A cheeky little upgrade from Delhi to Cochin was a lovely welcome back, particularly after the hellish transit procedure at Delhi Airport. Be warned if on connnecting flights. After that the day just got better and better. My first south Indian breakfast was on board and then on arrival in Cochin I was whisked off…
WTM RESPONSIBLE TOURISM AWARDS INDIA LEADS THE WAY – 17 WINNERS REVEALED
India was the standout destination at this year’s awards, winning 17 accolades and emerging as a “leading country for responsible tourism.” An international panel of judges came together remotely to determine the top achievers. First launched in 2004, the awards recognise and reward businesses, destinations and operations contributing to a more sustainable and tourism industry….
Vindaloo,Who Knew?
This is, or should I say was, a pork vindaloo. I kind of forgot to take the before picture. It was rather tasty. Now, the mere mention of a vindaloo in the UK gives connotations of toilet rolls being placed in fridges and lager louts at the end of the Westgate run, a pub crawl…
My Original Top 4 Off Beat Hotels for Slow Travel
Ever since I first visited India in 1997, I’ve had a passion for what’s different, away from the mainstream destinations but places where there is the opportunity to discover the real India, away from the chaos and mayhem. Where you have time to peel back the layers of a destination, they are invariably hosted by…
Olfactory India. Can the character of a city be determined by its’ aroma?
OK, the title may cause some sniggers. ‘’OMG, India stinks!’’ declare all the people who have never been there, the same ones who are convinced that all you will be confronted with are an overwhelming wave of poverty and will be struck down imminently, never to recover, with Delhi Belly as soon as one foot…
The People of India Project – George Dominic
If you need someone to blame, then it has to be George Dominic. He was the very first person I met to do with India. It was at a trade event in London back in 1997 or 8. We were in the process of setting up Partnership Travel, operating under Colours of India and had…
Not the bloody Taj Mahal!
I am being controversial but honest, the Taj Mahal? It’s not all that. There you go, I have finally not only said it aloud, but put it in print and out there on the worldwideweb for all to see. I have had to visit it many times (forced by my career choice) but this ‘familiarity’…
Shedding The Outer Goddess
It’s not often I go on for the woe is me, me me me, inner peace and finding myself and all that malarkey but right now, facts need to be faced. I arrived back in India three years ago having kicked a three-year illness in the ass. This background is not asking for sympathy, merely providing perspective….
Hotel Review: Amaryllis Kerala
There is something wonderfully indulgent about doing nothing. It’s something I have to admit being hopeless at and yet, a stay with Victor Bernard Dey and Ranjini Dey renders this avid explorer immobile every time. For eighteen years now I’ve been advocating their hospitality and it is unwavering in its warmth. Their’s has been a…
Detox Day Three, What The Brochure Never Tells You.
Could a detox spa treatment be akin to giving birth? As in, you forget how bad it was the first time until you are in the midst of it again. To what am I referring? What is known, by those in the know, as Day Three Syndrome. The caffeine, booze and chocolate/crisp/bacon buttie stocks in…
The Women of INDIA – Lakshmi Menon
In a valiant attempt to battle the scourge of plastic and the menace of disposable pens in particular, Lakshmi Menon set up PURE Living (Products Up-cycled Recycled and Economised), a Kerala-based social enterprise that makes disposable pens from paper, each one having a seed inside that can grow into a tree when disposed of. Not…
Snapshot – India in a nutshell
A snapshot on India: Sitting in Manchester Airport, the man next to me asks where I am going and grimaces when I say Delhi. The second sentence out of his mouth is, “My wife won’t go there, there is too much poverty.” I reply in all innocence, “Oh, have you been?” He replies, with a…
Snapshots – Cochin
A snapshot – Cochin: It’s rare on a work trip that I get time to myself, given that I have to assess all aspects of hotels and insist on trying every experience before I either ditch or develop it. So it came as a pleasant surprise when I had a couple of hours free in…
The People of India – Victor Dey
I first met Victor in 2000 just after he and his wife Jini had opened up their home, in a coffee plantation, to guests. They remain some of the most charming people I have met in my 18 years in India and are naturals when it comes to hospitality. I had the pleasure of meeting his…
India, An Epicurean’s Delight – mostly.
‘’You can’t eat a mango politely, not if you really want to savour it.’’ This was one of my first lessons in Indian cuisine, from my host, a culinary guru as we sat slurping and sucking as mango juice ran down our arms and landed on the table. I had arrived in India for a…
Cochin, But Not As We Know It
A barely perceptible ripple on the surface of the water alerted the beady eyes of the multi-tasking Vinod, who promptly dived into the lake, emerging seconds later, his small, wiry brown body glistening with droplets of water as he threw three live fish onto the gangway of our private Chinese Fishing Net to show them…
The Mistress that is India
India can’t be instantly appreciated, nor can she be rushed. She will reveal herself in her own time, she will move at her own pace. You can’t demand from her nor hurry her along. India is magical, baffling, confusing and unfathomable and frustrating. She is captivating and beguiling, fascinating, awe inspiring but most of all,…
Delhi Diaries: 5th July
Life back in India, some things change, some things stay the same. Delhi, as happens with any city, continues to evolve, when one is here all the time, it is harder to notice the changes. During my time away, the hideous rape case that shocked the world took place and, despite it being too late…
God’s Own County vs God’s Own Country – Yorkshire vs Kerala
I recently saw an article in a national British newspaper which proclaimed that Yorkshire has just been voted Britain’s best holiday destination and that it also calls itself God’s Own Country. Now for the last 6 years, I have lived in India and spent a lot of time in the southern state of Kerala, which…
Food in India, A Carnivores Delight?
One perception of India is that it is a mainly vegetarian country. This is true to a certain extent. Many people are pure vegetarian, some extend this to not including cheese or eggs – you should see the scramble for eggless cake recipes (no pun intended). Hindu’s don’t eat beef, Muslims don’t eat pork, and Jains…
Ayurveda Part 3 Sarcasm aside, day 6, it’s time to get serious.
Ok, all jokes aside, it’s time to explain what this Ayurveda is and the benefits of it. Don’t worry, I am not going to get technical but, it is an ancient vedic system of medicine which takes in all aspects of life, it is about following a daily regime and eating properly and basically keeping…
Ayurveda warts and all, part 2, the treatments announced
I know I said that Germans flock to these ayurvedic resorts in their hoards, but they really do! I am the only English person here, two Indian couples and the rest are Germans oh with a few Russians thrown in for good measure, you can spot them by the bling, very tight fitting clothes and…
Ayurveda – Warts and all. Part 1
To say that my health over the last four years has been a bit shabby would be an understatement only equaled by my aging aunt saying that Saddam Hussein didn’t seem like a ‘terribly nice chap,’ or that Hitler bumped off a couple of people in his time, or that pomegranate seeds, carefully peeled and…
Curry for breakfast – seriously?
Jeepers, not another bloody bowl of cardboard shreds! As I sit and gaze dejectedly down at the milky grey mass, sitting stodge-like in the bottom of my bowl, my soul is fast becoming destroyed and the motivation to get up on a morning is fast becoming a distant memory.
Indian Chai and English Tea
Sitting ‘atop a hill’ in the foothills of the Himalaya, watching the most incredible sunset, not a soul around, the problems of the world left far behind, could life get much better? Well yes, as it happens. When I say ‘not a soul’ there was one, the local sadhu. He had watched me climb the…