Leaving the elephants of Parambikulam behind we headed ever further south, first to the ancient port town of Fort Cochin and then onto Cape Comorin, the southernmost tip of mainland India. Much of our first day in Cochin was spent in search of Ratna, my father’s old housekeeper from his time in Cochin about 15 years ago. We discovered that the island she lives on has changed a lot since a bridge was built connecting it with the mainland and her old house demol...

After a night train journey south from Hampi we arrived in Mysore where we found a nice hotel located in the centre of town, the elderly room attendant literally jumped up and down with glee when we gave him a Rs. 10 (13 pence) tip for carrying our bags. We were very impressed with the brand new city bus station and its gleaming Volvo buses, one of which we took up to the top of nearby Chamundi hill to visit the temples and a massive 5m high Nandi bull. The food ...

We came across our first eunuch of the trip on the train from Palolem to Gorkana, a very brightly coloured and overly made up "lady" parading down the train stopping at each booth clapping her hands and making a grab for the cheeks of her male victims demanding money, there were a couple of chaps who took exception to the unwanted attention so some shouting and further cheek grabbing ensued to the entertainment of the rest of the carriage, luckily for...

We left a freezing and snow bound England on 21st December to arrive in a sweltering Mumbai India just 8 hours later. The plan was to head straight down to Goa, pausing in Mumbai till the evening, when our sleeper train would leave. Having eaten a top class veg thali lunch for the princely sum of Rs. 40 (50p) each we spent the next few hours exhausted from our travels sleeping on the station floor with the thousands of others who pass through every day. After a ...

We spent a few days driving from Portugal up to Bilbao, stopping en-route in the Cathedral city of Leon where more tyre trouble with the van forced us to stay an extra day while we got it sorted out. Finally leaving the sun behind once and for all we arrived at the port of Bilbao in wet and windy conditions to await our return ferry to Portsmouth. After an overnight stop overlooking the harbour we discovered the departure would be delayed by around 10 hours an...