Udaipur, India 6-8 June

We finally arrive in Udaipur after 18 hours of train and local bus rides. Udaipur is known as India’s most romantic city, it surrounds a lake and has glorious boat trips to the majestic islands…the lake must have heard Jayden (the romantic!) was coming because the lake was stone cold dry (Lake Wendouree would have looked chock-a-block in comparison!) We were fortunate that we saved money on the boat rides as we were able to walk to the magical sights in a matter of minutes! The highlights were the city palace (which is still used by the current king), Ranakpur a massive Jain Temple which is held up by 1444 unique marble pillars and Kumbalgarh, a fort that has 36km stone walls which was elegantly built in the 15th Century.

Mumbai, India 3-5 June

Hectic is definitely the word to describe Mumbai- the central train station at peak hour was like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Apparently they fit 7000 people to every 1800 seater train… and I’d definitely believe that. It was also a place of massive contradictions, the filthy rich -with helipads on top of their apartments; and the poorest of the poor- children and babies sleeping on the street naked in pools of urine.
The begging was constant as was the rip-off scams and dispersed in the middle would be the kindest of strangers who would go out of their way to help…. It kept us on our feet guessing who was who! Amongst all this we did see some sights and the Ghandi museum and Elephant island were real standouts. As always, we booked the last minute transport which happened to be the lowest class sleeper train…no A/C, no windows, no doors just one big carriage packed with bunks and people finding a cosy spots on the floor with yesterdays newspaper to sleep on!!

Goa, India 29-2 June

Goa was nothing like what we’d imagined our trip in India to be… tropical palm trees, white beaches and sun beds for those who were game to withstand the staring from locals and walk-by sneaky photographers on their mobile phones! Being the offseason it was a lot like a ghost town, however this made it easier to see the surrounding towns and beaches by motorbike. The food was divine and we ate and drank our hearts content as well as meeting some local expats who showed us the hideaway beach bar shacks. We went from the best accommodation we have experienced to the worst transport imaginable. We had a double bed sleeper (which was half a single bed) one person had sleeping duties for an hr while the other person hung off the side of the top pole to save each other from falling out. This bus was also the most expensive transport of our trip thus far!

Hampi, India 27-29 May

Hampi was a late addition to the trip after being recommended by Ravi and Nandita. It was a bit daunting to let go of their hands and face the big, bold India all on our lonesome… especially being greeted by ten people as we got off our “sleeper” bus all wanting us to stay at their guesthouses!! The sight were amazing- old ruins from the 13th century when it was a Hindu capital. The ruins were everywhere… we asked which way to walk and the answer was any direction! The backdrop is these huge boulders that looked as if someone has stacked them precariously on one another… like a giant jenga game. We witnessed a devastating motorcycle crash on our local bus on the way to Hampi when we were the first on the scene. The 2 year old daughter had died and the father was in a critical condition as was the young son. The mother was in shock and it was difficult to stand back and observe their different ways of managing injuries.

Bangalore, India 21-27 May

What a way to arrive in a country… a driver awaiting you with a sign with your name on it, waiting to chauffeur you to a welcoming second-family! Ravi and Nandita are family friends of Jayden’s grandparents. They have a beautiful 8 year old son called Naren (who we later nick named muscles!) and the family of 3 shares a gorgeous 3 bedroom apartment right in the heart of Bangalore. The first day we had the pleasure of going to their club where Muscles swims 3 days a week. The club is very prestigious and holds a great load of tradition, unfortunately Jayden did not have one piece of clothing fit the requirements of entering the building!! It is an old Colonial club set up by the English many years ago…all the English clubs had swimming pools and tennis courts.

Ravi was extremely kind to take a few days off work and drive us, Nandi and Muscles, 6 hours south-west to their coffee plantation in Chikmagular, called Moolemane. We learnt more in 3 days from Ravi and Nandita then we would of in a month. They were such knowledgeable tour guides. We walked for 5 hours around the top half of their property/plantation/forest the first day, getting to know how the coffee is planted, grown and picked. We also saw a vast array of fruits and spices that grow pretty much all year round. We saw and ate fresh pineapple, jackfruit, banana, guava, mulberries, mandarins, coconut and used fresh chillis, cloves, cinnamon, lemongrass and coriander. I don’t know how we managed to fit this in our bellies when each meal was a delicious traditional south Indian five-course feast. We were constantly entertained with outdoor activities. Jay’s highlight was that his first-ever-cast in India caught a Blue Fin Mahseer fish! His lowlight was nearly treading on a snake at the end of the day after walking through shrubbery for hours and then finding another snake hiding under the front doormat! It was then time to head back to Bangalore!

It has been such an amazing week, we have been spoilt rotten and experienced a different side to India. We are extremely grateful and are currently trying to devise a plan to repay our very hefty debt as we have not been allowed to buy a single thing or lift a single finger (unless eating!). Thanks Ravi, Nandita and Naren for a very special time.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 20-21 May

We thought we’d better see some of the things we’d missed first time around and were glad we did… Petronas Towers were far more impressive than we expected. KLCC and the massive shopping mall had Katie drooling over buying some new clothes and gave Jay a chance to catch up with his old mate Noddy! There was a massive monsoonal storm- we are beginning to associate KL and crazy weather. Huge sheet lightening lit up the sky and there were deafening cracks of thunder putting the power out in our district for hours. Goodbye South East Asia… look out India here we come!

Krabi, Thailand 17-19 May

Krabi was a last minute destination out of convenience rather than any real knowledge of the place. We stayed at the main beach hoping to have two last days of beach bumming before commuting to Malaysia but instead it rained continuously. This was still nice though as there was very little to do except relax. We dosed up to the max for our last hit of green curries, averaging two each a day, at these awesome street carts with prices that you would laugh at!! We are contemplating writing a green curry guidebook for south east asia- look out lonely planet!