Posts Tagged: Travel

Hikkaduwa and Koskoda

We arrived in Hikkaduwa with our friends James and Kayleigh when it was late and dark. We tried a few guest houses all charging above 1000 rupees and were told that to get a room for less was not possible. However, a little further down the road a kindly man offered us some basic rooms for 700 rupees a night which we took willingly. The rooms had attached bathrooms and opened onto a small green courtyard with bright paintings on the walls. When we awoke in the morning we ate a small breakfast of oats and raisins in a cup… Read more »

North Goa – Arambol

Our two day train journey ended at thivim station, from there we took a taxi to arambol. We should have gotten off at Pernem, much closer to Arambol but this was not marked as a station in the Rough Guide. Straight away Goa felt like a completely different country to the rest of India that we’d visited so far. The roads were good and there was a noticeable difference in the amount of rubbish lying on the ground. The buildings were well-kept with well tended gardens and the taxi itself was luxury with clean leather seats. We arrived in Arambol… Read more »

Varanasi

At a point where several rivers join the sacred Ganges or Ganga river lies the ancient city of Varanasi, also know as Baneres, is the oldest still-inhabited city on the planet. According to Hindu mythology it was founded by Shiva and provides a gateway for the departed to escape the endless cycle of death and rebirth. This also means the inhabitants have had longer than anyone to master the tourist trade and even the children are experts at pilfering money from Indian and foreign tourists alike. Arriving at Varanasi station we were dubious of scams and touts. We immediately picked… Read more »

A Short Visit To Corbett National Park

Our visit to the Jim Corbett National Park was to be a short one en route from Almora to Varanasi. The bus from Almora dropped us in Ramnagar in the afternoon. Ramnagar; a bleak and rather horrible town which serves as the administration base for Corbett national park. Besides the park there is no reason why one would want to stay there. We had arrived one week before the central zone of the park – Dhikhala – was open so we were unable to stay within the park itself (which is also quite expensive). This left us with two options;… Read more »

Kasar Devi, Binsar, Jageshwar and Almora

Since arriving in India we have come to realise that we aren’t really that good at the actual “travelling” part of travelling. Setting up camp for a couple of weeks in each special place we come across means that we can find peace and comfort amongst the chaos. Hitting the road every 3 or 4 days is tiring and leaves us with little opportunity to really get to know the people we meet and places we stay. With the helpful advice of two fellow backpackers, we headed off from Rishikesh to Almora, by way of taxi along the perilous, dusty… Read more »