India

India! Four years after our unexpected exit from the country due to COVID restrictions, we were finally back! On entering India we saw an immediate change in culture from Pakistan - streets full of colourful clothing, vibrant and laughing crowds, and many women and girls (notably lacking in many Muslim countries). We were warmly welcomed to free food and conversation with a local Sikh charitable group performing seva (selfless service). That evening we drank a bar totally dry (of their only two remaining bottles of Budweiser beer), our first drink since the whisky incident in Oman. The following morning we visited the incredible Golden Temple, which welcomes over 100,000 guests each day. It offers free food to tens of thousands, as well as free accommodation to those in need. Entering the temple is only allowed bare footed, so we braved the chilly marble flooring for a tour of the temple complex and our tasty free lunch. Visiting the temple is said to be of good luck to newlyweds, so it’s good to know our marriage is now secure! Around the corner from the Golden Temple, is the location of the infamous Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919 (now a museum), at which the British Indian army massacred hundreds of civilians. This experience was the first on our journey to learning more about the British rule of India, historical events, and the many atrocities committed, which we continued to learn much about during our journey through India (we highly recommend the podcast 'Empire' by Anita Anand and William Dalrymple). We continued this journey of learning the next day by visiting the Partition Museum, which documented the partition of Pakistan and Bangladesh from India in 1947. 

After Amritsar we visited Chandigarh, a neatly designed city with a cosmopolitan feel and microbreweries. We stopped here for a few days so that Sam could prepare for and attend an online interview to become a Chartered engineer, for which he had submitted his application before the trip. Good news - Sam was successful and is now Chartered! Whilst Sam was being interviewed, Jem explored a local Sikh temple where she was shown around by a sweet girl and offered free tea. The Sikh religion is incredibly welcoming - in the few days we were in Punjab we were offered so many free meals and cups of chai! 

After an 8 hour bus journey along some very windy and scarily steep roads, we arrived in Manali, in the foothills of the Himalayas. We had booked 4 nights in a remote AirBnB in the mountains, which could only be reached by a 50 minute hike up a very steep mountainside. The hike up was definitely worth it, with the AirBnB nestled into the cliff face with views of the valley below. Our time there was pretty idyllic, with a cosy wood burning stove, amazing views out the windows and the feeling of being far away from the rest of the world. We spent our time relaxing, cooking, and going on some lovely walks around the area. We walked down into the closest town one morning, and went to a public hot spring bath, which was split into a men's and women's section and had people of all ages enjoying the steaming water. It was a public holiday, and the little town was buzzing with music and celebration. 

After a very uncomfortable 15 hour overnight bus journey with little sleep, we arrived in Rishikesh exhausted, and crashed out in our hotel for the morning. Rishikesh is known as the birthplace of yoga and has a quirky hippie vibe. We joined a hatha yoga class, and enjoyed doing some chants, meditation and surprisingly challenging yoga poses. The Beatles visited an ashram in Rishikesh in the 60s, and while there wrote many of the songs in their White album. We went to the ashram that the Beatles stayed at, which has sadly fallen into disrepair, but is a pretty area to explore as it is surrounded by nature and the crumbling buildings have been decorated with street art of Beatles inspired designs. Jem's cousin Marina, who tragically passed away a few months ago, had given us the Ashram as a honeymoon gift. It would have been her 30th birthday on the day we visited, so we did a small tribute to her while listening to some Beatles music and sharing memories. 

We awoke before dawn to catch a 5am train to Agra. We awaited departure in the cold and dark train station, until the train arrived 4 hours late. After further delays we arrived in Agra at 9pm that evening. We managed a short night's sleep before rising early the next day to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. Jem had a history of bad luck visiting the Taj Mahal, and went to Agra twice previously without getting to see it! We set off for the Taj before sunrise, full of hope that we would at last get to see it in all its glory. However, as the sun began to rise we realised it was ridiculously foggy, and we could barely see 2 metres in front of us! We walked around the foggy grounds for a while, peering up at columns and making out vague shapes. After a couple of hours, when it was obvious the fog wasn't going to clear, we admitted defeat and went back to our hotel for some breakfast. The next day we gave it another go, in late afternoon, and this time with success! The sun was shining and the Taj looked majestic; curving white marble with intricate designs of exquisite detail. It was built as a memorial/mausoleum for the wife of a Mughal emperor in 1631, and employed 20,000 artisans. Triumphant that we had at last managed to see the Taj, we set off to catch our overnight train to Rajasthan. 

We arrived in Jodhpur bright and early, and had breakfast at our hotel, a heritage property with amazing views out over the blue city and the fort towering above. We went to visit Mehrangarh fort first, which was a very impressive and well coordinated site, with an interesting audio guide sharing the history. It was the home to many Maharajas (kings), with the current one crowned in the 1950s aged only 4 years old. Next we went to visit Jaswant Thada, known as the Taj Mahal of Rajasthan due to also being a white marble mausoleum. Having learnt about the Maharajas, we decided to visit their more modern palace, which was built in the 1920-40s in an art deco style. The current Maharaja and his family still live there, but part of it has been converted into a fancy hotel and museum, complete with a classic car collection. Jodhpur is also famous for street food, so we had a great evening hopping between food vendors trying dishes including ‘royal’ samosas, spinach chaat, a uniquely flavoured lassi and an Afghan inspired biryani. 

We took a (surprisingly punctual) train from Jodhpur to Bikaner, where we stayed for one night in a beautiful historic heritage property owned by a lovely couple with a fascinating family history. We joined our hosts for drinks and dinner in their beautiful 1920s style dining room, with jazz music records playing. We learnt about their family heritage; her grandfather was a local Maharaja, and he had a career within the Indian cavalry presidential guard. We also took a local bus to see Shree Karni temple, also known as the Rat Temple due to the thousands of rats that live there! The locals believe that the rats are holy, and bring them offerings of milk and food. The next morning we visited Bikaner fort, another impressive and well organsied piece of history, before taking a 3 hour bus journey to the small town of Phalodi. We stayed in another beautiful hertitage hotel, apparently in the same bedroom that the Maharaja of Jodhpur stays in on his yearly visits to the area. We were really struck by the interesting history of Rajasthan, and how many people and places had connections to the local royalty. The main reason we came to Phalodi was to see a local bird migration site of Demoiselle Cranes, which we had found out about in David Attenborough's Our Planet II. We woke before sunrise to visit a nearby village, where the locals had noticed a decrease in their population and set up a feeding ground for them - each morning between September to March thousands of cranes fly to feed. It was really amazing to see so many of the beautiful birds swooping overhead and coming down to land right in front of us. 

We arrived in Ahmedabad in the state of Guharat, where we stayed with our friend Nisarg and his father-in-law. After relaxing and catching up about his recent wedding and upcoming move to Canada, we headed out to the Gandhi ashram. Gandhi had lived and worked from the ashram for a number of years, and it has been preserved as a museum to record his life story and contributions to India's history. The following morning we went on a heritage trail around the old town of Ahmedabad, and learnt a lot about the history of the area. We particularly enjoyed exploring the historic ‘pols’ (neighbourhoods) in the old town, which consisted of close communities of people and had secret passageways leading between them. That evening we went out for an extensive meal of thali, which had over 40 different elements to try and lots of waiters constantly offering you more food! Nisarg and his father-in-law also drove us to his hometown Patan, about 2 hours from Ahmedabad. His parents welcomed us with flower bouquets, warm greetings and a delicious home cooked lunch. We visited a very impressive historic stepwell called Rani Ki Vav ('The Queens Stepwell'), built nearly 1000 years ago, which descends 7 stories into the ground and contains incredibly detailed statues of hindu gods. We also experienced a traditional saree weaving workshop, where the strands of silk are individually dyed before being woven into intricate saees which take 6 months to make and cost over £1500. Nisarg and his family were incredibly welcoming and generous during our time with them, and we were sad to say goodbye as we continued on our way. 

A short train journey took us to Vadodara (a.k.a Baroda), another historic city in Gujarat. It was Sam's birthday, so we treated ourselves to a stay in another beautiful heritage house run by a lovely family (family and friends of the local Maharaja, of course). That afternoon we went to visit Laxmi Palace, which is still the home of the Maharaja and his family as well as a museum. It was incredibly opulent, with mosaic floors and statues created by some of the greatest Italian artists, imported stained glass windows and quirky architecture which combined Muslim, Hindu and British styles. For Sam's birthday the next day we had a lovely relaxed breakfast at our homestay, and then went for a walk through the botanical gardens and aviary, complete with colourful macaws and regal black swans. Jem surprised Sam with a birthday cake and had booked tennis courts for the afternoon, as we hadn't played since Europe. We had a great time playing tennis again, and afterwards enjoyed a fancy meal out at a modern Indian restaurant with extravagant presentation, including starters served in bird cages and mocktails served in bamboo shoots with dry ice. The next morning we went to a golf driving range in the grounds of the palace, and attempted to work on our golf swings (we weren't allowed to play on the actual golf course as beginners!). 

After arriving late in Mumbai and crashing out in our hotel for the night, we set off in the morning on a tour of the Dharavi slums. Although it is home to a huge number of people per square km and is certainly impoverished, it has become famous for its innovation and entrepreneurship. We were taken to see some of the huge number of businesses that have been created there, including plastic recycling, dying of recycled fabrics and making leather goods. The tour company set up an educational foundation using 80% of the tour profits to help young people living in the slum to get employability skills, and all the guides grew up in Dharavi. That evening we went to see a Bollywood movie in a traditional old cinema from the 1920s. It was great fun, and a very enjoyable way to experience Mumbai's culture. After some shopping the next morning, we decided to treat ourselves to lunch at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, an incredibly grand ‘7 star' hotel. Although it was far too expensive for us to stay there, it was a fun experience to go for lunch and witness the luxury of the place. 

After a lot of travelling and sightseeing, a few days relaxing by the pool in Goa, walking along the beach, and swimming in the sea were greatly satisfying. The area we were staying in North Goa had some true hippy vibes, with drumming circles, chanting groups, and meditation spanning the beaches. We enjoyed incredible sunset dinners on the beach, and even spent an afternoon paragliding over the Goan coastline - thanks to Victor and Irene for the honeynmoon gift! The paragliding experience was incredible - soaring like a bird above the white sand beaches below, swooping down to almost touch the tops of trees and then gliding up again on the wind currents. After a few nights in the north we headed to South Goa via a complex and crowded 3 hour bus journey (only £1 total cost for both of us!). We relaxed again into the beach and pool vibe - the beaches were a lot quieter and mostly used for fishing. There was an adorable mother cat and 3 kittens in the apartment grounds, who adopted us during our time there, while we treated them to food and strokes. 

We took a train further down the coast to Kannur in Kerala, and picked up a hire car for a week as we wanted to do some hiking in the south. First we drove to Coorg, a green hilly area that has been nicknamed the Scotland of India. It felt like a homecoming of sorts being back in Karnataka (the state we lived in previously) - this trip made us realise that we actually prefer the south due to its greenery and calmer vibe. We spent our time there going on some hikes with amazing views of the hills and countryside around, most of which was sparsely populated - Coorg remains one of our favourite hiking areas in India. We then drove on to a hill station, Ooty, which is surrounded by tea and coffee plantations. We spent a day doing Indian tourist activities, including pedal boating on a lake, visiting a thread garden and relaxing in a park. We attempted to take a famous train route through the countryside, but it was cancelled due to hitting a buffalo earlier in the day and derailing! We then drove to a remote area of Northern Kerala and stayed in a beautiful tree house on a tea plantation for 2 nights. One of Jem’s university friends, Charlotte, happened to be doing a martial arts course nearby, so we went to visit her. It was interesting to find out more about the surprisingly long history of martial arts in India, followed by a fun morning chatting to Charlotte about life and travel plans over coffee and dosa. We then drove back to Kannur to drop off the car, before catching an overnight train to Bangalore. 

We’re now in Bangalore! It's so exciting to be back after 4 years. We were unexpectedly shut out of Bangalore in March 2020 due to Covid restrictions, and left behind our new apartment, cat and friends, thinking we would be able to return soon. It has been on our minds for the past few years, and we can’t wait to catch up with people, revisit our favourite places and close out this important chapter in our lives. 

Our travel adventure from the UK to India has been an amazing journey through such diverse countries spanning over 20,000 kilometres, and we have loved every minute of it! 

So, this is the end of our “overland” travel journal… at least for the moment. As we’re still job hunting we have decided to continue our trip a little longer, and we may just have another travel adventure on the horizon. Firstly we’ll be flying from Bangalore to Malaysia in a couple of weeks to visit Jem’s friend Paige, and then afterwards we’ll need to start making our way back to the UK… but as we’re in no rush… we may as well do it overland! (Money and time dependent). Stay tuned ;)