At long last we had made it to the mountains and by this point we were more than ready for some respite from the relentless heat of Indian summer. Going from daily temperatures of 40°C to 20°C was the biggest relief, and being in snowy mountains for the first time this trip was so refreshing. We were so excited to be in the mountains that we had booked six nights in Manali, which was the longest time we had stayed in one place since we started our trip three months prior.

Manali is a mountain resort town very reminiscent of Queenstown, and it felt like I was back home when we arrived. It is known as the adventure capital of India and has everything from ski fields, zip lines, trekking, rafting, bungee jumps and basically anything else you can think of that gives an adrenaline rush. Unfortunately it also suffers from some of the same problems as Queenstown such as bad traffic, strains on infrastructure, and overcrowding. Fortunately, we mostly avoided the chaos as we were staying at a lovely place in Old Manali up on the hillside looking out over Manali. 

We stayed at a gorgeous log cabin style hostel called Timberwolves and our room had panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and waterfalls. The staff here were so friendly and looked after our every need. Praveen, who was the in-house chef, cooked the most delicious and homely food. It was so good we barely ate dinner anywhere else and got into a wonderful nightly routine. We would eat a delicious meal Praveen had lovingly cooked for us while tucked up on the couches watching an IPL match with the friendly staff. After dinner we would relax and enjoy an amazing hot choccy perfectly made by the always smiling Rahul who even started preparing our spots on the couch each night, bringing cushions over for us.

There are some incredible multi-day treks to do around Manali, however we had arrived too early in the year and the higher altitude treks were closed due to snow. This really wasn’t a problem though, as there are countless day walks to do. A highlight was visiting the amazing Jogini waterfall which we could see across the valley from our room. It was only a short walk to the upper waterfall which was a very popular spot for domestic tourists. We met lots of friendly Indians joining us in an extensive photoshoot here as a beautiful rainbow appeared beneath the waterfall. We did a number of other short walks, sometimes into the meadows and rivers behind the town, sometimes through the conifer forest into Manali (very reminiscent of Hanmer Springs) and sometimes through the orchards just up from our accommodation. There was no shortage of tracks to explore. We were always accompanied by the most gorgeous trail dogs, who seemed to know exactly where you were going, even when you didn’t. It was nice to just have the freedom to walk and see what we would find along the way, without always having a specific plan or destination in mind.  

Manali is tucked into a valley surrounded by mountains. You can see some of the smaller peaks but to see the higher 6000m+ peaks you have to climb up the valley. I was super excited to see some of these beautiful mountains such as Indrasan (6,221 m) and Deo Tibba (6001m), especially as they would be the highest mountains I’ve seen. 

So we decided to tackle the daunting Lama Dugh trek. We really escaped the crowds up here and it felt like we were in the wild foothills of the Himalayas for the first time with meadows of flowers and picturesque views of the mountains. I got my wish with amazing views of the mountains towering above Manali. The perspective changed with every 100m elevation gained, and more mountains became visible as we climbed. The Himalayas are just on a different scale to anything in New Zealand, you can climb for thousands of meters and there are still thousands more meters of climbing above you. We spotted a ridgeline above the Lama Dugh summit which looked like it might offer an amazing panoramic view, however we had reached the snowline and were starting to feel the onset of altitude sickness. We descended down a ridgeline that basically dropped all the way back to Manali which was not so nice on our knees, and Alice even had a little tumble (she was okay but had bruised knees). It was a long day with 1400m elevation gained and then descended, 17km walked and a high point of around 3500m. I was stoked to see some big mountains for the first time and get a little taste of what the Himalayas have to offer.

Spending an entire week in one place was such a treat, especially when it’s a beautiful mountain town with perfect weather and amazing accommodation. It was a good reminder that we don’t always need to rush from one destination to the next, trying to fit everything in. Maybe we’d been moving too fast to notice the irony, but one of our mantras for this trip is “Slowly slowly, no hurry.” One of the gifts of long-term travel is the flexibility to move quickly for a while and see a lot, then slow down and really soak it all in. Striking a balance between the two is key, and our experience in Manali made me realize we've been spending too much time in the fast lane. 

Travel days/nights aren’t always fun or exciting, but they do always seem to memorable or unexpected in one way or another. The journey from Agra to Manali was long, and involved quite a few different legs:

This trip had a few interesting moments, the first being in the middle of Agra buying some skincare and realizing we were running far shorter on time than we thought. With a bribe to the driver, he sped us across town to pick up our luggage, and then to the train station. We did our all too regular sprint across the platform and jumped on right before the train pulled away. Now to park up for a good few hours of sleep before the bus… right? Weirdly, the confirmation text only had one seat number alongside both our names, which I thought must have been a typo or admin era. Oh how wrong I was… turns out when the trains are overbooked they do something called ‘RAC’ which stands for ‘Reservation Against Cancellation’. This means you have been allocated a spot on the train but not a berth, and you have to share with another passenger until another passenger cancels their confirmed ticket. So when the conductor came along we were politely informed that we had to share a berth for this overnight journey, and we would be informed if something else became available. Spoiler alert, it didn’t! You also get the pleasure of still paying for two full tickets, even though you have to share one bed between two… don’t ask me how the maths of that works. In the end it was a very memorable experience, and I think the whole carriage got a good laugh out of our surprise when we realized. We had a picnic dinner, tucked up top and tailed, and managed to get some sleep (maybe me more than Josh), and now we always have a laugh thinking back on it. 

I also received a call in the middle of the night about the bus pick up in Chandigarh changing location, but between my sleepy stupor, bad reception and patchy English I didn’t have a clue where we were supposed to go. Once we got to the station in Chandigarh we found an Autorickshaw driver who seemed friendly enough, passed him our phone with the driver on the other end and got him to organize where we needed to go. Don’t forget it’s 3:30 AM in the morning at this point. We had specifically chosen a bus close to the railway station, so to then be told we had to run to the auto and speed across town for thirty minutes was hilarious. Somehow we chose an auto driver who was parked on the other side of the train station as well. A good reminder - you plan, India laughs! We have felt very trusting of most people here, but I did have a moment when I was heading through town in an auto at 4:00 AM in the morning and had no idea where I was going where I wondered about the safety of it all. But, we arrived at the bus stop right on time, and before long we were tucked up into our semi sleeper seats (one each this time) and on the way to Manali.

I was too excited to get much sleep, but thankfully Josh got a few more hours. Before too long we were on the windy roads of the Himalayan foothills, and our first chai stop with crisp, fresh air was such a treat. We were so excited to be in the mountains, and seeing the first snow capped peaks was met with squeals of delight! From here the journey was easy and scenic, and upon arrival in Manali we got a taxi up to our accommodation in Old Manali. The road was very steep and small so we walked the final ten minutes looking at the mountains and forest around us. The heat and dust of  Agra felt much longer than 16 hours ago. 

Journeys like this always teach you something, and looking back now it was such a memorable night! We have recounted the journey many times with laughter and great memories. We’ve really learnt to release control and take it as it comes, you can do all the planning in the world, but at the end of the day you just have to go with India’s flow. I think we’ve got more resilient with this kind of thing over the last few months, taking these kinds of experiences in our stride. Slowly but surely, we’re learning to absolutely love it.

Once we realized the heat was just too much for us, we planned a bee line route to the mountains from Udaipur. But, no trip to India would be complete without a visit to the Taj Mahal, so we braved 43 degrees for one more day to see this wonder of the world. 

We arrived off the train and were immediately pretty overwhelmed by the heat (expected), but also the overall vibe (unexpected). We were now in Uttar Pradesh, which is unfortunately known as one of the more unsafe states in India, it's also the most populated state in India, making up 16.5% of the country's population, or 3% of the total world population!!! There was definitely more hassle and staring, and although I wouldn’t describe it as feeling unsafe, I also didn’t feel as comfortable as I have in other places. We walked down to the Taj Mahal for sunset, and were met with a number of relentless street sellers and auto drivers, and lots of kids begging us to buy a fridge magnet, which always breaks my heart especially when it's the afternoon on a school day.

Once we got our tickets and were in the complex, we were totally in awe and any misgivings we had previously totally melted away. It’s hard to describe the beauty of this building, it feels more like poetry, a love story or a piece of art. It was busy of course, but you can absolutely see why. Coming at sunset was really special, as we got to see the marble change as the sun set; from a bright white, to a rich gold and then a more muted grey as it got darker. They say in the morning it looks pink with the sunrise light which we didn’t see, but I can only imagine. We got the obligatory photos, and enjoyed walking around and exploring the different angles, colours and views. The sheer manpower that must have gone into building the Taj is impossible to comprehend, as is the design work to create such a perfectly symmetrical building. The marble itself is surprisingly cool to the touch, and has a luster that reminds me of pearls. Pair this with the precious stone details embedded into the walls, the intricate carvings and the immense scale and it's easy to understand why it's considered the most beautiful building in the world. 

We also met a group of girls that were travelling on a group trip, and got chatting to a couple of New Zealanders who were our age and knew Josh! A homely reminder of the size of our lovely country, and so nice to hear a familiar accent. We traded Instagrams, travel stories and future plans and have stayed in touch since. For our one evening in Agra we found a super fun restaurant called Mama Franky House that served famous Franky Rolls, chicken and momos. We hadn’t eaten a lot of northern Indian food yet, so we loved these deliciously smoky wraps and chicken drumsticks, slathered in thick sauces with chutney on the side. We were exhausted from the heat but very pleased we made the trip out for dinner! 

Another key site in Agra is the Agra Fort, which we did a guided tour of the next morning. This amazing, sprawling complex is actually used by the army today, but you can still visit the historic parts. Our tour guide gave us great context on the family dynamics of the ruling Mughal Dynasty who built the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and other tombs, palaces and forts. I won’t go into the details as I am desperately trying to keep this brief but let me tell you - more dramatic than any episode of the Kardashians!!!! There was more incredible marble work, intricate gardens, whole wings of offices where society was run from, two moats (one that used to have crocodiles and one that had tigers - no joke), and amazing brick work too. The architecture from this era is mind blowing. It’s hard to imagine the power and wealth of the Mughal Empire, at this point in history they controlled an area of 4 million square kilometers, including areas of present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. 

By mid morning we were on the hunt for AC, and I had found a cafe that was run by survivors of acid attacks, called Sheroes’ Hangout. Unfortunately acid attacks are still all too common in parts of India, often for things that seem so trivial such as a family rivalry or marriage dispute. It then impacts these women’s lives forever, with medical expenses, societal shame and often total estrangement from their families. Most of the time, the perpetrator is someone in the victim's own immediate family, or their partner. It was a real privilege to support this cafe and hear stories, not only of pain but also of hope. I got some amazing henna which I had wanted to do the whole time we were in India, and this felt like the perfect place to do it. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon hunting for a movie with English subtitles (no luck), and buying a few bits and pieces before we left the city for the mountains. Our toxic trait somehow seems to be always sprinting to catch our train, but once again by some miracle we made it. The journey from Agra to Manali was long and full of surprises… which I will detail in a separate post!

Imagine an ancient royal Indian city in the desert and you have Udaipur. Fantastical palaces situated right on the picturesque waterfront of tranquil lake Pichola, temples, havelis and countless narrow, timeless streets add the human counterpoint to the city’s natural charm.

We were finally starting to feel normal again after our neverending sickness, but we were still exhausted from a lot of long travel days and a busy schedule. We decided to use our time in Udaipur to rest and relax. Massive shoutout to Alice’s parents Jo & David who treated us to some nice accomodation in Udaipur out of the kindness of their hearts. We stayed at a place called Jagat Niwas and it was by far our nicest accommodation on this trip. There was a rooftop swimming pool, buffet breakfasts and live music in the restaurant every night. In India you can get luxury for relatively cheap, we were paying what you might pay in New Zealand for a run of the mill motel.

As we were staying in such a nice place, we didn’t really do much sightseeing in Udaipur. We spent a lot of time reading our books by the pool and escaping the heat during the afternoon in one of the many nooks and crannies of Jagat Niwas. As our appetites were finally returning we made the most of some incredible north Indian restaurants, but had to be careful as it’s a touristy town and some places were very overpriced.

By our last day we were starting to feel a little guilty about being so lazy, so we finally ventured out to do some sight seeing. The City Palace looks out over the lake and is only two doors down from our accommodation, but on a much grander scale. We got a tour guide for this and it was well worth it as we learnt a lot about the royal history of Udaipur. The palace is incredible. It is built on a natural hillside, so the top level actually has a garden with trees and flowers. There are some incredible glass mosaics and paintings inside the palace.

Udaipur was a romantic respite from a busy travel schedule and we took the opportunity to relax and rest. It was also an exciting moment as we were starting to feel healthy again for the first time in a couple of weeks. We were both a little sad that we didn’t see much in Udaipur and Rajasthan in general, but we realised that Ragistan at this time of year is not really possible with the heat. We will have to come back and explore this amazing part of India properly one day.

Since we had gone out of our way to reach Aurangabad, we needed to backtrack in order to get to our next destination, Ahmedabad. This would be our longest bus ride to date, a 600 km overnight trip that took us 15 hours. Surprisingly it ended up being quite a pleasant experience. We binged some episodes of The White Lotus, slept for about 7 hours or so and woke up to watch another episode before arriving in Ahmedabad around 9:30 AM. Ahmedabad was originally going to just be a stopover between Maharashtra and Rajasthan, and as we worked on our plans we realized that the timing aligned with an IPL game, something that was high up on our India bucket list. The more we looked into the city though, the more excited we got. The home of Mahatma Gandhi, its thriving textile industry, Gujarati food and a UNESCO world heritage protected city! We didn’t have long and daytime temperatures were peaking at 40+ degrees, but we were excited to explore. 

Our first stop was a restaurant for a Gujarati thali, our first serious Indian meal in a while. We’ve had a lot of thali while in India, but this was seriously delicious. They lay an empty plate in front of you and then a constant stream of over ten men come past loading your plate up with different items including curries, pickles, breads, sweets and sauces. You have to be quite aggressive in your ability to say no once you're full, but if you like something, you can just eat plate after plate!

We also had the privilege of visiting the Mahatma Gandhi Sabarmati Ashram. This is the ashram where Gandhi honed his teachings and spread the word about his revolutionary non violent approach to conflict resolution. Between the gallery, exhibitions and grounds we learnt so much, a highlight being quotes from other influential world leaders about his truly global, intergenerational impact. It was a very peaceful place, and it was very interesting to learn more about the life of this man and his impact on modern India. 

The morning of the cricket game we spent some time wandering the old town, which was steeped in a rich and varied history. There were tiny passages and alleyways everywhere you looked, chai wallahs on every corner, cows, chickens and goats everywhere (dead and alive…), and architecture full of intricate carvings, decorative archways and very creative wiring. Walking through this part of town felt like we had stepped back in time, and sipping an Iranian chai and enjoying a Bun Muksa was a really special experience that felt like it could have been the same 50 years ago. 

One more memorable stop before we reached the cricket game was the Kasturbhai Lalbhai Art Museum that we stumbled on very unexpectedly. Gujarat is known for its textiles and the first part of the exhibition, the Indigo Gallery, was a masterclass on the creative use of dye. Indigo, which is traditionally used to dye denim and other fabrics a deep, rich blue has a long history in India. The exhibition was beautiful, the color had been used in so many ways and it was set in the most amazing building in a lush, green garden. This was just the precursor, the main event was a (free) guided tour through an influential Gujarati family's private historic art collection. We were really taken back in time and learnt so much about the art history of India. It was all preserved so well and was heartening to see the effort and love that has gone into maintaining this collection.

And finally it was time for the main event! The IPL match between the Delhi Capitals and the Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modhi Stadium, the biggest stadium in the world. With a capacity of 132,000 people, the atmosphere was electric, even without the stadium being totally full. We knew that Indians loved their cricket, but to be there in the flesh was a totally different experience. Everyone was dressed up, chanting, dancing, cheering and just having the best time. We were nervous about the heat given we were at an afternoon match, but thankfully our seats were in the shade for most of the game so it wasn’t an issue. I definitely felt for the players though, I can’t imagine doing what they were out there in 40+ degrees. Highlights were seeing Mitchel Stark’s speed bowling, the anticipation that comes with seeing live catches, and of course, the Titans bringing home the win!!! It was a super close game in the end, won in the last over, which was exactly what we wanted for a live cricket experience. Before our trip to India I don’t think I had ever watched a full game of cricket, but now I am completely converted. It is such a fun game, especially in the T20 format. Shane and Gretchen watched the replay at home in NZ, and we even made it onto the TV! 

Gujarat is also a dry state, which meant everyone at the game was sober. This was a refreshing change from sports matches at home, and created such a safe and friendly atmosphere, despite the crowd being predominantly male. The only part that was a little hectic was leaving the stadium. The streets were swarming, and outside of the match the energy felt a little darker. Thankfully we met the most wonderful couple, Hardick and Posiya, who helped us get in a car back to our accommodation. We met them again later and spent the evening with them. The most generous hosts, we were driven around the city and taken to a number of spots for dinner, dessert and our first experience of pan. Not the tobacco kind, just a mix of spices and dried fruit that people take after a meal. It was a very overwhelming flavor, not my favorite, but good to try!! As always, it was so special spending time with local people our age, and trading stories about our lives, work, families and relationships took us into the early hours of the morning. 

The next day we went for a morning walk along the river and reflected on how much this city had surprised us, in the best way. The cricket game was easily one of our India highlights and it felt so cool to be immersed in local culture in that way. We definitely want to come back to Gujarat!