Next day it was off to the National Park.We had a choice of a quick little bus or the regular bus.Choose the little bus and found out why they are little - it took a route down the mountain that involved going round a set of hairpin bends that no normal bus could negotiate.There were 36 bends in all, we were glad to be down. As we arrived in the national park we saw our first wild elephant - standing by the side of the road. We had booked a lodge which was run ...

After we arrived on the train, we went to our hotel.The Autorickshaw driver would not take us, as his little machine could not get up the hill so we ended up in a taxi - copy of a 1960s Morris Oxford.We found out why it could not get there as we went up and up.The hotel was on a hill outside Ooty with lovely views over the surrounding hills.It was like being in the Alps. We found out later it was similar to the Alps as come 5:00 pm the temperature started to fal...

We had1 3 hour flight down south to Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu (this included a stop of in Bangalore).We got to the city on time - it seems hotter down here as it was starting to get a bit chilly at night in Rajasthan. Overnight in Coimbatore then up a 4:45 am to catch the train up the mountain.We had the broad gauge for a bout an hour, then changed to a narrow gauge toy train.This was driven by a steam train. We had confusion about tickets - we had a first cla...

We left Pushkar l at about 6:00 only to find the road to Ajmer (for the train station) was closed so we had a long detour to get there.The driver ended up going down some dodgy country lanes (unlit of course) so I was glad when we arrived. We stopped for dinner - to have meat for the first time in 5 days and the hottest curry we have had in India so far.Even Fran couldn't eat some of it and she likes them hot. We had a wait at the station as the train was la...

Arrived in Pushkar after an easy Journey from Jaipur - train and then ancient taxi through the hills to Pushkar. Pushkar is a holy place for Hindus - they all come to bathe in the lake.Once a year half of Rajistan descends on it for the camel fair which is a week long fair that seems a cross between a country fair, a horse racing meet and Glastonbury.The event also coincides with a holy festival when it is especially good to bathe in the lake.It started the day ...