Jim lives in London - Dave is regularly in the UK visiting friends and sightseeing. Jim has a popular International talk show where prominent and celebrated guests often make appearances. World traveler Dave has been his most common guest so we went ahead and just changed the name of the show to: "The Dave and Jim Show". We present the show to you in short webisodes. Enjoy! Essentially Dave goes on Jim's wildly popular International travel … [Read more...]
The Elephanta Suite
The Elephanta Suite by Paul Theroux Mr. Theroux brings to life three separate short stories - involving travelers, all of which are set in real life India. The first story features a long time married couple seeking relaxation at a spa and both husband and wife seek relationships with other individuals. The second involves a "middle of the road" lawyer from America who follows his lust in the seedy slums of Mumbai. The third story involves a … [Read more...]
Jetting from Chennai to Bangkok
We jumped on our Air Asia flight last night from MAA-BKK. The route opened up earlier this year and we immediately seized the opportunity to buy severely discounted tickets during Air Asia's promotional period. We paid £89 per person for the round trip ticket - about 3.5 hours each way! Course with Air Asia you get a basic flight - no food or drink, seats that are agonizingly tight for tall people and most of the time a middle or window seat … [Read more...]
Touring Chennai
We didn't find much in the way of inspiration during our short stay in Chennai (other than the people were quite friendly) - but we enjoyed touring some of the city's unique historical sites including the San Thome Basilica. This is one of only three churches in the world that are supposedly built on top an apostle's tomb. This one houses the remains of Thomas the Apostle - the other two are the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain and … [Read more...]
Wedding Celebration, Chennai India
After a busy few days spent shopping for clothing for the event - sari's, shoes, long colorful flowing robes etc - we now have our appropriate Southern Indian wedding ceremony attire. The celebration went off without a hitch - one of India's most famous violinists (T. N. Krishnan) and his daughter took the stage for over an hour with hypnotizing music. Hundreds of people came to celebrate the joyous occasion! … [Read more...]
Pre Wedding Ceremony Preparations, Chennai
After a hectic few days bouncing around the planet, we find ourselves in Chennai India. Today was a fun Henna party - and then shopping for Sari's. This city is chaotic on the streets - but so far not nearly as much as our experiences in some of the larger Northern Indian cities. … [Read more...]
Rick Steves Rolling Backpack
Rick Steves Rolling Backpack (Reviewed: Jul 2012) Leave it to Rick Steves to combine the simplicity of backpack with the convenience of a roll a board. Roll the "Rolling Backpack" around for ease at the airport or at your hotel but shoulder it in situations where its better on your back then on the ground (crowds, nasty sidewalks etc). After sitting around for a month or two we were itching to put this to the road test. A trip to Thailand, Japan … [Read more...]
One Day in Bangkok
Yesterday Tokyo, today Bangkok, tomorrow Chennai. No rest for the weary. … [Read more...]
Researching Budget Hotels, Chennai India
Looking for budget hotels in India is always so entertaining. For $6 dollars a night we found a hotel that boasts, "bucket showers (for hot water), a "no Indian policy" and squat toilets". Really, all strong selling points??? Here's another line: "each and every single room at our hotel exotic epitomizes luxury and the grandeur of Indian culture juxtaposed with modern amenities" - this is set on a background image of some guy in a tuxedo! … [Read more...]
Lunatic Express
Lunatic Express by Carl Hoffman This is a fascinating read about travel through countries with some of the world's craziest and most dangerous transportation networks. Author Hoffman's recollections of his journey are gripping, engaging, reflective and at times humorous. He travels as locals would almost always in the lowest seating class - from the insanely crowded Mumbai trains where over 4,000 are killed annually due to train related … [Read more...]