Our Train from Puttaparthi left about 20:00 so we had arranged sleeping accommodation on the train for the 20 hr trip North to Jalgaon. The trip went smoothly and we arrived in Jalgaon refreshed. The Hotel Plaza where we stayed was within walking distance of the station so no haggling with dreaded rickshaw drivers was required. The Hotel was everything we had heard, the staff very friendly and helpful, the rooms immaculate and best of all very cheap! We h...

Our flying visit to Puttaparthi (home town of Sai Baba, the guru with the magnificent afro) was an amazing experience - one that we'll never forget! Lisa, (my sister's friend - and now ours too) who joined us for a couple of weeks earlier in our trip thorough India, is living in Puttaparthi with her Aunty Joan and they invited us to come and stay with them for a couple of days. We happily accepted, eager to see the inside workings of an ashram (sort of a religi...

Due to solidly booked out buses, and in a desperate attempt to get to Puttaparthy but also avoid another dreaded sleeper-bus, we set out (against the recommendation of every travel agent in town) on an epic 2-day journey, via Madurai and Bangalore. An early start and we were down to the border between Kerala and Tamil Nadu to catch one of the 50-year-old state buses on the 5-hour journey to Madurai. The 'road' was under construction - this was the first tim...

Finally, four days later than planned, we managed to drag ourselves away from lovely Varkala and headed off to visit the most popular nature reserve in India - Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. Our friend Mark, who we seem to have been following since we came to Kerala, was also wanting to see a tiger and so the three of us set off together on the full day's journey up into the hills. We stopped for brunch in Kottayam, where we changed from the train to the bus a...

Fully rested and recharged after our wonderful backwater cruise, we heaved our trusty backpacks back on and headed south for the little beach town of Varkara. Three buses later and after paying yet another autorickshaw driver twice what he quoted (although only half what he demanded..."that price was for the bottom of the hill, much more to the top of the hill!") we settled into our gorgeous little bamboo hut on the clifftop and proceeded to do what it seems...