The Sri Meenakshi Temple Now pay attention, this is complicated. There are three main gods amoung the millions. They are as follows - Bramah, the creator of the universe, Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer of evil. The Sri Meenakshi temple in Madurai boasts the biggest and oldest temple in South India, it is dedicated to Parvati who is Shiva's wife and legend has it that Shiva and Parvati were married in Madurai. The temple houses a shrine to Parva...

Fort Kochi Having endured the worst check-in queuing system ever devised by man we had to hurry to the gate to catch our early morning flight to Kochi in South India. It felt good to by leaving the mayhem of North India behind. We had seen fabulous things, met lovely people, enjoyed wonderful food and hospitality but we were happy to leave the constant noise, pollution and chaos behind. South India is very different. The sea breeze in Kochi keeps the air fresh,...

Varanasi The city of Lord Vishnu, the holy Ganges changed its course to bless its walls with its waters. The holiest city in India, Varanasi is mobbed with religious tourists intent on fulfilling their religious duty to bath in its waters. Holy dipping, as Jai refers to it, absolves the Hindu of all of his/her sins. It is also the most auspicious place to die and be cremated. Cremation followed by having the ashes disposed off in the holy river exempts the depar...

On that midnight train to Varanasi. We had spotted this on the itinerary months ago. Our previous experience of overnight train journeys in Asia had been OK but not the best nights of out lives. This time we were to be stacked three high in an open, mixed carriage for 60 with no privacy, food or water. Curtains have recently been removed from trains as a potential fire hazard. In a culture where people stare at you directly, continuously and without blinking thi...

Allipura Another village, another palace to sleep in. We arrived late and had sunset drinks on the roof accompanied by much waving and shouting back and forth with the village children. This time the owner is the local MP whose family have dispensed fair play and justice in the area for centuries. The Allipura Palace is a throw back to the early days of the Raj. The walls are covered with pictures of long gone family members wearing turbans, long coats, swords a...