The Kerala Backwaters are an amazing aqua-landscape of forty four rivers and interconnecting canals and inlets that drain into the Arabian Sea. The resulting labyrinth of water channels and rice paddies provides 900 km (558 miles!) of navigable waterway that connects the towns and villages scattered about coastal Kerala state. The locals still use them today as they did centuries ago. There is no place else quite like this on the planet and it's been awarded a '5...

Mysore. Who names their city this? And it's pronounced exactly how it looks. My Sore...or my sore [insert body part]. I tried saying it like Mee-sore but the locals were quick to correct me. So my sore it is. The highlight here is the stunning Mysore Palace, where unfortunately, no photography is permitted inside. This is also a major tourist destination for those that practice yoga. I like the photos from this place but I found the city itself rather dull... k...

After two months in Nepal's mountain country, Goa is all about relaxing at the beach. Palolem Beach was my favorite. Not only was it perfect to look at, I loved the simplicity of all the beach huts. If only everything in life could be this simple. I really enjoyed just walking around and taking pictures of them. Palolem does have its downside. There's one annoying restriction here for which a local entrepreneur has found an innovative solution. At 10:00 PM each...

My return to India brings me to Bombay, now known to the world as Mumbai. Before coming here, I had a chance to watch the movie Slumdog Millionaire again. Many of the film's scenes and even some of the child actors came from the famous shantytown here called Dharavi. Dharavi is one of the largest slums in Asia with about 1,000,000 people calling it home. There are some local tour operators that offer ethical tours through the community and use the tourism profi...

Varanasi is the dirtiest, filthiest city I've ever been to. It’s also one of the most fascinating. Trash in the streets is as common as a blade of grass in Central Park and the labyrinth like streets are land mined with more cow **** per square meter than a dairy farm. The maze-like layout is not only confusing and fun to explore but ridiculously congested. Bicycles, motor bikes, delivery carts, and hordes of people compete for commuting space in alleys jus...