New York

AMAZING.... Wouldn't you move there in a shot???
We stayed in http://www.holidayinn.com/hotels/us/en/new-york-city/nycdt/hoteldetail/hotel-room-rates.
It was such a lovely place. Small but cheap and clean which is most important. Short walk to Times Square and the most amazing little Italian restaurant across the road. We didn't eat in it which annoyed us but we had a few drinks with some authentic Italian's!!
While everyone wants to eat in Times Square I would definitely advise NOT too as it is so expensive!!
We went to O'Lunney's pub just off Times Square and it was really good. We got steak wraps and the steak was good... usually when you order a steak in anything its usually the worst cut of beef but not in this case. http://www.olunneys.com/olunneys.html this is there website and I would recommend paying it a visit.
Obviously while you are in New York you have to go to Central Park and it does not disappoint.
We went in just at John Lennon's house so we got to see Strawberry fields. You can get the subway straight to there http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm. I found the subway less easy to get around compared to Toronto but we got there.
In central park you will encounter lots of music and people making the most of the sunny days. In central park look for the Alice in Wonderland statue and the ponds.
When you leave you should check out the Apple Store. It is beside the park and is fantastic to see. It is a massive apple and you have to go down into it!!
There is so much do see and do. I would definitely advise walking around instead of using transport because you can soak it all in.
Walk along by the river. Walk across the Brooklyn bridge. Wall St. Threatre District and pick up a handbag for $20!!! Go into the food market in Grand central station and take your picture from the steps.

I would definitely fill up my wardrope the next time I am there. Also it is in a grid so easy to walk around!!

Toronto

We arrived in Toronto and as most tourists we got ripped off as soon as we arrived on the scene.
My advice to anyone arriving in Toronto is to not get a taxi as you can get from the airport to Downtown for $3. Of course no one told us and we spent $20 on a bus.
You get the bus outside arrivals. Its called the 192 Rocket. When you get on the bus pay your $3 and get a transfer ticket.
The bus will bring you to Kipling station where you can then get on the subway and get to anywhere you want. Check out http://www3.ttc.ca/Subway/interactivemap.jsp subway map to see where to get off and with that magic transfer you can then get onto a streetcar if needs be. As long as you are going in 1 direction you only need to pay ONCE....
I know this is the best news and once we figured this out, we have saved!

Backpackers

There are quiet a few hostels here in the lovely city but I would only recommend 2 of them. Both are downtown and not far from each other. I have visited both but didn't actually need to stay in either.
The first one is at Spadina and college. Right in the heart of hippy nation Kensington Market. http://collegehostel.com/ you can stay here for a month at a time for only $700 a month for a double room. It has a small tv room but the hotels are more like a hotel with a tv in the room. It is missing a closet but has an ironing board in the room. No onsuite rooms but its a hostel so you have to remember that!! This has 1 computer for the internet.

The second one you can try out is http://www.globalbackpackers.com/ This has its advantages and disadvantages. It has a bar, pool tables and 4 computers. It has a massive common room but you may feel a little unsafe as its a slanty building and rooms are not much to write home about. A double room has bunk beds but it does offer free breakfast!!

The internet I wouldn't be worried about cos most coffee shops have free internet and sometimes you don't even have to go inside and the library offers free internet and computers so just become a member. http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/branches/index.jsp this you should check out for locations. You don't need to pay to become a member but you must bring ID and proof of address.

Tourist Things:


The CN tower is an obvious stop but if you go when its windy you can't go outside. I would also suggest not going when it is cloudy as you won't be able to see that much. I didn't think it was the most amazing sight but Toronto sure is green!!

Went to the Ontario Science Museum yesterday and it was amazing. We did the IMAX experience package. It was $28 & $22 for students with valid id.. We saw Tornado Alley and it was amazing how up close you were. That film lasted for 1 hr. We then went onto the Space section which was good. I learned a lot about other planets and found out that Pluto no longer exists in the list of planets!
After we went onto the body exhibition which is great. It had fun games and questions and we really learned a lot. I would go again for all the games....
After we went onto the Nature Unleashed. It was all about Tornado, Cyclones, Volcanoes & earthquakes. Some of the facts were frightening. When some volcanoes go off they can change the earths weather for years!! That exhibition is only on till Mid April and well worth it.

Where to next??

Childcare:
Here in Toronto there are many places you can play with your kids but you want to make sure that the place is clean and the staff will help you keep an eye on the kids...
The most professional ones that includes doing Birthday Parties, has classes, can drop off while you go shopping or go to dinner. Check out http://www.justduckyyongekids.com/. Its only $10 per child and you can stay as long as you like!

Eating:


I could go on all day about food. It depends on what you like?! While in Canada you have to taste Poutine. Its chips with curds and gravy. We went to http://www.poutini.com/ and it was amazing. I wouldn't go in as big group cos there is about 8 sits but it was filling and I got sour cream, chives and bacon on mine while Damien got pulled pork.
This is a little gem I heard about and recommended to people to try out and have had AMAZing reviews. http://www.theburgerspriest.com/

A firm favourite of ours that we frequent a lot on Tuesday nights and bring a lot of our visitors is St Louis's Wings. http://www.stlouiswings.com/ We go on Tuesday's as you get 1lb of wings & fries for $5 with the purchase of a pint. Pints are cheap too though so its a great deal.  When you chose the wings you then have to chose from about 12 flavours. They do ribs, fries, nachos etc. Its like a hooters in the sense that they wear short skirts but the wings are great and Damien can watch his English Premiership football too!! I would highly receommend it. It is a chain and not sure if they all do the cheap deals but the one on the Danforth does for sure.

Obviously I can't go through all the restaurants in Toronto but you should check out Greek town. Danforth Avenue is Greek town and http://www.messini.ca/ it is in many guide books and you can get a chicken Gyro for $5. Another definite for dinner is http://www.panonthedanforth.com/ They have a great deal on every day for 3 course meal for $25. I like this because it uses the food that is on the main menu and on a Friday & Saturday night they have bellydancers....

DO NOT go to http://www.christinas.ca/ we went here when my cousin was over. We thought cos we had been to Pan twice we thought we would go somewhere else but we were wrong. I got the lamb and it was cold. The spinach was dirty. Damien's Salmon was cold too and they didn't top up our wine which is why you pay for service. I wouldn't mind if they were busy but they weren't!!

We went to Brass Taps on the Danforth last night. They had such a good deal on there. They always do but we had never had food. As our friends were over we decided to go plus we had heard they were great for their pizzas. It was pizza night which is a Wed so we got the pasta deal. For $10 each we got a Ceasar Salad to start followed by pasta and garlic bread. It was such a big helping we were all stuffed!! It was amazing as well....

Got Mamma's pizza last night because you could get a medium pizza for $5 with $1 going to charity. I do like Mamma's though as it is a thin base pizza.

Check out restaurants on the Danforth on April 27th as they are giving a portion of their takings to HIV research. This is the city that keeps giving....

Went to Burger Cellar on at Yonge and Lawrence and for a gourmet burger place I expected more. I know back in Ireland the burger is enough, normally sides are too much but here we actually had to order more sides as we weren't full at all.
Damien had the Burger Cellar burger which was delicious. It had cheese, bacon, mushrooms & an onion ring on it. I had the Posh burger which had mushrooms with truffle oil on it & cheese (very small amount, didn't even cover the burger) We got our lettuce, tom & pickle on it as well. We went for the Kobe beef but I reckon you could do either the natural or AAA Angus and it would have been good enough. Less expensive. The burger itself was really small and they charged us $17 for Damien's and $19 for mine. Lucky their draught beer was cheap. It was $7 for a pint of Mill Street Organic beer. If  you want to check it out http://theburgercellar.com/

Heading to http://www.vivethabistro.com/ anyone ever been? Excited cos I have heard great things so we'll see.... Didn't go as its closed on Mondays!!

Went to Gabby's instead http://www.gabbys.ca/ They had a good offer of half price wings on a Mon & Wed. They put it in the menu as $0.49 per wing but its just half price!! They were good. I liked that they gave you celery & carrot with blue cheese. No fries so obviously Louis's still wins on price. I went with work and we all got something each with a few drinks added on about it was about $20 each including tip. I thought the service was good but slightly dark for eating food. Orlagh was there and she had never tried wings before. After trying them she said she liked them but wouldn't get them again. That doesn't say much for their wings!! I didn't get the draught beer but I have heard bad reports (not gospel).

Last night as it was cheap Tuesday in the Scotiabank Scene Movie Threatre. It was $7 each and we went to see Limitless.  I can not recommend enough but up to you.
Went went down to Little Italy to get some food before but we hadn't looked into anywhere to go and it was raining and windy so we went into Duff's http://www.duffsfamouswings.ca/content/home/home.html and we were not disappointed. We got the Tuesday special of 1.6LB for $7.25 each. We got sweet potatoe fries & regular fries, 2 pints and that was all for $30. Not bad at all. The wings were probably the best I have ever tasted. I went for the Mild-Medium cos they said Medium was Hot but after having them I would probably go for Medium as there was no kick to the ones I got. Damien had the Medium-Hot and he didn't think they were that hot but he also likes to burn his mouth so who knows!! I will miss the sweet potatoe fries when we get home. They are so lovely and better for you than regular fries. Pints of Canadian or Coors were $5 which is a bargain. The only negative was their blue cheese sauce was maybe to strong but I love blue cheese!!

Heading to PJ's tomorrow....wahooo
So we went to PJ's on Thursday and as usual it was slightly pricey as it was an Irish bar. It was $7 for pints and they had a very limited supply of bottled and draught beers. We all got food which I have to say was REALLY good. I got the Fish & Chips and it was really good. Actually 3 of us got the fish & chips. 1 of the lads got sausages and chips which were the cocktail ones but were the nicest sausage I have tasted in the 10 months I've been here!! I thought the service was pretty slow even though it wasn't crazy busy. I ordered a drink after I had been there 10 mins. I ordered another drink a while later and it was given to someone else. I know in the bar they were very busy and maybe that was why service in the restaurant was slow.
I did like the fact that the 2 areas were seperated and after we finished we headed to the bar part where they had a band playing and there was the little area to dance. It was a great night but thats cos we such good company and I wouldn't be rushing back again!!

Off to Il Fornello on the Danforth tomorrow for cheap Tuesdays....
Yes IL Fornello was lovely. We went early enough as we were pretty hungry! On Tuesday's they do all pizza's $10 and they did not disappoint. I got one with no tomato sauce, Argula (Rocket), Purshuito, Mushrooms and what tasted like Parmesan cheese. Damien got 1 with Carmelised onions, pear, Argula & walnuts. They were lovely and it was maybe we were really hungry but they did not fill us and looking across at Louis's wings did not help as they always fill us!!

Any suggestions on where to go next week????

We finally made it to Burger Priest and it did not disappoint!! I got the Option Cheese Burger for $9.99 which had the beef patty, cheese and a portobello mushroom stuffed with cheese, coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried!! AMAZING. You then decide if you would like lettuce, onions, tomatoe, mustard, ketchup, mayo & pickle on your burger. Damien went for the cheese burger for $5.99 and got chilli, cheese fries for $5.79. Water or pop is $1.49 and the option as a veggie burger comes with 2 mushrooms and is $7.99 on its own. Do not expect to sit in a restaurant as it is tiny and has maybe 4 stools. It doesn't take debit so you will need to bring cash as there is no ATM's near.
I would defintitely recommend to anyone to go though. Well worth the $$$$'s.

Pubs:


Obviously people ask me about Irish bars and cheap places to drink. It will always depend on what you like and drink as to weather it will be cheap or not!!!

McVeigh's http://www.mcveighspub.com/contact.html is a very good pub which does $3 drinks on a Sun with a band playing. A lot of people Canadian and Irish come down here on a Saturday night as it again has live music and I like that the band will always interact with the crowd. On a Sunday it can be very packed but they do eventually stop letting people in!

Another Irish bar on the Danforth is Dora Keogh's http://www.allens.to/dora/ It can be expensive to drink but it also plays music on a Sunday.

A lot of people will say to you have you been to the Irish Embassy pub downtown but I would not recommend it. First off it is the most expensive pub I have actually been in, in Toronto and I have nearly been here 1 year and no Irish staff there. It is not relaxed like an Irish pub should be but you can always go there. http://www.irishembassypub.com/.

All the Fox & Fiddles http://www.foxandfiddle.com/home.php are cheap pubs which do very good food. They do pitchers for $15.

Downtown has a good pub called the Dogs Bollocks http://www.dine.to/dogsbollocks . They do $10 pitchers and they show most games. They do really good food and its always a good atmosphere. We went here for the UFC and we got $15 worth of free drinks each!!

We went out on Saturday night to watch the UFC. Every place was charging in except Rails & Ales on the Danforth http://www.dine.to/railsandales. I checked it out on the internet to see what what it was like. I was delighted with this place. It had a few big screens. The food was AMAZING. I got the chicken wings and they were small and tasty. Damien got the burger which was very big and juicy with spicy fries. We were drinking bottles of beer which were only $4 including tax. We played a little pool after and they were the proper sized pool tables. We would definitely go back again and I would recommend it to anyone!

India II

Otty

Arrived in one piece as the bus ride was a disaster. Tried to get off the bus while loads were trying to get on the bus. I had to hit someone to get them out of the way just so I could get off. Again no organisation in this place. The girls had found a hotel so we went there. The rooms were alright as I had stayed in worse and they had a TV. As it was fairly cold in Otty we changed into our colder clothes and headed out to get some dinner. We went to the Sidewalk café and had a dinner of sugar based pizza and bought so homemade chocolates on the way home. Early night had by all.

Up early and we headed off to find a good place for breakfast. I, Damien, Erika & Ryan went to Daddy Cool Café where they served the most disgusting food; it was all micro waved even my sandwich was!!! After that we walked a bit of the town and found a sports ground where we had our Otty Olympics. Ryan & Erika raced one lap which Ryan won and Damien did the long jump which he won as no one else did it. We then went onto the Botanical gardens to meet the girls. When we got there as we had to pay in we decided against it. While deciding I got handed a child and our photo taken by an Indian family. Never stops making me laugh… we decided to go get some lunch where everything on the menu we tried to order we couldn’t get so we just went for some fried rice. Ryan went for the Thali which he had to eat with his hands on a banana leaf. Left there and headed to see the church which wasn’t open so we couldn’t go in. we walked for about an hour in search of the fun fair but instead ended up back at our hotel where Ryan got another room and Myself, Damien & Erika went to see the Threat Gardens. On our way there we found the funfair called Jolly world but this wasIndia style. They had a racing track for go karting which was a small circle and the cars/bangers/lawnmower engines went really slow so we decided against it and kept walking trying to find the gardens. We got there and it was impressive, the whole garden flowers and grass were made out of threats. It took 12 yrs to make and was trying to get into the Guinness book of records. After there we went for a Chai in a shack where the women tried to over charge us. We were onto her and just paid the correct amount. Got back and chilled out for a while and then headed off to have dinner. We went to a place the 4 of us had found earlier and as the food had been so bad I and Damien went for cheese on toast and it was lovely. We walked back home stopping at a supermarket to get food as we had a long journey ahead of us tomo. Watched some TV and went to bed.

Fort Cochin

I, Damien & Ryan got on the bus at 9.30am in Otty. Was a nice bus so was a comfortable ride and got to Coimbatore at 1pm where we got on another bus to Kerala. Got to the Ferry in Ernakulam at 8pm which was only a 20 min journey and got a rickshaw to Princess street where we were hoping to stay in a home stay but they were booked up so our driver knew a place called the Brown house (he got commission if we stayed) so we went there and it was really nice. The three of us had to share a room but that was fine. We met Charlotte, Adam, Lex & a German girl who were staying there. We went out for food which was really expensive and they had to serve us “special tea” (beer in a mug) as they had no licence. We ate our food and as the beer ran out we went walking and found a bar where we weren’t charged high prices. We got some take away beers and jumped into a rickshaw. Luckily Damien had got a card from the guy cos otherwise we would have never known or found our way back. We were actually only around the corner but we only found that out later. Had our beers with the others and the owner Kamdu (can do as we called him) and headed to bed.

Had a lie in till 9am and then had to wait and hour for Damien to get a bucket of hot water for a shower. We headed off for breakfast at the Kashi Art Café where we met the girls. We headed off then to a massage place but we found it a bit expensive so decided not to get one. Nikolina & Anika went off to find another place while we 4 went to see the Chinese fishing nets and look at clothes. On our way there we stopped into a shop where our driver got 300 Rupees commission for bringing us in. Our driver brought us around for free cos of doing it. After the nets we headed off to the Kerala Kathakali Centre where we got coffee and me & Damien booked to see the show later. We all headed back to our place and chilled for a bit. The 2 girls came back after their massage and then we headed off for dinner in talk of the town. Our rickshaw driver came to pick us up to bring us to the show. When we went in we saw them putting on the make up which can take up to 2 hrs per person and then to the show which was a traditional story in Kathakali dancing. It was really fun. Finished that and on the way back we had to stop at another shop for commission for our driver. Came back and Ryan & Adam were drinking so we stayed up with them for a while.

Alleppey

Got up and went for the most horrible breakfast where we met a couple we had met in Baga. We chatted with them for a while and then headed back to collect our laundry and get the bus to Alleppey. Got on the first bus where the lads chatted to a bunch of school boys. Got on the second bus for 45 mins and we where there. Very short. The girls were taking the train and we delayed. Arrived there and we were met by a nice lad called Ami that told us he had a great place to stay in and would even pay for a rickshaw to bring us there so we took him up on the offer. Got there and the place was lovely, really clean and as the girls where coming we had the whole house to ourselves. He told us we could cook there later and he had a house boat to do the back waters too. A bit expensive so we said we’d think about it. The girls arrived and we all went out for a late lunch. Ami brought us to a lovely restaurant and then he took us down to the beach where we watched the sun set. Everyone was out flying their kites!! On the walk back to the hse he bought us through the market so we could buy some food to cook later but the fish market was closed so no prawn masala for us L got back to the hse and the lads went to the bottle shop. We sat down and all played cards and told riddles and got really pissed!!!

Slept fairly late and went for lunch with Erika & Ryan in Kream Korner. We went in hunt of a cheaper deal on the house boats but nowhere was open. Headed back home to say good bye to Nikolina & Anika. We chilled in watching TV and then headed out for a take away dinner and some take away drink. We got a good feed although it was too hot for me to eat so I ate the rice. I and Erika watched a movie while the lads watched the football. After the footie we played more cards and went to bed.

Up early as we had to decide on the house boat so Ryan & Damien went to see Ami’s house boat while myself & Erika stayed behind. The lads liked the boats so we left for it. Unfortunately for me I got stung on my eye so my eye was swollen shut and I had to keep my shades on. Not a good look for me if I didn’t wear them. We headed off at 11.30am and moored up to have lunch at 1pm. We headed off again at 2pm and moored up for the evening at 5pm where Ryan and Erika went off to a village and we stayed behind on the boat. Had dinner at 7pm and then watched a movie.

No one slept very well as it was really hot in the boat loads of bugs. Up early and we had breakfast which I couldn’t hold down cos I was sick and needed some Anti’b’s!! Headed back to the harbour and got a rickshaw back to Ami’s. Had to get the train at 3pm so chilled out for a while. Got to the train station at 2.30 as we had to buy our tickets and then had to wait 3 and a half hrs as the train was delayed. It seems that is all you do when travelling – Wait.

Valkara

Arrived there at 9pm and a driver from our hotel was waiting for us. He bought us back to the hotel called the Skyline which was owned by an Italian (Aldo) & French guy (Bruno). Erika settled in and went out for dinner with them. She spoke Italian so that was helpful. I & Damien got brought into town to buy Anti’b’s for me and we went to bed.

Up and both myself and Damien were not well but we ventured out to the Hungry Eye Kitchen for some breakfast where they actually had homemade brown bread. After that we went down to the beach for a while but as it was really hot we headed back. I & Erika went on the internet while Damien went back to bed. We organised to do Yoga but Erika was the only one who went as we were unwell. We went out for dinner in Calfouti which was nice but as we weren’t feeling the best we didn’t enjoy it that much. Went back to our hotel where we bumped into the owner of the hotel we had stayed in, in Fort Cochin. He was friends with the guy who ran our hotel and was staying for 2 nights. Damien went to bed and me & Erika sat up and chatted for a while and then she went out for a drink with the Italians.

Up and out for food. Went onto the internet and said good bye to Erika as she was heading back up to Mumbai. I and Damien sat in.

Feeling a bit better today so we headed down to the beach for a while but again it got very hot so we headed back to the hotel. Have to stop going down at lunch time. Did some more internet work and chilled in.

Up and the usual beach action and on the hunt for a TV to watch the football. Kind of hard as not many places had it on. Found a nice place and settled in with Aslan (guy who runs our place) for a few beers and 3 matches. Met Eddy, Christine & Becky there and chatted with them for a while. Went out after the matches to rock and roll but they had run out of beer and didn’t put alcohol in their cocktails so we headed home and had a beer with Aslan & Ashok.

Got up late and headed down town where we went on the internet and bumped into Adam & Charlotte. We had stayed in the same place as them in Cochin. We organised to meet them later as we had organised to meet Eddy & girls later for dinner and a few drinks. Chilled out and then headed off to meet the others. Eddy had met 3 girls from England and another guy Ollie so they were all there and then another 2 Paul’s that Ollie knew came later. After dinner we headed to Rock and Roll to meet Charlotte & Adam and had a drink with the owners of our hotel and the owners of a restaurant that was opening in a few days. We all headed back to our place for another drink and then to bed.

Went into town to the ATM and the bottle shop/hole in the wall. Booked our train tickets out and went down to the beach to meet Charlotte and Adam. Lay there for a while and then went back for a shower before Yoga. Went to the place for yoga but the guy who did it was gone so we looked around for another place. 2 Oz’s came with us as they had met Charlotte & Adam doing a commercial in Mumbai. We couldn’t find a place to do Yoga so we went for dinner. Had some amazing sea food and then the 6 of us headed back to our place to have beer as it was too expensive to drink in the bars. After we finished off the beers me, Damien & Adam went to Rock and Roll for apparently 1 more drink but sure we all know how that ends….7am in the morning.

Got up at 3pm and headed off to get food and a massage. They are supposed to be amazing. It was really good but they put so much oil on your body when I went to turn over I nearly slid off the bed!!! After that we bumped into Charlotte, said our goodbyes and headed back for dinner.

Up early and headed out for breakfast, packed up and got a rickshaw into the train station. Got the train to Trivandrum and then got the over night train to Villupuram and then a bus toPondicherry.

Pondicherry

It was raining a lot when we got to Pondicherry so we got a rickshaw to a hotel in the French quarter. We went for breakfast after we dropped off our bags. It’s very expensive here for food & accommodation. As we hadn’t got that much sleep on the train we went for a nap. When we got up it was still lashing rain so we went to Pizza Hut… yes Pizza Hut. Came back and just chilled with the TV.

Up and went out for some food and some sightseeing. We walked the promenade looking for a restaurant that was in the lonely planet but as we have found some places are closed down and this one was. We went to a nice café and shared a meal. We walked down some of the back streets and got our photo taken. Went to a nice internet café and then looked at the canal that smelled really bad and considering there was so much rain it was very dry! Headed back and showered and then went to Rendez Vous for dinner. Lovely food. I had roast chicken & chips and it was as good as at home.

Up and got a rickshaw to the bus station. It was lashing down and we had to leg it onto the bus. Got seats and settled in for the 2 hr drive to Mamallapuram.

Mamallapuram

Arrived there and got a rickshaw to a hotel. The town was flooded and we just about made it to the hotel. We found a cheap hotel that had a TV so we chilled out as it was still raining. Went out for dinner and watched TV.

Up and still raining but we wanted to see something so we headed out to see the temples. We saw the Krishna’s butter ball which is a massive bolder on the side of a rock hill. We saw 5 other temples which had amazing carvings in all of them. One of them was called Arjuna’s Penance and another Krishna Mandapam. They had all been created on big rocks and looked over the town. Unfortunately on our way to see the 5 Rathas the skies opened up so we had go home when it eased off. We went back to the hotel and had a hot bucket shower and then went for dinner in a nice French restaurant. Got back to settle in for the match of Chelsea V Man Utd. 40 mins before kick off though the power went in the hotel and Damien got a bit nervous but low and behold it came back on just in time. 10 mins before the end though the power went off and didn’t come back on till 5.30am which was not good as it was hard to go asleep with no fan. Too hot!!

Up for another day of rain. We checked out of our hotel and went for breakfast. Walked up to the bus stop and got a nice air conditioned bus to Chennai.

Chennai

Arrived here at 4.30 and got a rickshaw to the “backpacker” area of town beside the train station. Got there and Damien went to look at 2 hotels which were not nice at all. We went to another few but they were earlier booked out or really expensive. An Indian man stated chatting to Damien and told him there was a cheap clean hotel about 5 mins walk away so we went to see it. Damien went up to look at the rooms but he said it was disgusting so we decided against it. The guy that brought us there told us of others but as he thought that was clean we decided not to trust him and found a lovely hotel just around the corner from that hole. We went for a cheap dinner and chilled in as up early for sightseeing and massive train journey of 33hrs toDelhi!!

Delhi

Arrived in New Delhi station at 7am and made our way to our hotel which was just a 5 min walk away. At the top of our road which was the Main Bazaar they had wooden mental detectors that no one actually walked through!! Got our rooms and we went off in search of breakfast. Went to a nice place and planned our day. Got the metro, which puts London to shame in the amount of people getting on. Had to go through metal detectors there but these were in use and had to get our bags scanned. Arrived at our stop and went to see the India Gate. It was really over cast and we were followed by a rickshaw driver the whole way up trying to get us to do business with him. Took some photos and then headed to the place where Gandhi was shot. Really nice and very good museum, a lot better then the one we saw in Mumbai. Had all these futuristic displays. Got a rickshaw back to the metro and headed home. Went to the New Diamond restaurant for dinner which served really good pasta. As we were eating our meal the guy who spoke to us outside sat down across from us and hen one of his friends along with a guy fromEngland joined him and started talking to us. They were trying to get us to book a tour for 35,000rupees which of course we kindly declined and then headed home.

Went in search of Mc Donalds today as we had seen loads of ads for chicken nuggets and we were now craving them so we got the metro to Connaught Place. When we arrived everything was closed because of a strike to pay less tax. We found a café place and bought a sandwich and a muffin and headed to Old Delhi to see the Old fort and the biggest mosque in India as it was free in. When we arrived at the mosque we couldn’t find entrance 3 for tourists so we went into entrance 2 for the Indians. We weren’t stopped by the police outside so we walked up the steps. I took my shoes off, carried them in my hand and headed in. I noticed Damien giving his shoes to someone to pay to look after so I told him to just take them in his hand. When he tried to take them off the man another guy came up saying he had to pay 200rupees in and leave his shoes there. Damien told him it was free in and he said he was the tourist police and couldn’t come in without paying. The guy then came in after me and told me to get out as it was closed to which I replied no it wasn’t and he then told me he was the tourist police which I knew he wasn’t as he wasn’t in uniform. I couldn’t be assed arguing so we both left but we did see other tourists paying the 200 each. We walked back to the metro and made the journey home pissed off. We went to the Metropolis for dinner which was really nice and then headed back to our hotel. Rachel a girl we had met in Valkara had left us a massage at reception to meet her and Emily at a 5 star hotel so off we went to meet them for a drink. Rachel had done a seminar in egg plants at the hotel and was finished up that evening. We met 2 of there friends from the seminar. 1 guy from Germany & another girl from Columbia. We had a drink there, went up on the fancy lift and headed back to the Main Bazaar for cheaper drinks as our one glass of beer each cost 480rupees. We met a journalist from Denmark at the bar and when the place closed we headed back to his room to finish our drinks along with 2 Indian lads who were very nice. Got to bed at 3am.

Up for the check out but they allowed us to keep the room till 5pm as that was when we had to go get our train. We got the metro which was even more over crowded cos it was Saturday to Mc Donalds and got our Mc Nuggets. We went back to the hotel and napped till the train. Got to our carriage and the 4 other people in our bunks were all foreign too which has never happened before. Got some sleep and arrived in Varanasi at 8.30am

Varanasi

Arrived at the train station and called our hotel to come and pick us up. Got to near the hotel on the rickshaw but as the roads are too thin we had to walk the rest of the way. The streets were so thin but there were still cows and dogs in all the alleyways. We arrived at our hotel on the Ghats and checked in. it was a nice day so we decided to leave our bags and head out. We went first to the Ghats were they burn all the dead bodies. It was mental. Mass cremations. They burn bodies 24/7 there. After we watched we did a bit of shopping and then headed back to meet a couple staying in our hotel for dinner. Nice food and headed to bed early to get up for the sunrise.

Got up at 5am and of course as we are Irish it was raining so we went back to bed. Got up later and it was still raining so we chilled in for a while and then ventured out to get some food and use the internet. Headed back and decided to get up early again to see if we could catch the sunrise the next morning.

Alas it was still raining but later on it cleared up so we went out on an hour boat trip just to go on the Ganges’s!! Walked to our rickshaw and headed to the train station in a massive traffic jam. Had to run for our train.

Agra

Arrived in Agra in the morning and got a rickshaw to a hotel in the book. Had breakfast in the rooftop restaurant while looking at the Taj Mahal. After breakfast we took a nap cos as usual we didn’t get any sleep on the train. Got up and went for lunch in the most amazing restaurant/shack called Joney’s. It was so lovely and really cheap. After that we walked around to get some information about going to see the Taj in the morning. At the ticket counter they told us it was free tomorrow but as we are inIndia we didn’t believe them. Another early night to get up for a sunrise which we were hoping we would see this time.

Luck would have it that it wasn’t raining so off we went. We queued up and met some Oz’s that had been told it was free today too and there was no ticket counter open so we were hopeful and again luck was on our side and it was free in. we spent 2 hrs in there. It was amazing. A postcard doesn’t do it justice!! After that we headed to Joney’s for breakfast and back to bed for a nap. We then had lunch in Joney’s where we met Daniel from Spain and said we’d meet him at the train station or in Jaipur as he was heading there tomorrow as well. We started the haggling game for a driver for the day. We picked a cycle rickshaw and we went off to see the Fort which was also free. After that we went to the baby Taj and again free and then to the gardens at the back of the Taj to watch the sunset. The sunset wasn’t that good cos unfortunately there is a lot of pollution inIndia so the sun disappears without going down. Still an amazing experience. Headed back into town but of course that took a while as our driver wanted us to stop in 1 shop or so we thought. As he was cycling all day we decided that we would. We spent 10 mins in the shop and had a good laugh with the guys working there. We headed back to the rickshaw after that to go home but he stopped at another shop and he told us he wanted us to go to this one and 3 more as he got money for bringing people there. Unfortunately we hate this cos we don’t wait to buy anything so we had to put the foot down and get him to bring us home. Of course when we dropped us back he wanted us to give him more money so we gave him a tip and got some dinner in Joney’s. Headed back for a shower and watched a film.

Up early and went to Joney’s for breakfast where we met Daniel and organised to go with him to the train station. Packed up and got a rickshaw to the station where of course our train was delayed 3hrs so we hung out.

Pushkar

Arrived here Ajmer train station to get the bus to Pushkar. We knew that we only had to pay 5 rupees each so eventually we found someone to take us for that. It was actually a rickshaw bus…madness!!! Got on the bus and what are the chances but the young guy sitting beside Damien had a hotel for us to stay in that had a pool as well. We got off and went to his place where the pool was empty and rooms weren’t too nice so Daniel went off to find a better place to stay so we went there. We dropped off our bags and headed for food in Baba restaurant. We strolled the town after that. It’s very small but that’s what we wanted. Unfortunately the main attraction is the lake and there was no water in the lake but sure what could we do. We headed back showered and went to Laura’s café for dinner. The food was really nice, fairly expensive but Laura was a Canadian and was really nice. After dinner Laura and her boyfriend invited us to go dancing as there was a wedding in 3 days so they danced every night until the wedding. It was so much fun and the Indian’s danced so crazy for guys who don’t drink!!

Next day we went to Funky Monkey café for breakfast and then chilled on the net & looked in book shops. Later we had some dinner and headed back to Laura’s for a drinking game called “have you ever?” we weren’t drinking but it was still fun. There were about 15 of us. A mix between Indians and westerns. We met Louisa & her brother Greg from Oz, a Spanish girl called Laura, the 2 Canadian girls from last night, 2 Israeli’s and a guy from South Africa. Fun night but didn’t get in till 3am.

Up for lunch with Daniel and walked around the market a bit. Went for Falafel’s in the Falafel stand which were amazing and when dancing with the lads.

Bought a few more pressie’s in the market and headed to see the temple in town where we were given flowers to throw in a river but of course they first said it was free but then we were told we had to donate if we wanted to throw them in the river so we opted not to. Headed home and got ready for the engagement party. We decided to get dinner first which we shouldn’t have cos as soon as we arrived at the party they were all giving us food. We had that and danced the night away. We met Laura from England & Jacinta from Oz there. Got in about midnight.

Got up and met Louisa and the 2 other girls as we had decided to have a few drinks tonight for the wedding as a few of the lads had a few the night before. We met Harry the street boy who brought us to his house and then the 2 lads went to get the booze while we played with his family. His mother made us Chai and then we headed off. We stopped at the Bangle shop and ordered our bangles for the next day. Got some food at the Falafel stand and headed back to change our clothes and head to Louisa & Greg’s for drinks. Of course the Indian lads were drinking there too as this hotel was owned by Pinto who’s sister was getting married so we had a laugh with the lads too. Between 6 of us we drank 2 bottles of rum and were fairly pissed by the time we got to the wedding. Unfortunately Damien wasn’t feeling too hot so we headed home.

Got up and walked Daniel to the bus stop, got breakfast and hung out with Greg for a while. Picked up our Bangles and then went to Eyann’s hse as he said he wanted to do some business with us. Louisa was there already and the 5 of us watched You Tube for a while. As Eyann had just got the lab top new I showed him a few things and taught him how to download. We left there and went to the Falafel stand for one last one before getting the bus onward. Eyann came down looking for us as he wanted to know a few more things before I headed off and he gave me a silk scarf to say thanks for helping him which was nice. Packed up, said our goodbyes and headed off to the bus. At the bus stand we met a couple. Shanti from Ibiza and Juan from Argentina. Got on the bus and we were charged for our bags which was a big ordeal!! Got into our double sleeper and tried to sleep which is fairly impossible as the roads are so bad!!

Jaisalmer

Arrived at 6am fairly tired and in the middle of nowhere. Just before we got off the bus a guy got on telling us he would bring us to our hotel for 5 Rupees each. We got his taxi with the Spanish couple. Neither of us had a hotel booked but we had been recommended by Pinto to go and stay in Hotel Titanic. Our taxi tried to make us go to another hotel but we told him we wanted to go to Titanic so in the end he brought us. As it was so early in the morning we had to wait and see was anyone checking out as he was full. The 4 of us headed up for breakfast to wait. As we hadn’t seen the rooms we decided to have a look at some other hotels after breakfast. Shanti and Damien headed off to look at other places while myself and Juan stayed with the bags. They came back after an hr but the hotels were pretty much the same price so we hung on to look at the rooms here in Titanic. Paulo was the owner and he was really interesting. He had 2 rooms for us and so we stayed there. Myself and Damien headed for a nap as we hadn’t slept much on the bus. We headed out for some lunch and a look around. Wasn’t much to the town and everything was closed early enough so we decided to do some sightseeing the next day. Back to the hotel and had some food with Shanti & Juan. Damien & Juan had a special Lassi but unfortunately us girls missed out!!

Got up and went to see the fort. We asked a few places about Camel Safaris and went to a jewellery shop. Went to get a Chai in a restaurant where we met an Indian guy called Sewri who was restoring the fort. We chatted with him for hrs and he brought us to some spots in the fort we didn’t know about. After that he brought us to a place to watch the sunrise and we organised to have dinner with him later at his hotel. His driver dropped us back to our hotel where we showered and changed and the driver picked us up again and brought us to the hotel. It was a hotel that used to be a palace so was really fancy. We had drinks and food by the pool. He told us some good stories and we got a rickshaw home about 11pm. Lovely evening.

Got up and headed out to try and get some alcohol for our safari. Unfortunately the beer shop wasn’t open but Paulo gave us a bottle of rum for the 4 of us so we set off in the jeep to the camels. Arrived there and put our stuff on our camels. Damien’s camel was called Tiger. Don’t know the name of mine but he was 6 yrs old! Damien was let by the main camel guy till lunch. They cooked us some Dal and Chapatti. It was nice and then we got back onto our camels. Mine had all the food on it and after lunch they put the fire wood on mine as well. I was way too important now to lose!! I couldn’t walk beside anyone as then the wood would stick into them so was a bit of a lonely ride. Along the way we stopped to give the camels some water and then headed to the dunes. Unfortunately my camel didn’t like going very slow and wouldn’t listen to me so it kept hitting this one girl in the face with the fire wood. I felt really bad but it was fairly funny!!! Arrived at the dunes and we took some photos. The guys made us Chai and we found 5 puppies in our camp. They must have been about 3 weeks old and were so cute. The 4 Koreans that were with us didn’t like them too much but the 4 of us loved them. Myself & Shanti played with them while the 2 lads went off to collect firewood. The sunset was amazing. When the lads came back we settled in for the night. We got the fire going and got given dinner. We drank our bottle of rum and sat around watching the fire and talking. When we used up all the firewood we went to bed. It was so beautiful; it was too bright to see the stars but was such a good experience. We got woken up in the middle of the night by the puppies. Damien got licked on the lips and I found some in my bed. I kicked them out and went back to sleep. In the morning I found 1 asleep beside me in my bed. I didn’t mind cos he was so cute!! We got up and had breakfast then got back on our camels for the journey home. We got back at about 11am and got the jeep back to the hotel. We were given a room in which to shower and change so we threw our bags there and then headed out for some food and to use the internet. Got back where we chilled out for a while. Headed out for dinner and then had showers and Paulo dropped us to the train station. Train wasn’t very full so we didn’t have to listen to too much snoring!!

Jodhpur

Arrived at 5am in the morning but Paulo had recommended a hotel to us so they had come to pick us up. 2 Canadian lads that we met on the train came with us in the rickshaw. When we got to the hotel they only had one room that was empty so we took that and the lads went off to find another place. Our room wasn’t clean though but they said at 9am they would give us clean sheets and towels so we put down our sheets and went to bed for a few hrs. Damien woke up before me and went off to find Daniel. When I got up they came back and we asked for our sheets but they told us they hadn’t come back from the cleaners yet but would be there later so we went out to see the palace. We then went for dinner and headed back to Daniels hotel where we met an Irish couple Helen & Peter. We chatted with them for a few hrs and then headed back. When we got back to our hotel we asked about our towels and sheets again. The owner was pissed at this stage and a bit aggressive so we decided to just stay and move hotels in the morning.

We got up and checked out and went to Daniels hotel which was really nice. He was checking out as we were checking in so we said another goodbye to him and headed off to see the fort and temple which was really good. We booked our bus tickets for the morning. We walked back and I wasn’t feeling too hot so I went to bed and took some paracetemal. Unfortunately I got worse so we stayed in and got room service.

Next day I still wasn’t any better so we didn’t take the bus and I spent the day in bed. I eventually got up to make it out for dinner but I couldn’t eat much as I had the usual sickness wrong with me. Dodgy water must follow me around.

Udiapor

Got the bus at 8.30am and was going to take 6hrs to get to Udiapor. Wasn’t a bad journey and when we got there we got a rickshaw to the Lal

Ghat guesthouse or so we thought… we were brought to the Lal Ghat Haveli but they had cheap clean rooms so we took it. After we settled in we went for a walk and found the actual guesthouse but it was too expensive so we decided to stay in our place. We walked to the palace but didn’t go in as we were hungry so we went for food on a roof top and then headed off to find a cooking class we had been recommended by the Oz & English girl. We ended up finding it right beside our hotel and booked for 2 night’s time. It was called Shashi’s cooking class. We checked our mails as Shanti & Juan were still there and we wanted to meet up with them. We found them at a restaurant and had a few beers with them and said our goodbyes. We headed back to our hotel for an early night.

I still wasn’t the greatest but we needed to decide on whether we were going to go to Daman or Diu so we headed off to the internet café but unfortunately I only ended up out for about 20mins. Damien stayed on the net and met Helen & Peter and said we’d meet up with them later. About 6pm we headed to Helen & Peter’s hotel and went out for some dinner & beers with them.

Got up and went for breakfast then headed to the palace for a look around. Was very good but as we didn’t take a guide we had to guess a few things!! Headed for some Chai and then back to our place to have a shower and head off to our cooking class which started at 5.30. The class was brilliant. There were 5 of us in the class. We all cooked even thought it was in her hse. She gave us a hand out which was really helpful and as we had cooked so much we all couldn’t finish the food. Got back to our hotel at 11pm full…

Up and went out to book our bus to Ahmedbad for the next day and did some work on the net. We also met the Israeli’s that we had met in Pushkar. We went to Helen & Peters and left them a note of where we would be for dinner. We went for some yoga which was ok. Not the best but was only the 2 of us in the class and as Damien had never done yoga before it was good for him. Came back to the hotel and showered and headed up to the restaurant on the rooftop to have dinner and watch Octopussy as it was shot here in Udiapor. Helen & Peter found us so we had dinner with them. After the movie we said our goodbyes to them but are hoping to meet up with them in Mumbai as they will be there when we are there. Packed up and headed to bed.

Got up early and got on the bus for 8.30am to Ahmedbad. Arrived there and as usual we got dropped at the side of the road no where near the bus station!! Got a rickshaw to the bus station or so we were told but we were actually just brought to a travel agent. We booked our ticket but it was only to Vapi which was annoying cos we could have got a bus from Udiapor to Vapi instead of going to Ahmedbad but we were assured that we could get a bus to Daman from Ahmedbad. Our fault as we should have learned by now that they don’t know!! We had to wait from 2pm till 10pm for our night bus to Vapi. We hung out at the travel agent reading and playing cards and then went to get food and got on the bus. The trip wasn’t too bad we just didn’t sleep too well.

Arrived in Vapi and had to play the rickshaw game to get us toDaman. We thought our rickshaw was bringing us there but he actually brought us to a taxi stand where you can get a shared taxi. At the time we didn’t know that not every rickshaw could go into Daman.

Daman

Arrived there and headed to a restaurant for breakfast. We could see that we were only tourists there but it was hot so we didn’t mind!! We ate breakfast and then Damien went off in search of a hotel while I watched the bags. He went to a fair few and picked one. Most were really expensive but he found one for cheap. On the way to the hotel we saw a guest house and it was cheaper then the hotel Damien had found and so we decided to stay. We decided to crack open a few beers as they were only 80c here but as we hadn’t drunk in so long we got pissed after 3 and fell asleep!! Up and got some food and then back to bed.

Got up and had breakfast/lunch. Got a rickshaw to Jampore beach to check it out. Wasn’t very nice at all. Had black sand with dirt everywhere and the water was not one you would go swimming in. we found a bench where I lay and Damien on his towel on the sand. Unfortunately as there was no other tourists I couldn’t get down into my bikini so it was hot day for me… at one stage Damien got a group of lads hanging around him for a while at the end of the day but other then that no hassle. Got a rickshaw back and showered then headed out for dinner. We went to the restaurant up above the one we had breakfast in cos it was in the lonely planet but even though it was called a different restaurant it had the exact menu as the one downstairs. Luckily we had liked our breakfast!! Headed back and watched a film.

Got up early as we wanted to head to the other beach. Went to find the tourist information place as well but it had been moved and as it was Sunday there was no other travel agents open so we headed for breakfast and got a rickshaw to Dervka beach where again I couldn’t get into my bikini as there were a lot more Indians around and no westerns. The same black sand so after a while of lying on the beach we headed off to find a hotel with a pool and have some lunch. We found one hotel that would allow us to use it so we were going to go tomo to get all day use. We walked back to our hotel which was 3km away. We showered went out for dinner in Nano’s beside our guesthouse and then chilled in watching TV.

Spent most of the next few days at the pool sunbathing!!