left at 09.30 with a driver we had arranged through our hotel on the way to Narlai and we stopped en-route at the 15th century Kumbhalgarh Fort which was hugely impressive with great views of the Aravalli countryside. Then on to the marble Ranakpur Jain Temple, equally impressive. The roads were narrow, only one car width, and drove through some hilly countryside. Arrived at Rawla Narlai hotel around 6.00pm - lovely hotel with touches of the Best Exotic Mari...

Arrived Udaipur in the state of Rajasthan after 1 hr 10 min flight and went straight to the prepaid taxi desk for a taxi to the hotel which took about 30-40 minutes. Lots of traffic intermingled with the sacred cows which share the roads equally. Nice small hotel (Mahendra Prakash Palace Haveli) with pool and aircon. We walked through the tightly winding streets of the old city where people were very nicely trying to sell us their wares, "looking is free". ...

Arrived in Mumbai by plane from the Seychelles, it was a very turbulent flight ….. Heather was not pleased but stopped short of screaming. After having concerns about a difficult airport experience, it turned out that all our fears were unfounded and from touchdown to being in the taxi was just over 1 hour. We splashed out a bit on the hotel and stayed in the 5-star Taj Mahal Palace (the beauty of travelling in Monsoon season, discounted rates!) - A team w...

Sad to leave Madagascar but a new adventure awaits. First a 6 day stopover in the Seychelles. The area we stayed was high on a hill and we had no car - good exercise we thought. Didn't realise quite how steep those hills were. We mainly explored the local beaches, downhill in the morning and a hard uphill in the afternoon with our noses nearly touching the tarmac. We were self-catering so shopping was done the same way! Beaches in Seychelles are not allowed...

Transfer to Auberge de la Table and Arboretum d'Antsokay Was going to be the last proper driving day with 4 hours to our destination close to the coast. Was an interesting last drive where we first passed a village close to a Sapphire mine - so you could see all the locals in the rivers panning for Sapphires and hoping they would be the lucky one. Heather had asked the day before whether we could do a stop at a Sapphire workshop - just to see the jewellery ...