We left Varkala and traveled by train in sleeper class, or poor mans class, two hours North to Alleppey. Alleppey is nicknamed the Venice of India by the Lonely Planet author due to its canals, but thats where the similarity ends. The LP author had clearly not really visited Alleppey or was (probably) drunk. But we had come here to organise a private 24 hour boat trip out into the surrounding wetlands and the canal routes. We finally found the real tourist inform...

One of differences in India to SE Asia has been the amount of conversation with local people. In SE Asia the majority of locals who spoke to us, would inevitably lead to them wanting to sell us something. It was rare to just talk with someone who only wants to discover why we visited their country, and what we thought. But, in India, the Indians are very curious about us, our experience has been if you stand still for any period of time we will be approached for ...

Leaving Pondy we decide to catch an overnight bus up to the Western Ghats, the mountainous region in the centre of India. Our destination was the hill station, Kodaikanal. Hill stations were the famous escape locations for the British, with their heavy rain and cold temperatures any home sick Brit could feel right-at-home, so many migrated up and built little pieces of England, stone churches and cottages and common sights. The most famous hill station in India i...

"Listen to the silence inside your head. Smile at the sun" said our Yoga teacher in a serene and calm voice to his class. "You're not smiling" he quickly snapped at someone. There weren't too many smiles in the room as we all tried bending our foot behind our heads. The teacher had gone for the full Jesus look, a proper Indian hippy, long beard and flowing dark hair, dressed in a white flowing gown, he showed the class the moves step by step. "Become aware of the...

We are now in a place called Mamallapuram and using the easy going tourist town as a means to acclimatise to the crazy place called India. Its really true that people say you will either love or hate India. There are more than 1.1 billion people running around India doing their thing and its this wildness and energy you either love and embrace, or you freak out and hate. We love it. It's a backpacker's enclave here and the first thing we did on arrival is st...