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2024 Adventure

February - September 2024
A seven month trip around Asia and Europe. Full blog at twobackpacks.co.uk Read more
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  • 2024 Adventure
    3
    Day 10

    Getting local in Panaji

    February 13 in India ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    First achievement of the day was we both got a full night's sleep and felt well rested when we woke up.
    We then spent most of the morning figuring out how to post back some things back to the UK that we really shouldn't have packed. Despite all the bureaucracy of the Indian post, we managed it. It should arrive at our place in 1-2 months 😆.
    We then planned our next journey to Hampi, which has some amazing old ruins and then Mumbai. We then went to a very western cafe for a late lunch which was delicious and then went on a evening walking tour of the Indo-Portuguese neighborhood that we're staying in. It was an excellent tour. The guide knew everyone that we passed in the streets and also hooked us up with local sweets, drinks and a serenade by Fernando, a local OAP who won a national music competition 🤩.
    We ended the evening in a local bar where the owner gives all the ladies a mini red rose.
    Tomorrow we're off to the beach to catch some sun 😎🏖️ and stop being so pale.    Read more

  • 2024 Adventure
    Day 11

    Arambol Beach

    February 14 in India ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Yesterday we arrived at Arambol in Goa for some relaxing beach time. Our 2 hour bus strip involved a blessing of the journey before we arrived at the main bus terminal. 

    The beach is long with umbrellas and bars lining the tropical tree line. For lunch we ordered a "Greek souvlaki" which was actually mexican spiced chicken in an Indian parantha haha 😂 the tzadziki was also too minty, but it was a good try considering they'd probably never been to Greece. 

    The water is a cool 28°C and the sand is super soft. We already seen some very questionable goings on. To name a few: as the garage men were collecting waste bags they were taking photos of a lady in her bikini, and back straps untied asleep, lieing on her front. The street hawkers are particularly prevalent here, one lady in a bid for our money asked how long we'd been here but then said, "probably not long because your so pale". Haha thanks 😆. The wild dogs here can giving you the sadest eyes and the full size cows just wandering around with the banging bass coursing through the air it just so weird. 

    In the evening we strolled along the beach and got some beers at a bar with a live band. It was a lovely evening and at the end they let off fireworks right next to us for the owner birthday. 

    There are bars/cafes covering every inch of available space, each one has neon lights and is loudly playing Tecno music. With the beautiful waves and the lush hills in the background all I can do is laugh at the extreme juxtaposition. 

    This morning we woke up and walked down some narrow paths to a eatery over looking the shore, for some simple breakfast. While exploring the Sweet Water Lake we got our first photo request, posing with a bunch of local guys who seemed like they were on a lads holiday. We then walked SO FAR to get cash out. It's a real rush and rullet as to weather the machine will work and or give us cash but thank the heaven it paid off this time. 

    Now we're doing our daily laundry (it's so hot your clothes get smelly with one wear) and will hit the beach umbrella soon to hopefully stop being so pale.    Read more

  • 2024 Adventure
    Day 13

    Arambol part 2

    February 16 in India ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    We spent a relaxing few days in Arambol beach, sitting on the sun loungers and eating tasty food with a view.
    Highlights include meeting up with Archis, and is girlfriend Anusha, who is an old colleague and friend of Tom Dexter's. They were so helpful in giving us tips and it was so cool discussing film culture in India.
    We met them in a 'club' which played meditation techo, which was a first.
    Hopefully we'll be able to host them when they visit England or Greece some time.
    I saw my first Hari Krishna's.
    The flexibility of people was just insane.
    The crabs in the rocks and berried in the sand were so cool.
    The water was 28°!

    Our next stop is Hampi with some old ruins from a huge Hindu civilization. I'm pretty excited for this bit.    Read more

  • 2024 Adventure
    722
    Day 15

    Traveling to Hampi

    February 18 in India ⋅ ☀️ 36 °C

    After a very delayed few trains from Arambol beach station, Thiva, to Madgaon Junction and then a very early morning train to Hampi taking about 5-9 hours we made it. (I'm definitely now addicted to the tea here. Not sure how il survive when we leave.)
    Having not pre-booked our accommodation we were at the mercy of our auto rickshaw driver, who in the end took us to the right place we wanted, even though it was not initially obvious given the sign only had two letters still attached to the front of the building.
    After a refresh we explored the monkey temple right next to us, which is still an active temple where we had to take off our shoes to enter. We just managed to see the temple's elephant departure to bed for the day.
    Given it's getting up to 35°+ most days it was nice exploring while it was cool and didn't have the sun beating down on us. Even so the floor stones were still super warm to walk on.

    I'm looking forward to seeing more tomorrow.    Read more

  • 2024 Adventure
    Day 16

    Happy Hampi

    February 19 in India ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C

    After an amazing sleep we got out early and headed for the Vitthala temple, one of the many monuments that comprise the ruins of the Vijayanagara Empire, which sprawl all over the Hampi area. On the way we passed functioning temples, caves, gateways as we walked down the paths that would have once been roads of the old city. At its peak the city had half a million inhabitants, second only to Beijing in the 1500’s.

    Since we were out early there was no one else around. We felt so lucky to have it all to ourselves! The temple was beautiful. By 10am we’d seen most of the stuff so headed back got breakfast at another rooftop cafe, and then slept through the hottest hours. We emerged in the afternoon, had some lassis, our new favourite yoghurty beverage and headed for Mantanga Hill for sunset. After a pretty sketchy final ascent on hot slippery rocks we made it to the top, a family of monkeys joining us there chomping away on an impressive array of food, fed by the local Indian pilgrims.

    We then went for the sound and light show, which told the mythical story of how Hampi got its name. Basically lots of fighting between various gods with plenty of love and treachery in between. We were then walked down the road as they recreated a local festival through sound and light as drummers from a local village played for us. It was so cool! Ended the day with dinner. Kyri got a cashew curry and because my stomach is still feeling super weird went safe and got a pizza which was the strangest pizza I’ve ever eaten, totally uncooked dough with a mountain of paneer cheese on the top.    Read more

  • 2024 Adventure
    225
    Day 17

    Final Day in Hampi

    February 20 in India ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    Today was our last full day in Hampi. We started off the morning by going to the Royal Palace ruins. They had a few fun surprises but weren't as good as the first days, simply due to the lack of detail compared to the first day's structures. Highlights included the underground passage which was seriously creepy and dark (felt like a mummy would jump out at any moment), and the elephant stables.

    Instead of rickshawing it back we decided to walk back via the old historic path, which was lovely (but quite overgrown in parts). We saw more wildlife on route including a ruddy mongoose and wild peacocks!
    By 10.30 it was already so hot walking that we flopped into the nearest cafe when we returned and drank lots of water and ate a hearty breakfast. (I got porridge with papaya in it!)

    After an afternoon rest which also included doing our laundry, we headed out for a late lunch on a rooftop cafe.

    After lunch I got an ice cream and we decided to wander to the temple and watch the monkeys. As soon as the monkeys saw me from across the street a huge male started bounding towards me at which point I start saying "Shit, shit, shit" knowing full well I was about to get roughed up by a monkey for my ice cream. To avoid this I quickly threw my ice cream to the floor and backed away. The money immediately jumped on it and greedily enjoy his spoils. Lesson learnt don't eat treats in front of monkeys.

    After this we gave up on our original plan for the evening and decided to settle down for a comedy film in bed.    Read more

  • 2024 Adventure
    2
    Day 18–19

    Travelling to Mumbai

    February 21 in India ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We checked out of our homestay at 9 and then left our bags and went to breakfast. It was very pleasant killing time drinking masala chai and eves dropping on other travels until our train at 2 pm. As we were paying an old lady who worked there motioned to James asking him to help lift a full basket of papayas with a younger lady, who was going to carry it on her head. James and her struggled to lift it it was so heavy, but as soon as she got it utop her hair she glided past, as if it weighed nothing. It's insane how heavy the stuff women are able to balance on their heads here.

    At the station we got chatting to some local children who are always keen to know where we're from and get selfies.

    Train travel sells out quickly these days and although it was a 15 hour ride to Mumbai all the sleeping bunks were sold out. So we sat in fairly comfy chairs AC class for the journey. A few hours in I got very hungry and went in search of the food trolley. I came across some food boys selling samoas and purchased two.

    Three hours later I was not feeling so good. I'm not sure if it was the food or the rocking of the train, but I had waves of nausea that would not let up. I considered a tactical sick to alleviate the feeling but with one wester toilet completely covered in poo and a decent, but urine smelling squat toilet I just couldn't bear the extra discomfort. I did manage to get some sleep, but James stayed awake the entire trip.

    We arrived in Mumbai at 5 am and after being hassled by the taxi drivers who would not let up, we got into our hostel, used the bathroom (both ends for me) and flooped into bed. Welcome to Mumbai.

    I've decided to not eat train food any more.    Read more

  • 2024 Adventure
    2
    Day 19–22

    Mumbai

    February 22 in India ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Well our start in Mumbai was a bit rocky. After getting in at 5 am we spent most of our first day sleeping and recovering. The only thing we did was get an Uber (for £2!) to a fancy mall to buy some stuff we missed in Decathlon. Hilariously we did get passed between 7 different members of staff and two revolutions of the shop, trying to locate the quick drying boxer shorts 😂

    As we're now in a major city we also now have access to some of the same eating establishments that we have in the west. After my stomach troubles it's been a god sent being able to eat some familiar foods. The most surprising one was Pizza Express!?
    Also note that all the Starbucks here are where the rich 1% of India go. They are the fanciest Starbucks I've EVER seen! I saw actual business deals being conducted.

    Our second day was SO much better, beginning with a morning breakfast at the hot spot Leopold Cafe, and then headed to the catchily named Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya Historical museum. 🙃 It was excellent, beautiful artifacts that taught me a lot about Hindu and Nepalese religion and craftsmanship and an excellent collection of old photos of Mumbai and what it used to look like. All with a FREE audio head set to boot! AND in a beautiful building too!

    In the afternoon we did a walking tour which focused on the Fort area and walked through the history of Mumbai from before and after the British were here. It was also excellent and we learnt so much! The funniest thing we discovered was the Horniman square here is named after the same guy who created the Horniman museum near our house. The multitude of links this city had to London architecturally was astonishing. Including Ulster Terrace houses by Regents park, Oval cricket ground, and even a Big Ben!

    We finished at the gateway to India where we were constantly being asked to take photos of. If we'd stood there any longer a qué would have started forming to get photos with us, it's like being a celebrity and it's quickly becoming not that nice. Especially when you're stressed and hungry and trying to find somewhere to eat 😩 (and when people don't even ask 😡).

    We finished the evening with some drinks and some more western food and a walk along the promenade which was a beautiful end to a lovely day.    Read more

  • 2024 Adventure
    212
    Day 22–25

    Bye Mumbai. Hello Aurangabad

    February 25 in India ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    We spent our final day in Mumbai not doing too much as our stomachs were feeling a little delicate so we had a chill day planning our next moves and preparing for Aurangabad. We did visit Churchill Cafe for dinner which served excellent pasta and pizza (better than some places you'd get in the West) and our placemats were a crazy word search of American states, that could go in any direction and which missed a lot off. Didn't stop our competitiveness though haha

    Our next day we packed up and ate a final breakfast at Leopold's Cafe and picked up some desert snacks for later. Our train was a fancy new one with all the high tech features, which was lush and meant we arrived into Aurangabad at 9 pm comfortable and happy. After checking in to our homestay we went around the corner and walked into a thali restaurant. This is where they serve you 5 different dishes in little pots, with side bits, and two are sweet, and dip your chipati in them. It was delicious and they kept refilling our empty curry pots.

    The next day we visited the 1,200 year old Ellura caves which consist of about 32 caves of various sizes all dedicated to Hindi, Buddhist and Jain gods. They're carved directly out of the rock all in a monolithic fashion and we're amazing! It took 7,000 people 150 years just to build the most impressive cave 16.

    After this we headed back for a chill evening catch up with family & friends and tried to keep cool and entertained through a 2+ hour power cut, which was probably due to the really loud festival taking place somewhere nearby.    Read more

  • 2024 Adventure
    1
    Day 24–25

    Aurangabad Day 2

    February 27 in India ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    We spent our second day in Aurangabad exploring some alternative spots.

    Most notable was the Taj Mahal copy-cat monument, Bibi Ka Maqbara, which was commissioned in 1660 by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's son prince Azam Shah in the memory of his mother Dilras Banu Begum. But his dad didn't allow all the same expenses as used on the Taj Mahal so it's considered the poorer cousin. We got A LOT of photo requests while here, which you can get a feel for in the photo by how many people are staring at us. After a point we had to start saying no, which felt even more awkward and led us to do more research as to the motivation and purpose of the photos later on. We'd of been there for 30 mins taking photos with everyone if we'd said yes to then all.

    We then went for a lovely evening meal of grilled chicken, nann bread and dessert at the Canary Wharf equivalent neighbourhood based on the number of collared workings there.

    On day 3 of Aurangabad we were getting a 5.30pm overnight bus to Ahmedabad, so we killed time by visiting the local park which had a great display of "superhero" status and where we got talking to a guy who didn't speak good English but who we managed to learn was a graphic designer and had a daughter and was sleeping in the park.

    We then got caught in an almighty rain storm, which started in strong dusty winds and then thunder, while trying to locate our bus stop. Amazing we found it and sheltered in time to completely miss getting wet and it stopped on time for us to step out for the bus.

    The bus was a 15 hour journey arriving at 8 am. It was quite an experience and pretty comfortable. After you got used to the rocking of the bus as we overtook any vehicle in our way, it was really relaxing and much more comfortable sharing this than the single hard beds in the train. Next stop Ahmedabad.    Read more

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