Taken to the cleaners in Mumbai
It’s not often that you’d regard a washing line full of drying sheets as a tourist attraction but in Mumbai it offers a fascinating and illuminating insight into the infrastructure that makes India tick. Notwithstanding the fact that many of the crisp white sheets you’ll curl into within your plush hotel accommodation whilst in Mumbai (or any other Indian city for that matter) are pristine, the chances are they’ve come from the...
Seeking Sikhism’s loaves and fishes
Sikhism’s remarkable feeding of the five thousand – every day! Gurudwara Bangla Sahib is Delhi’s most significant Sikh gurudwara (Sikh religious house) and at first glance yet another of India’s temples bursting at the seams with devout worshippers. True, it does appear to be swamped with devotees all clamouring to enter the inner temple or dip their feet in the huge ‘tank’ or sacred pond that lies adjacent to it – but –...
Taking the waters – in Kerala
Our short photographic exploration of Kerala’s backwaters. For most people with any knowledge of India, the ‘communist’ state of Kerala, more than any other, is synonymous with high literacy, good education, above average standard of living and moreover, for its extensive brackish backwaters ecosystem that extends for over half the length of the state. Barriers formed by low islands created by the action of the sea...
Fateh Garh – when a lake doesn’t float your boat
An alternative luxury hideaway in Udaipur, city of lakes, that won’t sink your budget. Udaipur, sometimes optimistically called the ‘Venice of the East’ is one of the principal attractions in Rajasthan, famous for its Lake Palace that ‘floats’ ship-like in the middle of Lake Pichola, We were initially pleasantly surprised by the rich and fertile lands surrounding the approaches to Udaipur, where it lies on the southern slopes of...
Shahpura Bagh – half way to everywhere
Don’t rush through Rajasthan; make sure you rest a while at Shahpura Bagh to absorb the real colour of this wonderful Indian state. So often, we hear of people who’ve been on ‘The Golden Triangle’ tour being hurried through India to give them a taste of its wonders, leaving them exhausted and overwhelmed. Part of any tour will inevitably cover at least the mesmerisingly busy city of Jaipur, if not Udaipur and Jodhpur as well,...
Kumarakom – fit for a King!
As Kumarakom Lake Resort in Kerala was the choice for Prince Charles’ 65th birthday, then it’s probably good enough for us too! Although, in our opinion, you’d never elect to choose India if you simply wanted a relaxing holiday away from the hustle and bustle of work or daily life in the West, our visit to Kumarakom Lake Resort on the banks of Lake Vembanad in Kottayam, Kerala, had us seriously questioning this premise. The...
