The incredible state of West Bengal provides more geographical and cultural variety than most countries, along with India’s best, freshest food. Before the East India Company arrived Bengal was one of the wealthiest regions on the planet, rich in produce, famous for textiles and an extremely significant centre of trade. Bengal is famous today for…
Tag: India
Get Scammed. With class.
Obviously, when you go abroad, you should be aware that everyone is just waiting to rip you off. Bartering over prices has actually been invented since the advent of backpacking just to make tourists uneasy and vulnerable. In fact, there’s probably a price list freely available to everyone that knows how to ask. This attitude,…
A weekend in Calcutta, a city after my own heart..
On your way to Calcutta (Kolkata, if you want to look clever) read, well, really anything by Rabindranath Tagore, the first Nobel Laureate from outside Europe. Born in Calcutta, he is easily the most famous poet in India, and composed the Indian and Bangladeshi national anthems. His short stories are a great introduction to the…
Applying for an Indian visa without losing your mind..
This is difficult, be warned. But obviously worth it to go to one of the best countries in the world. An Indian tourist visa (for most English speaking countries) is generally valid from the date you apply for 6 months, so if you are going for a short trip I would apply about 2…
The lesson of a leaf..
This little monk, struggling to concentrate, had just laid ownership to a leaf that had fallen at his knee when I (also struggling to concentrate) noticed him, much younger than the rest. Just a few seconds later the monk in front of him turned quietly to him, looked pointedly at the leaf, and turned back…
Why i love India, in one picture.
Once, in a fit of exasperation, I got off an Indian sleeper train at a station without the slightest idea where I was or where I could connect to from that station. In sleeper class (cheap, but with the best chai) normally everyone is interested in me, or anyone else they wouldn’t expect to be…
The day I fell in love with India
It was over a cup of hot chai in a mud cup standing in the rain, covered in mud and surrounded by chaos. But no one’s ever fallen in love with India over anything else but hot chai. For some reason I’d never been to India before, after 4 years on the road and countless…
How many icons can one holiday hold?
To stand again in front of a tour group explaining exactly why the Taj Mahal is so spectacular, so well known and so iconic makes me (and probably quite a few other people) think about why SO many people come to sights like this. I imagine the reactions of people seeing it for the first…
Backpacking for Grown-ups 