My Stay at Elements Hostel: The Best Backpacker Hostel in Chennai, India

My Stay at Elements Hostel: The Best Backpacker Hostel in Chennai, India

“Downtown Chennai baby, downtown Chennai oooh!” Chennai, once known as Madras was up next on my Indian itinerary as I attempted to escape the party madness of Goa and the continuous hippy vibe that took me to the village of Hampi. One beard trim later and I was on a night train from Hospete (where’s Read more about My Stay at Elements Hostel: The Best Backpacker Hostel in Chennai, India[…]

Backpacking in India: Staying in Paradise at Mowgli Guest House in Virupapuragaddi, Hampi

When you’re backpacking in India, Hampi gets mentioned in almost every conversation about what your plans are in the country. My initial hunch was to avoid it and go directly from Panjim to Bangalore. But the photos on the website were doing far too much justice that I added in Hampi as an extra stop Read more about Backpacking in India: Staying in Paradise at Mowgli Guest House in Virupapuragaddi, Hampi[…]

Backpacking in India: Staying at the Jungle Hostel by The Hostel Crowd in Vagator, Goa

Goa could just be a backpackers paradise. It’s like the India I never thought existed, only because I was too lazy to come here earlier in life. Even two days before my trip south to North Goa, I was in a hotel in Ahmedabad trying to secure a permit to buy alcohol. Here in Goa, Read more about Backpacking in India: Staying at the Jungle Hostel by The Hostel Crowd in Vagator, Goa[…]

Backpacking in India: Staying at the Hotel Formule 1 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat State

When life took me to the “dry state” of Gujarat in India, my Northern Irish soul could think of nothing else but Michael Palin’s journey here and the trouble he went to just to have a few beers in his hotel room. I wanted that too. So I made a beeline for the city of Read more about Backpacking in India: Staying at the Hotel Formule 1 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat State[…]

Backpacking in India: Staying at the Travellers Inn, Mumbai

Backpacking in India: Staying at the Travellers Inn, Mumbai

“Down in a den in Bombay. Slack jaw, not much to say. I said to the man are you trying to tempt me? Because I come from the land of plenty” – Men at Work. Inspiration for my visit to Mumbai (formerly Bombay) came from a few sources. A Michael Palin documentary on BBC, a Read more about Backpacking in India: Staying at the Travellers Inn, Mumbai[…]

Backpacking in India: Staying at the Popular Smyle Inn in New Delhi

When I arrived in India for the first time in 2016, my first port of call was the capital city, New Delhi. I found out about the highly rated Smyle Inn Hostel and made this my base for my first three nights in New Delhi before night training it to Mumbai. When I Facebooked the Read more about Backpacking in India: Staying at the Popular Smyle Inn in New Delhi[…]

Staying at the Orbita Boutique Hotel in Shymkent, Kazakhstan

I meandered my way back into the republic of Kazakhstan thanks to a clever visa free passport switch at the border (Irish for Uzbek visa, British for Kazak visa free entry). The toughest part of my Central Asian adventure was over and I’d escaped Uzbekistan. The countries of Kazakhstan and Kyrgzstan were up next, both Read more about Staying at the Orbita Boutique Hotel in Shymkent, Kazakhstan[…]

Backpacking in Afghanistan: My Homestay Experience in Masar e Sharif

Backpacking in Afghanistan: My Homestay Experience in Masar e Sharif

While backpacking in Afghanistan, I was delighted to be offered the chance of a homestay with a local family in the city of Masar e Sharif. In the years I’ve been travelling, I’ve had homestays in places like Israel, Iran, Uruguay, Nagorno Karabakh, Hungary, Tunisia and Transnistria. However Afghanistan was a whole new experience. The Read more about Backpacking in Afghanistan: My Homestay Experience in Masar e Sharif[…]