From Mumbai I had booked a bus to Goa. This bus was supposedly to leave at 5:30pm and arrive at 9:30am, according to my printed ticket. Being the sensible traveller, I arrive a good 30 minutes early to make sure that I can calmly find my bus without the panic, running and stress. A random man then approaches me, looks at my ticket and write down a number plate on the top right corner on my printed paper. He then points me in the direction of a bus with the same operator name as mine and I waddle Read more [...]

This might sound absolutely absurd but another girl, Alex and I realised that in our horrible dorm of Mumbai, the beauty of ‘the bucket shave’. This consists of: 1) Filling up a large bucket with water 2) Carrying it to the side of a bed (which doesn’t belong to you) 3) Placing your disgustingly hairy traveller legs inside the bucket 4) Layering them in shaving gel (or shampoo for us poor travellers) 5) Now sit on that bed and endure the most amazing shaving experience of your Read more [...]

A group of us (4 English, 2 French, 2 Americans) wanted a night of drinks and fun in Mumbai, which seemed to be a lot trickier than one would have thought. We arrived in one bar which I wouldn’t even know how to start explaining. Though I shall try. There were three women dressed in full sari’s who would stand there as one would sing. Then a group of Indian men would get passed a bunch of 10 Rupee notes by the bar manager to throw at the women. As soon as money was flung towards them, all Read more [...]

An American, a German, and English and I all decided to get a train to where the slums of Mumbai are located. As we walk in all eyes are on us. The four white females walking into what feels like a whole different place to the Mumbai we had known from the days previous. And it was. The poverty was higher, the dirt was more extreme but the thing I loved about it was that the smiles were genuine. These people were happy. So happy. Yes, there was the odd person who would ask for money like the rest Read more [...]

Being in Mumbai, I was told that it was common for you to be stopped in the streets and asked to be an extra in the back of a Bollywood film. This sounded like an amazing yet bizarre experience to be involved in. Of course I thought it was too good to be true, until I was approached myself. It was to be a full days work (leaving at 8am and returning at 10pm at the latest), I was also to receive breakfast, lunch and dinner, as much chai as I would require AND I was to be getting paid 5,000 Rupees Read more [...]

When you are paying for a bed….who doesn’t give sheets? It’s illogical and highly unhygienic. Add that to the breakfast we all received which was 3 bits of bread (not toast), a small ration of butter and florescent jam and a boiled egg (if you were lucky!) Then there was the issue of bugs and cockroaches. This to me is not normally an issue. Some places you go, bugs are inevitable and that’s fine. But the reason that this place was packed full of them was because no one cleaned any of the Read more [...]

… And I’m not a happy girl. In many ways it reminds me of London. It’s busy, no one really knows what’s going on, people aren’t friendly, they don’t tend to go out of their way to help you and prices shoot up. Though I did manage to have a slight crisis with my bus to Mumbai and so maybe these words are just words of a girl who happens to not be in the best mood possible. A conversation with the bus driver went a little something like this: “Do you speak English?” “Yes Read more [...]

Whenever I have felt slightly down in anyway and have discussed such with another person, they always end up saying something on the lines of ‘Things will get better’ or ‘You’ll be alright’, to which to this very day I have always replied ‘Of course I will. I’m a Smith. This is what we do.’ I’m not quite sure what it means or what exactly us Smith’s do but it has always worked for me. It always gave me that extra bit of strength to shove a smile on my face. And right here Read more [...]

Today I decided to go to the local cinema in Jodhpur to watch a classic Bollywood film. I had been told by many that ‘House Full 2’ was the film to see as it was absolutely hilarious! I felt I needed to go and be able to share my own opinion. I went alone and so of course, was the only white person sat in the audience. This caused the usual pointing, which by now I was used to and generally oblivious to (other than the fact that the person directly in front of me stood up, turned around and Read more [...]