The Beach Files

The beach is such a great healer, I can't belive we've been doing nearly nothing except lapping up the sun, playing in the surf and stuffing our faces with all sorts of westernised food (including curries of course!).

Accommodation is pretty basic, namely bamboo huts with dried palm tree leaves for walls and roof..... perfect for those balmy nights if you can avoid the mosquitoes! Eating on the beach at night with seas of blinking lights left and right makes a lovely change from some of the grubby places we've dined in before.

A version of 'easy rider' starring Mark and Inger on a 50cc scooter was shot on the shores of Goa (don't tell mum!). It's by far the best way to get around the tiny state as the roads are pretty quiet.

Gokarna has been heavenly as we haven't moved in a whole week except to walk the 50 steps to the beach and restaruants. It's very relaxed here and people seem to stay months rather than days or weeks. It's back on the road tomorrow though with a mix of excitement for more and sadness to be drawn away from the general lazyness of beach life.

Backpacker Central

After a few long, hot, dusty, packed bus rides we rattled into the backpacker mecca of Badami. The main draw to the area is the ancient 16th century city that was once one of the largest Hindu empires in the country. Many of the remains of temples, palaces and bazaars still remain and are being restored (though i'm not sure how sympathetically). Despite the wealth of history that surrounds the area, it's amazing easy just to sit around in cafes and watch the river slowly glide by.

The town centre has been built up from nothing and now has around 50 guest houses in a tiny area, giving it a real chilled out feel that makes a brilliant respite from the normal hustle and bustle of Indian city life.

After nearly 2 months of non-stop travel we are getting a bit tired of being constantly on the move and have seen so many temples, forts and ruins that they have begun to lose their appeal. It's definitely time to head for Goa's beach packed coast for a bit holiday from travelling, ah..... it's a hard life eh?

The Ancient Caves Of India

It seems like it's been a while since I posted up a new update, so this will have to cover a few different places in one.

Dragging ourselves away from the idillic countryside scenery of Mandu we headed off to the ancient buddhist caves of Ajanta and Ellora. These are truely one of the great wonders of India, and indeed the world. Around 30 caves have been carved out of sheer rock faces on both sites, which date from 200 BC to around 1400 AD. The sheer feat of removing that amount of granite (some of the caves are more than 30 x 30m in size) is phenominal, when you add the intricacy of the carving and the tools available at the time the caves are definitely a wonder of the world.

Moving on down through the middle of the country at a rapid place with a quick stopover in Badami to see yet more cave architecture, not to mention the thousands of indian tourists that seem to get everywhere on a Sunday. We literally couldent wait to get out of the place becuase of constant hassle of Indians wanting to take our photo and get our complete family history. Lesson learned..... don't go to any touristy places on Sundays.

The 10,000 Steps

With christmas safely behind us and a brand new year ahead of us we're feeling optimistic about the year ahead and are definitely aclimatised to India and its bizarre ways, such as the Indian head wobble, the constant staring and the mental driving (more on this to come).

Heading north to another pilgramage site on top of yet another mountain (I guess it's closer to God), we undertook the mammouth task of plodding up 10,000 steps along with thousands of other pilgrims. The walk up at dawn was definitely awe inspiring and the views were out of this world, but you don't realise how unfit you are until you are collapsing with heat exhaustion every 10 minutes. I can still feel my muscles burning and i'm writing this about a week later.

A two day bus journey then took us to the idillic countryside village of Mandu. With it's ancient temples, forts and palaces, mixed together with tiny rural villages it made the perfect place to potter around for a few days. Like most of the rural areas we could have lingered at least a week, but India's just too big.

Beachside New Year

Alas, we've finally made it to the beach! Never has there been a more welcome sight than a long strip of sand and ocean where we can rest and swim away the grime and dirt accumulated from the general Indian atmosphere.

The Indian people also celebrate new year (though they call it something different) and the small island of Diu has been totally packed out with Indian tourists, mainly due to the ready availability and cheapness of the beer and other alcohol. Every bar and hotel have been full and the Indians know how to drink, chasing most beers with half pint glasses of dodgy rum or whiskey.

New year was a total blast and we are sufficiently rested to continue on down the coast.