If Jaipur was the stinking hub of male baseity and vice, Pushkar was the prelapsarian garden of Eden, Hindu style. Our hotel was the most serene place I have ever been. And everything there had been organised to create such an effect. From the array of brightly coloured flowers that grew next to or on the simple but ornate archways,to the tightly cut grass inhabited by a few haphazardly situated benches, to the airy open plan of the hotel's internal structure. I...

It may have been 35 degrees but we felt no warmth in Jaipur. For throughout the duration of our short, unenjoyable stay there, we were stared at and drooled over by the large groups of men who blighted our path at every turn. The stares were not as they had been in Mumbai. There, each look harboured a meaning different from the next and most, though intimidating to the uniniated, were, on reflection, meant harmlessly enough. In Jaipur however it felt as if ever...

From Goa it was a turbulent plane journey to Delhi and then straight on to Agra, courtesy of our personal driver who would be taking us through the whole of Rajasthan. Backpacking at its finest. After a slight delay due to a problem with our hotel's room service (Godd) we were on our way to what is commonly considered the jewel in India's resplendent crown: The Taj Mahal. Before we arrived, one of Dilip's many surprises was revealed to us in the form of a tour g...

Every country has its a******s. It was in Goa that we found one of India's. During the course of our journey from the airport to our hostel, we were subjected to the loathsome presence of a young, obnoxious taxi driver who, not knowing where to go, accused us of providing him with the wrong hostel phone number, the wrong hostel name and blamed us for not having GPS for him to follow. When we finally arrived at the hostel, which did indeed bare the name first give...

On the fourth day we went to India's largest slum, Deravi. The decision to take the trip came after a frank discussion about the ethics involved. We wondered whether we would be assuming the role of colonialists, taking a glimpse into the lives of the underprivileged, exposing them to a judging foreign eye, simply for our own gratification. However, after speaking with Dilip, a man who had lived in the slum for years, we were convinced that it was looked upon pos...