warwick next year.
Its starting to feel like the end, which it has to be said is a pretty horrible feeling, I miss you all but i just dont want to come home at all. But im all out of money, so theres no option and ill be back on the 11th, which gives me five more whole days to enjoy india.
Anyway, Hampi Hampi is a strange place- a boulder strewn river plane littered with run down 14th and 15th century structures which perch in seemingly useless locations such as on top of boulders in the river and at the peaks of unclimbable hills. Its an alien landscape, and probably has more in common with how i would picture athens or the maya temples in mexico than traditional india. Its very very relaxed again apart from the intolerable postcard sellers , weve found an amazing restaurant that sits on the slope in the middle of a banana plantation, serves curry on banana leaves and yogurt milkshakes and has a perfect view of the sunset over the river valley.
My stomach has finally recovered and im convinced Hampi has helped me to put back on a fairly sustantial amount of the weight i lost which, incidentally, clocked in in Goa at almost a stne and a half, so get ready not to recognise me!!! Id like to reassure all that the camera is still in tact.
One last thing Ill try to resist spending the last two hours before i get on the plane watching the game vs west ham! Im off to the Mango tree, possibly the most beautiful restaurant ive ever been in, with my two wonderful travelling comapanions to make the most of the our last few hows in Hampi.
Possibly via a quick dip in the river. Love to you all, yours, J x. So im here, sat back in my room in the UK. Ive had my first bath in two months unless you count rivers , a good meal and a bit of a chill out. If i could have anything in the world right now though, id be right back in India, even being hassled by a rickshaw drive, ripped off for some clothes that fall apart the next day or throwing up on dodgy train food.
Heres to next time. Anyway, this is supposed to be about how our trip ended, so here goes We left Hampi and spent over a day missioning it back to Mumbai via a combination of train or bus.
We were frighteningly close a matter of minutes to not making it to Hubli train station in time to get the only daily train, which would have caused no end of problems, but it all worked out in the end.
Once again Mumbai impressed me, ill definately be back. Its overpriced and westernised for india but it has so much to offer, so many magical moments and fantastic locations. In the evening we were approached by a guy asking us to appear as extras in a bollywood film. Obviously we said yes Lauren and I visited Chowpatty beach, where we lounged around and ate Dominoes Pizza i told you it was westernised! Afterwards we met Katie at the local Jazz club, where we sipped cocktails and listening to a very impressive indian jazz band cover a few jazz classics and soaked up the atmosphere.
Im sure it must be one of the only jazz clubs in Mumbai, a great night and a great find. So the bollywood movie We were tarted up by make up artists the girls were made to look like soho corner girls, apparently i looked good enough already, they didnt even change my clothes The film was supposed to be set in London, and is predicted to be the second biggest grossing Bollywood film of next year.
Being native blonde londoners the girls managed to get slightly larger roles in some more intimate scenes- im pleased for them but i coudl definately live without it lol! Being filmed was a really bizarre experience- i got chatting to the lead guy, who was a londoner who i recognise but couldnt quite place. The indian lead woman on the other hand was a right diva and was being openly mocked by the other westerners in between takes. Meek Mill - House Party Jamie Foxx Ft.
Rick Ross - Living Better Now Mac Miller - Donald Trump DJ Khaled - Theraflu Kevin Cossom Ft. Pusha T - Feeling Myself Nas - Daughters Mary J. Blige Ft. Nicki Minaj Ft. Beenie Man - Gun Shot Meek Mill - Ham Music Trey Songz - Oh Yeah Big Sean Ft. Wale - Life Should Go On Busta Rhymes Ft. Chris Brown N. E - Lehhhgoo Reek Da Villain - King Tut Chris Brown - Convertible Tyga Ft.
Nicki Minaj - Muthafucka Up Cole - Work Out Nas - The Don Not to mention the track is great as well. Before, there were tons of rips, loops, and low quality versions of this song floating on the internet.
Remember Shwayze? Anyways, Cisco teams up with G. Illy is an Australian hip hop artist from Melbourne, Victoria. He was originally a member of Crooked Eye and has since gone solo, releasing several albums afterwards. A-Trak teamed up with Dillon Francis on this collocation that incorporates styles of hip-hop with the new sounds of dubstep. Lately, Childish Gambino is clearly reaching out to the rap world through twitter announcing his differences that are built off many of the same roots as everyone else.
Asher Roth has been in and out of the scene like Lindsay Lohan in court. Old track. Figured, The Class could rekindle the jam. This is probably one of the best AER tracks to date. Michael Kiwanuka could as well be the next Jack Johnson. This artist caused a considerable amount of discussion at SXSW. Did you know Matisyahu shaved his beard? Anyways, he just released his new single in preparation for his upcoming album Spark Seeker. When I say Rizzle, you say Kicks!
These guys, let me tell ya, are those stereotypical kids that were born for success. This song just makes me wanna smile and dance around. The Knocks really killed it on this one. You gotta give this track a chance. Just a little Alesso remix for you this evening.
Great production; quality track. Having played only a handful of shows in their headquarters of Los Angeles, Electric Guest has already generated sufficient word of mouth and buzz in recent months.
A whose definitely turning some heads. Since the guys hit 30, likes on Facebook, they dropped this track with Guy Harrison. This is what happens when a man purchases an old Conn electric organ on a quest for musical love, which utlmately develops into instant inspiration.
In , Michael Fitzpatrick did just that. Youth Lagoon came to attention of The Class a little while ago. This guy, Trevor Powers, is a diamond in the rough. More to come from these guys. Happy Birthday to Brenton Duvall! Download unavailable at this point. Well, to say the least this is some interesting stuff. Perfect tunes, just in time for the summer pun intended.
Summer Heart is composed of David Alexander making this a one man show.
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