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We've now left India and are back in the UK for a couple of weeks, to catch up with parents and meet our new grandson. Our adventure resume on 16th April when we fly to the Philipines.
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Category: India

Tamil Nadu Part 4 – Puducherry
February 27, 2025
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Our next destination was Puducherry (previously Pondicherry, fondly known as Pondy), the former capital of French India.

Pondy is as cluttered and chaotic as any Tamil Nadu town, but the compact centre is tangibly more Gallic. The bazaars give way to leafy boulevards , mansions and rows of houses whose shuttered windows, ornate balconies and colour-washed facades would not look out of place in Montpellier – even the Starbucks!

On our way to our next destination we visited the…

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Tamil Nadu Part 3 – Thanjavur
February 25, 2025
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Thanjavur is not on most Indian tourist itineraries and we didn’t see very many Western faces there – but it’s featured in Rough Guide and Lonely Planet so is not that obscure. There are 2 main attractions – the breathtaking Brihadishwara Temple (signposted Thanjavur Big Temple), Tamil Nadu’s most awesome Chola monument, and the world’s finest Chola Bronze collection (even after the British Museum and various American museums, galleries & collectors have pilfered some).

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Kerala Part 1 – Kochi
February 3, 2025
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Fort Kochi is a total contrast to the modern Ernakulam part of the city – a thriving port and centre of the spice trade, colonised by the Portuguese and taken from them by the Dutch, it’s a lovely & intriguing blend of cultures and architecture. Very grand houses abound, some converted into heritage hotels, others into arty cafes and galleries, or just private homes or homestays.

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Goa – Part 2
January 29, 2025
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After a relaxing 8 days in Palolem we moved 15 minutes up the coast to Agonda for the next 12 days of ‘trying to get Debbie’s arm working properly’ recuperation a.k.a. more sitting on our arses in the sun.

Agonda is quite different to Palolem – quieter, more ‘natural’, a bigger beach, bigger waves, the resort centred on a single road behind the beach than the beach itself, and almost exclusively foreign holidaymakers (whereas Palolem tourists are probably 90% domestic).

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