As we were checking out of the hotel in Pune, the staff presented Jan with a yellow rose, at which point she got all flustered and embarrassed and wanted to know why. I suspect it was because she always made an effort to talk to them and was genuinely interested in what they had to say.

We said our goodbyes and White Christmas played through the lobby (a surreal feature of the hotel was their choice in piped music) and off we went to Pune station to catch our midnight train to Goa.

This time we found our platform immediately but we didn't know where our carriage was and in India, trains are LONG. We took a gamble and walked left.

It feels awful to say but we realised we were walking the wrong way along the playform because of the intensification of the smell. The cloying acrid stench of human waste hits you like a physical blow. You don't want to breathe through your nose and even less you want to breathe through your mouth.

All along the platform people were sitting or had laid down. Some were sound asleep, maybe waiting for their train to pull in or maybe, that's just where they were able to find shelter for the night.

We did an about turn and before too long we had found our carriage.

We boarded the train and again it looked like we had a four berth to the two of us, result. We settled down for our eight and a bit hour journey south to the hills of Goa. We spread ourselves out and took the two bottom bunks and tried to get some sleep. No sooner had we switched off the light when a lad of about 20 came bowling through the partition curtain and switched on the light. Janet immediately went into battle mode. She was on her feet and was ready for a fight. I stayed where I was, laying down on the bunk. The young chap was insisting that the bunk above Janet's was his and he wanted to get some sleep. We told him to go and recheck his ticket and he left. Janet dusted off her hands and laid back down. Moments later the lad returned with his dad. I felt it was time to get back out of bed and give Janet a hand. They showed us his ticket. Much if it was in Hindi, so I asked them to call the conductor. After a bit of (at times heated) messing about, it transpired that the seat should have been his, but the conductor found him somewhere else to sit. We apologised to the two men for the misunderstanding and they very graciously accepted it with smiles all round.

We settled back down again and the rest of the journey passed with no other incident and some rather erratic sleep.

It was about an hour to our destination, Belgaum, which is located in North Goa, about 120 km from Panaji. As the sun rose, the difference in the scenery became apparent. Gone were the rubbish strewn rail tracks and blue tarpaulined shacks and in their place was miles and miles of arable land, green and productive for the benefit of millions of people. The main crop was corn but we saw cabbages and potatos and on one farm an entire field of sunflowers. The farmland went on for as far as we could see, and was broken up by only an occasional river or orange surfaced road.

The density of the population was also notably different. Where there was city there was now isolated farming communities of maybe 3 or 4 houses. The city's hordes became groups of two and three fruit pickers or solitary herdsmen moving his cows or goats to wherever it was the were going.

We were met at Belgaum station by a driver from the hotel and an hour and a half of driving through lush vegetation clad hills brought us to the Wildernest Eco-hotel.

This was the place that we were looking forward to most. It was the last hotel that was booked from Blighty and promised to be a romantic getaway in the beautiful Ghats of Goa. We were shown around the 'resort' which consisted of the 18 detached rooms, the 'infinity pool', a restaurant and a temple dedicated to Shiva. The rest was thick forest which teemed with wildlife. The vegetation was so green and looked just incredible after the morning rains . From the thick vegetation came a cacophony of noises made by god knows what insects, birds and animals. Each whoop, buzz and chirp worked in a strange and beautiful harmony.

We were shown to our room and as we entered, the first thing we saw was the view from the rear veranda. This was a room with a view, and the view did not disappoint us. To the left, the valley stretched as far as the eye could see, and to the right, there they were three, picture perfect waterfalls. The ambiance was exactly what we were hoping for from a 2400ft view. The room had no Tv, no radio and no Internet. Bliss.

Much of the room was open sided, the only barrier from the elements was mesh to help keep the insects out. When the weather came in we were literally living in the clouds.

Eager to explore our surroundings, we went for a short walk around the resort. Almost immediately, literally a few meters from our room, we saw a troupe of monkeys (we later discovered they were langurs) they were very shy and we only had a brief glimpse of them.

Everywhere we looked there was something amazing to be seen, tiny bright yellow birds darting in and out of the bushes or butterflies the size of your hand lazily fluttered past our heads. There were eagles, lizards, frogs and insects of every shape and size (fortunately Janet had listened to her phobia hypnosis cd, thanks Rach). We sat for a while at a viewing platform just taking in the view of the waterfalls and listening to the sounds of the wild, it was idyllic.

Back in the room, we thought that this would be the perfect place to use our mosquito net. We took it out and hung it from the ceiling fan but it was so high that the net just hung there like an anorexic ghost.

Plan B, we would use our sleeping bag liners. That night we did a reverse metamorphosis, from two beautiful butterflies we turned ourselves into blue silk cocoons.

After a good night's sleep we went for breakfast, it was pretty basic, some fresh rolls or omelette or both but everything was delicious.

As we were finishing up, we were beckoned by Vitel (one of the guides) to come and look at something and there, on one of the chairs was an Atlas moth. They are the world's largest species of moth and it was huge. Apparently they only live for 7 days and this one was showing signs of being on it's last legs but none the less what an amazing creature.

After breakfast it was time for us to go on a walk to the waterfall, Vitel led the way and no sooner had we began, the heavens opened. This was proper monsoon rain, such was the ferocity it hurt when the raindrops landed on our heads. We had already walked some of this forest path the previous day and assumed it would mainly stay as a relaxed amble down. Quickly Vitel pointed out a wild bison hoof-print, then told us about the fruit of a tree that when mashed, the local fisherman use it to stun the fish. We were engrossed.

We had gone out looking like avid trekkers, weather proof jackets and trousers and sturdy walking boots the rest of the group were mostly in t-shirts, shorts and sandals and we felt a little bit silly. That was soon to change when Vitel pointed out the leeches. LEECHES! (not so stupid now, huh? Oh, they laughed at us at first, but we were to remain leech free on this walk, unlike the rest of the group). The rain continued and the path became a stream, we walked on apprehensively. We had irregular stops, just enough time for a gulp of water or a quick photo.

The path turned from orange clay, to large stones, their flat smooth surfaces were slippery underfoot. The route became more and more difficult, people started to need a hand to reach the next foothold. The sound of the waterfall had become a loud roar, we were close. The stones were now jagged rocks, either slick with water or covered in leech ridden moss. We could no longer appreciate the scenery, our eyes were always looking downward, searching for a safe place to put a foot or hand. Then the biggest challenge so far, a gap in the rocks. We were on a ledge maybe a foot wide. To our left, the river raged with the additional rains that had fallen overnight, to our right was a wall of rock. This wasn't the walk we'd signed up for. Janet, with only a little help got across like Lara Croft. I got across too.

Another patch of jagged rocks and then another gap in the rocks! This time there was no traversing, this time we were going in the river. We were at the back of the group, Vitel had skipped through the torrent and was on the other side of the gap, another chap (didn't get his name) was knee deep in the water giving everyone a shove toward Vitel. Janet was concerned that Vitel would be pulled in to the river if he tried to help her, he was a very slight framed guy and the look on his face suggested he knew it wasn't looking good for him. Nonetheless, Janet made fairly light work of the crossing, and with Vitel pulling and me pushing she was back on dry land in seconds. Somehow I ended up up to my waist in the river, aside from that I too was out and we were all on our way again. We were desperately hoping for a lovely dry 4x4 waiting for us at the waterfall to take us all back to the resort. Another 10 minutes of clambering and we were there. Set in an enormous forest strewn alcove in the rocks,the waterfall loomed above us in all its magnificence and the rush of falling water was deafening. What a stunning place, I truly think I don't have the vocabulary to do it justice. The rain mixed with the spray from the falls, making it difficult to get a picture. We took two, one very hastily with our camera and one which may just prove to be the last ever to be taken with Janet's iPhone.

And so after a few minutes to take it all in, we started the trudge back. Typically, the rain eased off, and aside from the two traverses, which actually seemed a lot less daunting, the trek back was almost pleasant. Janet led the group back along the trail and we were maybe 15 minutes from home when she froze and stuttered and pointed and flushed and her eyes welled up. It had to be a spider, she'd done so well with all the

Insects up to this point so it had to be big. She shoved me in front of her and she whispered "crab". Yep, halfway up a mountain, in the dense forest there was a huge crab. It was about the size of a dinner plate and it wasn't scared of us. The others squeezed past and looked on in bewilderment as Janet did a 'I need a wee' dance and I tried to coax her past the crab.

She has conquered so many of her fears at this place, it's been an amazing thing to see, I'm so proud of her but more importantly she's proud of herself. We scooted past the crab and got back to base.

As a group we slumped at the bar for an ice cold drink. I'm not sure anyone was expecting the day to have been so difficult, but seeing the waterfall up close will be one of those memories that will last forever and perhaps those kinds of memories should not be so easy to come by. The rest of our time in the hills was far more chilled, walks along the forest paths, trying to spot the monkeys. And simply looking out across the vista watching the very peaceful and beautiful world go by.

On our last night at the Wildernest, we had just returned to our room after dinner, Janet let out shriek that made me jump out of my skin. "there's something on my foot" she was screaming, I grabbed her foot but couldn't see anything. "my toe, my toe, there's something slimy" she was going to pieces. And there it was...a fat leech, gorged with blood was attached to her toe. I flicked it off and flushed it down the loo. Janet was immediately calm (far calmer than I was) and directed me to the antiseptic cream , antibacterial wipes and plasters. All cleaned up, like the film Starship Troopers, we spent our last evening on edge and surveying the room for bugs.

Despite the previous night's trauma, we slept soundly and as we were packing up to leave, directly outside our room we saw a big troupe of Langur monkeys. They were just chilling, eating some flowers and having a bit of a play. We watched them for about 15 minutes and managed to get a few good photos. Seeing these charismatic animals doing what they do so naturally, was just awesome Were we watching them or where they watching us?

It seems we've not mentioned food very much in the blogs so far so here goes.

Before we came to India we decided to go veggie and and I'm so pleased we did. We would have missed out on two of the most delicious things we've ever eaten, namely chilli paneer and vegetable dumplings. India is a vegetarian's heaven. Everything we've had has been sooo tasty. The dishes have an abundance of flavours, but surprisingly nothing really hot. The main ingredients have been curry leaves, cloves, cardamom, garlic, nutmeg, star anise and ginger and have contained potatoes, green beans, cauliflower, baby aubergines, cabbage, spinach, ochra and peas.

We have also had a huge variety of pulses, chickpeas, yellow and black lentils are just the ones we recognise. Portion sizes are big and we have struggled to finish our meals, the thought of wasting food in a country of starving millions paradoxically ensures we eat more than we perhaps want to.

The desserts are sweet. Super sweet. The ones we have tried have largely been milk based and are like a liquid version of things we know from home for example a rice pudding that is 90% milk and 10% rice and something similar with pasta ( it's all ok mum and Helks, we've had lochen pudding).

So, it's time to move on again, we're heading to costal Goa, Calangute. It's very touristy in high season, but in the monsoon it's supposed to be a pretty sleepy and great place to explore.