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Agra and last day in Delhi. 🪴

We arrived at Agra train station on time and had organised a taxi driver to take us to the Taj Mahal for 2 hours and then onto Delhi so we could get in for a dinner reservation at 7pm. In india (as I’ve mentioned) you could be taken on all sorts of journeys and the driver first took us to his friend as he was a guide before jay told him ‘just take us to the Taj’ - this was the beginning of Jays frustration. Never did I think he would be the one to say he’s looking forward to some ‘order’.

The Taj was absolutely beautiful - it was crazy and chaotic and full of people but absolutely magnificent. It’s one of those moments where photos really don’t encapsulate what it’s like in the flesh. The Taj is actually a graveyard for a famous King and took 22 years to build. The building is completely made out of marble, adorned with beautiful floral work and Arabic writings from the Koran. All of the flowers (which I’ll put a photo up) are not painted but made from stones such as Indian jade, onyx and Coral. You definitely get an appreciation for the design as the marble had to be carried by camels from 350km away…Furthermore, the four pillars on each corner are at a slight angle pointing outwards. This was designed so if there was ever an earthquake, the pillars would not fall directly onto the central structure but fall outwards. It’s incredibly intricate and I’m surprised it only took 22 years! By the time we were taken through, it was 1.30pm so we were on time (so we thought) as it was a 3.5 hour drive back to Delhi. We got to our hostel at 6:45pm following some tough words with our driver, we quickly showered and jumped in a Tuk-Tuk to head to dinner. It was a lovely night and great to dress up. The restaurant is called Indian Accent and has been ranked in Asia’s Top 50 restaurants. I’m going to say that as much as it was nice to enjoy an absolutely delicious Aperol spritz, the food was average and it made me feel incredibly blessed for the food we have back home. We were laughing over dinner at the fact you can’t turn Indian street food into fine-dining food…it’s just not quite the same!

The next day Jay picked up his Sitar and we had made a list of the things we wanted to get in Delhi. First stop was Khan Market to pick up this silk dress I had my eye on since visiting Delhi at the start (I said to myself if it was there when we returned, it was meant to be). We also visited this beautiful little bookshop called Faqir-Chand bookstore which just had piles and piles of books. We have been reading lots so had to find new books 📚 The second stop was tricky to find from our first visit (there are many shops called Textile Bazaar) but we managed to hunt it down and got our favourite scarves for an incredible price. We then perused Connaught place for the last time and had a bite to eat before heading back. We were so desperate for some cornflakes so we had cornflakes and milk in our coffee mugs for dinner. Hilariously, the supermarket downstairs had nothing smaller than a 1kg bag (but the shopkeeper ensured we got this one as it was ‘buy one get one free’ so we offered the rest to the workers at the hostel haha). The milk here is so cute - it comes in a small square plastic bag which you wouldn’t expect (I can’t work out how they get it in there!).

The next day at the airport was somewhat stressful. Jay had a flight at 8am and my flight was at 9am so we went together. We eventually got through but I had to reprint my ticket which delayed us. I then I said I’d meet jay at his gate (as he was flying to Europe) and I missed him as it was the last gate at the very end of the airport! Very sad 😢 but at least we both got on our flights!

There’s certainly a charm to India. I’ve spent this flight reflecting on the trip. It was unlike anywhere I’ve been before. Just as Jay and I were saying in the Tuk-Tuk last night, it’s somewhere you have to visit to understand it’s magic.

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Udaipur. 🪷

Believe it or not but our next bus trip made up for our first bus. We were sitting in luxury seating with AC, the bus made a stop past a toilet AND it arrived on time. Unbelievable!

Udaipur is absolutely stunning and it felt like an Indian Bali (the perfect place to relax). We checked into our accommodation and spent the afternoon wandering the beautiful little streets which cars cannot access as the roads are too narrow. We stumbled across a Tailor - his name is Prateek and he happened to make a suit for Jay last time he was in India. I couldn’t believe he still remembered Jay and before long, I was conned into getting a suit made for myself in a forest green linen. There are some days that I love ‘India time’ and other days I don’t, but today was one of those days and we spent a while perusing the store, sharing memories of our trip and enjoying cups of masala chai. We managed to find some western food in Udaipur just across the road from the suit shop - Mavi. It became our regular for breakfast (I can’t tell you how much I’ve been craving fresh fruit and cereal). On top of that, they even made coffee…and it was actually good! It’s a sister and brother that own the cafe with a beautiful little puppy called Peanut. He loved to lie underneath our table on the cool tiles while we were having breakfast.

We spent the next couple days wandering the streets of Udaipur and visited the city palace as well as a hike up to one of the temples. There are some beautiful views of the lake and it was so nice to be out of the heat for a little bit (32 is very different to 39). Other than that, we would spend our mornings reading and drawing which was so lovely. We found this absolutely incredible restaurant called the Lake Shore (which we couldn’t help but continue to order the same every day) - chicken Biryani, garlic naan, paneer tikka and Bindi Masala (okra). It was peaceful here - a very different feel to the rest of India.

On our last day, we got caught in a thunderstorm. We were so tired and had taken a break at a local restaurant for a cup of tea before the rain seriously hit hard. The restaurant kitchen had flooded by the time we decided it would be best to make a run for it back to the hostel. We were soaked to the core and just before hitting our hostel, the water was covering the entire road around 30cm deep. We took refuge in a little barber shop on the side and managed to hail down a Tuk-Tuk but we made it back safely!

We visited this little cafe on our last night before catching a sleeper train. This was our favourite masala tea in the whole of India (so so good). The train left at 10:30pm and got into Agra around the same time the next day. I absolutely loved it. We were in class 3A which meant that there were 3 beds (bunks) on either side of a cabin (600 rupees each - around $12). We were both on the top bed opposite each other. It was certainly a bit awkward having to sleep next to your stuff but I was asleep by midnight and slept all the way through until 9:30am the next day (way better than being on a plane in my opinion).

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Jodhpur. 🚎

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Jodhpur (the blue city). 🚎

Well we both had our worst travel experience yet to start this story. We were told not to get a train and to get a bus from Jaipur to Jodhpur so we booked one for 5pm which was meant to arrive at 11pm. It was a sleeper bus with AC so I was quite excited. With that being said, as we hopped onto the bus, the AC wasn’t working and we were on a top bunk. You can only imagine how hot it was when it’s 38 degrees outside and the bus is full of people. On top of that, you couldn’t open the windows so it was difficult to be positive in that moment. Furthermore (never assume anything - that was my first mistake), I assumed there would be a toilet…but no, no toilet either. So the bus ride which was meant to be 6 hours, ended up being 10 hours and luckily (with the help of a ziplock bag) I was able to at least go to the toilet, but I did have to nurse this the entire way! When we had finally arrived in Jodhpur, it was 3am and we needed to check into our accommodation but the address was wrong so we were driving up and down the street. Luckily I had the number of the place saved so we found it in the end.

The next day we took it easy but we were taken aback by the heat. It was 39 degrees but felt about 42. It was hard to do anything, but we found a lovely local over breakfast who gave us a list of things we must do. We visited the Mehrangarh Fort, Toorji ka Jahlra and Mandore Gardens. I’ve never felt so out of place as I have here in Jodhpur. Everyone has been really lovely but when we visited the gardens, I was constantly asked for photos, people would wave and say ‘hellooo’ and women and children would come and touch my arms and want ‘selfies’. I’m constantly stared at - it’s been an interesting experience that’s for sure!

I was hesitant to get another bus after our last experience, but we booked one for 6am in Jodhpur to arrive in Udaipur by 10.30am. I can confirm…the bus is an upgrade!

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Shimla to Kalka train. 🚂🚂

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Jaipur. 🌸🌸

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Nena ♥️

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Jaipur (the pink city). 🌸🌸🌸

Jaipur is exactly how I imagined India to be. We were quite tired on arrival after our long haul day of travel from Shimla. We had a 5-hour train from Shimla to Kalka which is a UNESCO world heritage site train. I was in my element. We spent the many hours sitting on the step of the train hanging our legs off the side and stopping for extremely quick cups of chai at a few stops along the way. We sat next to three Americans - Sue, Narissa and Mary-Gordon who kept us busy chatting about their life travels. They were from Savannah, Georgia and (my favourite part of travelling) we talked about all aspects of life - their husbands, upbringing, travelling, music, work and many other beautiful things. They have an Airbnb back home too so we talked about maybe doing a house swap in future! When we arrived in Kalka at around 5pm, our driver picked us up and we had an hour drive to the airport at Chandigarh before flying out at 9pm. I could have slept standing up at that point - I don’t even remember taking off in the plane!

We spent the morning chilling out before exploring the pink city (the old city of Jaipur) which was full of small markets amongst rows and rows of very run-down pink buildings. We got kulfi ice-cream which has quickly become a favourite for me (homemade pistachio and honey ice-cream which comes wrapped in a little paper doily).

We spent the next day exploring and shopping and found our wonderful Tuk-Tuk driver Samil. He took us around for the whole day and we visited the Amber Fort and the Jaipur Step well. After that, we visited the elephant village and met Nena and Lakshmi. Lakshmi was a lot smaller than Nena and looked underweight as she had been rescued from the circus. It was sad to hear about the Indian elephant population. The elephant village was set up for the middle-class people of India who have looked after Indian elephants for many generations. Our guide had looked after Nena for 20 years and started looking after her when he was only 17 (his daughter will be the 4th generation in his family to look after elephants). They have 11 female elephants living in the village and each elephant consumes up to 250kg of food a day. Bananas are of course their favourite, but they also make large quantities of chapati for them each day too. Although the village has been given land by the government, the money needed for feeding the elephants is not provided and so the village relies heavily on tourism. Unfortunately during Covid-19, they had many elephants pass away with originally over 500 elephants in Jaipur. Now they have only 125. We went for a walk of the property with Nena and had lots of cuddles - it was pretty special.

Amidst exploring the city, we visited a spice market and were taken to a jewellery store which (we joke) was like an underground Indian Mafia service. Never in your life have you seen so much jewellery or stones….We had a couple pieces made for a really good price and a couple things engraved too. The food in Jaipur is out of this world. Jaipur is best know for its Tandoori food which is vegetables and meat cooked in a Tandoor (clay oven). Our first meal was paneer and chicken tikka (Jay gives me shit for the way I pronounce tikka with an Aussie accent). My favourite meal was at this beautiful restaurant (Peacock) and we shared a paneer butter masala with garlic naan….so so good!

I’m a bit sad to leave Jaipur - I would have loved another day but that’s okay! Onto the blue city!

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Dharamshala. ♥️

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Dharamshala. 📿🏔

Ahhhhh the sweet sweet views of snowy mountains and lush forest, adorned with tiny-coloured apartment buildings. We had arrived in Dharamshala.

Our stomachs still hadn’t quite settled and all I was craving was some soup and plain naan. We managed to find some at a hotel close by in McLeod Ganj where we were staying and I can’t tell you how grateful I was for a change in the food scene. I absolutely love Indian food but it tends to be incredibly spicy, rich and packed full of flavour. Now that we were closer to Nepal and Tibet, we were able to enjoy some of my favourite menu items from my time in Nepal (and these were perfect for an unsettled stomach). We lived off of Vegetable Thenthuk which is hand-pulled noodles in a clear vegetable broth followed by a side of vegetarian Momos (of course). I love it here so much, it reminds me so much of my time walking the Annapurna circuit in Nepal (it’s much busier though). It’s actually comical how busy the streets are with traffic, yet the roads are barely wide enough to fit a single lane. I’ve had so many near-death experiences here already (some by passing cars, scorpions - the most deadly in the world apparently which was in our bathroom, Tuk-Tuks and cliff edges…just to name a few). It’s been wonderful though and I would have loved to have spent longer here.

We spent Saturday perusing many shops setup by Tibetan refugees and went for the most incredible massage of our lives. It was certainly needed following the drive the day before! It’s been nice to not have much of a plan. Most of the time, we have just been eating, drinking mugs of turmeric, ginger and honey tea and playing cards. It’s certainly been nice to relax. In saying this, with every opportunity to relax, my body says…ah yes, now you have time to be sick and BAM I’m hit with a cold. Hence, the cups of tea have been needed. I need to learn to rest but I was adamant on doing yoga followed by this hike on Sunday to Triund (one of the snow peaks above McLeod Ganj). Our experience getting up there was the perfect representation of what every interaction is like in India…it’s every man for himself. Normally it’s a 2-day hike and you stay overnight up the top before hiking down but we thought we would take the shortcut up to Gallu Devi Temple where it’s about a 6-hour return hike from there. We aimed to leave around 11am with our driver but he said that the car would not get up there because the roads are too rough and narrow. So we walked to the other side of town to catch a Tuk-Tuk before being told that a Tuk-Tuk wouldn’t get up there and we should take a Taxi. So we walked back to our hotel to ask and they said taking a Tuk-Tuk is the best way and to speak directly with the drivers. So…back across town we went…again. Around an hour or more later, we were on our way. I will forever remember that India is not the place you can plan ANYTHING. If you need to be somewhere by a certain time, allow 2 hours just in case. When cafes open at 9am, they actually mean 10am. If you plan to have porridge one morning (a craving I was having), expect to get a warm bowl of milk with a few slices of banana.

I did my best to remain positive despite holding back the sweats and other cold symptoms. The hike was absolutely stunning. We were greeted by donkeys and a couple mountain ponies on the way and were surrounded by thousands of Rhododendron flowers in full bloom. I was in my happy place, but unfortunately my body didn’t have the full 6-hour hike in me so we stopped at the halfway point to enjoy a lemon soda and take in the view. Magical.

I climbed into bed early that afternoon and had a long sleep before we woke up and went for our last little breakfast and shop around. We decided to do the cable car 🚠 which was hilarious because Jay was absolutely mortified the entire ride. It was the clearest day we had yet and you could see all the mountains gleaming with snow. We went to a book shop as well and I found some lovely books on a Tibetan Medicine which is one of the many forms of medicine I’ve been learning about in my Naturopathy course. Tibetan Medicine focuses on balance (much like Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda) so I’m looking forward to giving these a read!

We are off to Shimla today before setting off for Jaipur. It’s a 7-hour drive and on the way back down our driver had to stop as there were problems with the brakes. He managed to find someone that would help though saying it would take 10 minutes…I’m writing this now and can say that it’s now been over half an hour haha. Just have to surrender to the process and laugh it off!

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The Golden Temple. 🌅

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Amritsar. 🕉

It’s been a week of events that’s for sure. Everyone warned me before I left to ‘be prepared to get sick in India’ (blah blah blah) but I didn’t expect this to be the case on day 3!Leaving Delhi, we had a 10-hour drive to Amritsar and I had started to feel slightly ill. Dad has always said, ‘it’s all in the mind’ and so majority of the car ride, I sucked it up. We had stopped somewhere for breakfast on the way which was actually my favourite Indian meal thus far. We had Chole Bhature (chickpea curry and fried bread) - Jay makes it at home and it’s sooo good. We also tried our first Indian dessert - Coconut Kulfi. I’m not a huge sweets person and it didn’t look all that appetising but it’s made with fresh ricotta and coconut milk, served with pomegranate - it was surprisingly good (I’ve made a note to try and make it at home).

After that we were on our merry way and with about 4 hours to go, Jay had said to me that he was also not feeling too well. Jay was sitting in the front of the car and I was in the back with Geeta on the side of a busy highway when jay started hurling his guts up. We both had a phobia of vomiting yet we remained somewhat positive that we had a day of rest ahead at the very least. After many more toilet stops, we finally arrived at our accommodation in Amritsar. It must have been mind over matter for me because within minutes of us checking into our accommodation, I was in the bathroom vomiting everything I had left in my stomach. We spent the whole next day in bed feeling very sorry for ourselves but at least the worst of it was gone. It was another 2 days before we had anything to eat - all I was craving was lemonade icy poles and toast with Vegemite (goodluck finding anything close to that in India).

On Friday morning, we headed to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. It was so beautiful. A truly spiritual experience. The temple itself is Hindu and was built in……. We arrived just before sunrise and already there were so many people everywhere. One thing that I’m still getting used to is people staring. Within the temple complex, I was asked for pictures and a few people kept coming up to Geeta to ask if I was her daughter in law (I think I was the only white person there), but everyone was very friendly. We cleansed ourselves with holy water and sat by the Temple for a while just people-watching. I would have liked to have gone inside, but the line to get in was so long, we would have been there for hours and hours (you can spot it in the photo).

We left shortly after and said our goodbyes to Geeta - she was on her way back to Delhi. I was so looking forward to some downtime in the mountains and Dharamshala was only a short 4-hour drive away!

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Delhi. 🛺

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Delhi - Arriving in India. 🇮🇳

Following breakfast, we made our way around the city and visited the many textile markets. It was hard not to buy everything. So many beautiful pashminas. I was taken back to my shopping experience in Fes in Morocco. I assumed I’d be hassled in India when shopping, but it’s a very relaxing experience and most of the time, we were treated to cups of masala chai and free water. We did visit one place for tailoring and I found this beautiful mustard linen - so I’ve had some pants made (to pick up on the way back through Delhi).

Geeta (Jays mum) treated us all to a pedicure and massage which was the best I’ve ever had. It was equally nice to escape the busyness and slow down for a little bit too. We had Thali for lunch which is similar to that of Daal Bhat in Nepal (325 Rupees) with unlimited top up of curry, bread etc. For dinner we had egg curry, biryani and the best chapati I’ve had all trip. I’m not going to lie, I’m not sure I’ll be able to go back to eating Indian takeaway back home, now I know what it’s really meant to taste like! I’m craving my salad and fresh fruit - I’m wondering when it is that I can’t eat anymore Indian haha but we will see!

We have been travelling around the city via Tuk Tuk 🛺 which has been my favourite way to experience the city. The driving conditions here remind me of the bigger cities in Bali but x100. It’s this dance between taxis, buses, trucks, Tuk Tuks, pedestrians, bikes, stray dogs and cows yet there’s zero road rules and somehow it just works.

Today we are off to Amritsar up north to visit the Golden Temple (Jays favourite monument in the world). It’s a ten-hour drive from Delhi so we have hired a driver. It’s a big day ahead, but I’m excited we are heading towards the mountains and getting out of the chaos for a bit!

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hobart cont. ☕️

Sunday morning I visited Farm Gate (Hobart’s local Farmers market) and met Tran for a coffee. We sat on a bench and talked about future trips and potentially camping in Cradle Mountain in December. Very exciting. I had the best bagel there with cashew cream and pickles - delish! I got stuck talking to a guy about Tofu who had made his own plant-based cheeses. They were so delicious I had to buy one but somewhat forgot about the difficulty of taking that back home haha. I ended up re-gifting to Vincent who was the loveliest guy visiting from Dresden in Germany. I said I’d love to go to Dresden so he said he would be more than willing to show me around.

After saying goodbye to Tran, I wandered the streets and happened to walk past a bakery called Pigeon Hole Bakery. I’d be meaning to visit but hadn’t actually planned to so I went in for my second coffee of the day and a rhubarb danish. I was only reading a book on manifesting and meeting individuals on the same energy vibrations as you, when I got chatting to the most delightful couple - Gillian and James. Gillian commented on my pink jumper and over an hour later we had talked music, travel and life. They’re both originally from Belfast but have lived all over including India. While I was sitting there, James had sketched me and gifted me the picture. I was honestly so blown away by this little connection. I’d been invited to stay with them in Launceston already too. After giving them both a hug and exchanging music/numbers, James asked whether I believed in good karma. I said yes (because of course) and he gifted me a jar of Tasmanian organic honey after discussing the fact I have to try it. This is honestly what life is about and hands down the highlight of my weekend.

In the afternoon I visited MONA. Wow. What an interesting place. It was both disturbing and very sexual but at the same time, very cool. David Walsh just happened to wander through too. I spent 3.5 hours there and I feel like that was still probably not enough time. In saying that I did manage to fit in a wine tasting at Moorilla - one of the oldest wineries in Tasmania. I got chatting to an older man downstairs while booking my ticket and he said that he just loves Adelaide particularly in Fringe season. I said I have to agree! I finished off the weekend with fish and chips on the harbour and reflected on the most wholesome yet busy weekend that had just been. I feel like I’m back in my own body again. Away from chaos and back to the things that really matter. I’ve missed this so much, but I have a feeling there are good things coming in 2022.

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hobart cont. 🍃

Today was a lovely day. Feeling tired though. I think this weeks activities have certainly caught up with me (hence why it’s been a slow afternoon). I was up at 6.30am to drive to Mt Field National Park where I hiked the Three Falls Circuit (Russell Falls, Horsehoe Falls and Lady Barron Falls). It was stunning and so incredibly green. Reminded me so much of Glenorchy in Queenstown NZ. My legs were sore today but lucky it was a fairly easy walk. I was pushed for time as I had to drop my hire car back at lunchtime. I think I was so concerned I wouldn’t make it back, that I hiked it in an hour less than the time suggested so I made a few scenery stops on the way home.

Salamanca markets were great. I met some more lovely people including Luke Richmond (an Aussie adventurer) who was selling signed copies of his book. I felt so inspired after our chat. We talked about climbing, hiking and other fun activities so I’m excited to sit down and read through my new book! I don’t know why this stood out to me, but I bought a tea cosy for myself. It was so cute. It has chickens on it haha so I justified that this would be my Tassie souvenir to myself. I went and had lunch at Tom McHugo’s which is a delightful little pub with an awesome menu. I wasn’t vibing the service though unfortunately, but it was nice to sit and read my book.

Shortly after arriving back at the hostel, I met Lizzy. She’s a pro fighter (boxing) and was resting up for her big fight tonight so we may hang out again tomorrow. She’s originally from Darwin but we had some great chats before we both took a big afternoon nap. I had dinner booked at Templo which was super lovely. The customers were a bit pretentious so I don’t necessarily recommend going solo, but the staff were great and their wine list was on point. They were also playing lots of George Harrison so it’s got my vote. Another beautiful day 🌞

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tassie so far ♥️