The Indian Obsession Begins

Aged 18 I spent one week in Mumbai /Bombay. Sadly this week coincided with one of the new Harry Potter books coming out. Rather pathetically my most vivid memory was waking up at 6am, sneaking out of the house where I was staying to buy 2 copies. One for me and one for my best mate and that was that, our faces were glued to paper for the rest of the week.

Aged 22, I decided I wanted slightly more significant memories of a country that had so much to offer. So I embarked on a 6 month adventure with 4 friends. We certainly didn't make it that far off the beaten track, travelling the typical traveller route; Mumbai, Goa, Gokarna, Mysore, Kerala, Hampi, Kodai Kanal, Andaman Islands, Delhi, Jaipur. Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Pushkar and then up North to Parvati Valley and Dharamshala. It is impossible to say which places were my favourites. Each so incredibly different in food, faces, environment, languages (none of which I understood) and dress.

The 6 months consisted of highs, lows and everything in between. For me whilst not the most glamorous way to travel - the train was my favourite and still is. Watching India whizz past you whilst squished in next to 20 other passengers all of whom are either just keen to sit and stare, take selfies or offer you their homemade food presented off puttingly in a clear plastic bag - you were never in for a boring ride. Note to self never try to save £3 by going third class - the one and only time I did that, I ended up with a 10 hour journey sharing the broken luggage rack above the seats.

Anyhow, next week I'll finally get on to Rajasthan and where I first fell in love with Indian textiles but for now here are some of the photos I took along the way.

The South

Rajasthan

The North