Pawan Street Falafel - Pushkar, Rajasthan, India

Pawan Street Falafel - Pushkar, Rajasthan, India

This has to be some of the best food in town. Now, admittedly, Pushkar is pretty hit-and-miss when it comes to food, so being the best may not sound like a big compliment. But this roadside street food can challenge any falafel we've ever had. We like the #3, with avocado, chips (fries), falafel, vegetable salad, hummus, and spicy sauce. And the owner/operator of the business if fantastic - generous and funny, kind and inviting. And he offered us free chai after each visit. There are 2 different roadside stands selling the same food, right next to each other. When you're facing the 2 options from the street, we like the guy on the right. The most expensive item on the menu (the #3), is Rs120, and is more than enough for a meal.

We give Pawan...5 Happy Travelers!

Camel Trekking - Pushkar, Rajasthan, India

Camel Trekking - Pushkar, Rajasthan, India

There's nothing like riding a camel while it trots down a steep hill on soft, slippery sand. And we say that in both a wonderful and an awful way. This experience will vary from person to person, but the same problems that plague India will visit you on this experience. It's a great idea, in theory, but there are very few systems in place and your plans are changed for you often….usually resulting in an increased rate for you. Don't expect rolling sand dunes on this experience. And don't expect to be in the remote desert, free from light and noise pollution. The short 1.5 hour ride sometimes takes you on asphalt highways and sometimes through a landscape of wild pigs chewing on tumble weeds. We found the "guides" to be friendly and knowledgeable, and excellent cooks for our dinner. However, it's difficult to get complete transparency when you're booking your trip, so expect some disappointments along the way. With that said, when was the last time you road a camel at all, let alone into the desert for a night under the stars? 

We give Camel Trekking in Pushkar...3 Happy Travelers!

Out of the Blue Restaurant - Pushkar, Rajasthan, India

Out of the Blue Restaurant - Pushkar, Rajasthan, India

While many of the patrons of this rooftop restaurant are enjoying the menu's array of "special" foods (ahem….laced with bang), the drug-free part of the menu is delicious and the service is excellent. Dilip can usually be found taking orders and running food up and down the stairs, always with a smile and a joke. The menu is diverse (Indian, Chinese, pizza, pasta, Israeli, Mexican, salads, soups, etc…), but everything we had was satisfying and good. As a bonus - they have true, honest-to-goodness coffee and it's absolutely delicious! The restaurant is clean and you can sit at either a table, or on cushions around a low table.

We give Out of the Blue...4 Happy Travelers!

Enigma Cafe - Pushkar, Rajasthan, India

Enigma Cafe - Pushkar, Rajasthan, India

Yuck. While we found Enigma to get good reviews on various websites, the food we were served was barely edible. In fact, we actually poured some of our soup into a potted plant when no one was looking and seriously considered dumping our mashed potatoes over the edge of the rooftop. It was that bad. 1 Backpacker because the location and view are great and the staff is friendly and attentive. But, even with good service and a nice view, a restaurant's purpose is to feed people…and they do it poorly.

We give Enigma Cafe...1 Happy Traveler

Funky Monkey Restaurant - Pushkar, Rajasthan, India

Funky Monkey Restaurant - Pushkar, Rajasthan, India

Not sure how this place is so well-reviewed on websites and in guide books. We think it's gone to hell (if it was ever good at all), at least, when it comes to food. Many reviewers like Funky Monkey for its taboo cocktails (illegal in Pushkar) and, while we didn't imbibe while there, we did have one of their homemade ginger beers, which was FANTASTIC. However - the food was pretty awful, the service was poor (borderline rude, actually), the wait was long, and the location has you "enjoying" your food while a few feet away from mangy dogs, begging children and piles of garbage. If you're really in need of a mojito, go ahead and visit Funky Monkey….just make sure you arrive with a full tummy.

We give Funky Monkey...2 Happy Travelers.

Hotel Swadesh Heritage - Udupi, Karnataka, India

Hotel Swadesh Heritage - Udupi, Karnataka, India

We're all for a budget room, but this place was seriously lacking in character. It was dingy and dank and smelled musty. There's very little accommodation for foreigners in Udupi, so you may find yourself circling back to Swadesh. If this is the case, ask to see a variety of rooms before you commit, and consider upgrading to a nicer room in favor of comfort.

We give Hotel Swadesh...2 Happy Travelers!

Keshava Temple - outside Mysore, Karnataka, India

Keshava Temple - outside Mysore, Karnataka, India

Meh. It's old and interesting and alluringly clean and quiet but, if you're traveling in India for an extended amount of time, you'll see enough temples that it's not necessary to go out of your way (1.5 hours outside Mysore) to see them. And, if you're in India for a short while, it's unlikely you want to spend half a day getting to and from somewhere. The temple itself is beautiful so, if you find yourself going that direction, stop and check it out. Otherwise, spend your afternoon at Cafe Coffee Day instead, sucking down an iced "coffee."

We give Keshava Temple...2 Happy Backpackers.

Agoda.com - Travel Congregator Website

Agoda.com - Travel Congregator

Be wary of small print! Agoda.com will give you a low price quote for your room that doesn't include any taxes or extra fees. It doesn't allow you to select number of guests, which is important in countries where it's common for hotels to charge based on occupancy (i.e.: India). Our $80/night hotel room at JP Palace in Mysore really ended up being $120/night once the charge for an extra person ($20/night) and the taxes/fees (another $20/night) were included. 

We give Agoda.com...2 Happy Travelers.

Aslam, Rickshaw Driver/Tour Guide - Mysore, Karnataka, India

Aslam, Rickshaw Driver/Tour Guide - Mysore, Karnataka, India

Sweetest guy ever. Hire him to drive you around Mysore. Ask to meet his family (take treats!). Sit back and listen to this funny, genuine young man and leave Mysore feeling like you've made a friend. Call him! 96 86 506 548

We give Aslam...5 Happy Travelers!

Fortune JP Palace Hotel - Mysore, Karnataka, India

Fortune JP Palace Hotel - Mysore, Karnataka, India

JP Palace was a splurge for us when Tom was sick and we were both burnt out. It certainly didn't disappoint and we were incredibly comfortable the entire time. The restaurants on the premises are a little underwhelming, but the staff was always attentive and eager to find something that pleased us. While JP Palace in Mysore wouldn't stand out as particularly unique among luxury hotels, having a comfortable (and air-conditioned) place to retreat to from the madness of Mysore during Dusehra was a great choice. Minus 1 backpacker because the check-in staff wasn't very friendly and scolded us for booking our reservation on Agoda.com.

We give Fortune JP Palace...4 Happy Travelers!

Kashi Art Cafe - Fort Cochin, Kerala, India

Kashi Art Cafe - Fort Cochin, Kerala, India

Kashi gets 3 stars alone for it's beautiful space. Entering the cafe, you go through an art gallery and into the cafe. We've been several times (over a few months), and the art is always rotating and thought-provoking. The cafe is in the courtyard of the building, with a loose stone floor and a path going through the space. Wood-plank floors host the tables, and there are well-tended plants everywhere. I am especially in love with a wall installation of potted plants that I am dying to replicate some day. The breakfasts are big and tasty. The coffee comes with your own tiny French press. The fruit is fresh, and the omelets are tasty. Try the French toast! The service can be a bit slow, but we think this is due to its popularity and a problem with the system, and not due to the wait staff, who seem to be hustling all the time.

We give Kashi...4 Happy Travelers!

Dal Roti - Fort Cochin, Kerala, India

Dal Roti - Fort Cochin, Kerala, India

Perfection. Seriously. The owner is funny and informative. The entire staff is attentive and efficient and running around like they work in Seattle and not India. They are multitasking all over the place. The ambiance is simple, but really enjoyable and kind of feels like an art gallery space. The food…THE FOOD….is delicious. After being in Fort Cochin once and having Dal Roti's katti roll, I've been craving it for months. When it was time to choose a place to kill a few days time before we left India, I pushed for Fort Cochin, almost entirely for Dal Roti's katti roll. Everything else on the menu looks fantastic also - amazing thalis. Quick note: Dal Roti is closed every Tuesday and every day between 3:30-6:30. At night, the line can get long, but it's worth the wait!

We give Dal Roti...5 Happy Travelers!

Cafe Coffee Day - India

Cafe Coffee Day - India

We love Cafe Coffee Day when we're searching for either comfort or cool. Cafe Coffee Day offers the same kind of consistency you expect from any chain, and it's spiffed up to resemble an American establishment. When we're feeling homesick or burnt out, Cafe Coffee Day feels familiar. It's also air-conditioned, a rare thing in most parts of India. So, when the temperature is rising, CCD offers a respite from the heat. The coffee isn't super impressive, but there's a range of tasty snacks and it's a nice scene. Note: the iced coffee is delicious, but you'll only enjoy it if you're looking for a dessert-like drink. It's MUCH too sweet to pass as a caffeine-jolt for serious brew aficionados.

We give Cafe Coffee Day...4 Happy Travelers!

Oy's Cafe - Fort Cochin, Kerala, India

Oy's Cafe - Fort Cochin, Kerala, India

Our first time in Fort Cochin, we spent a lot of time in Oy's due to lack of options. It was seriously hot, Tom was sick, and we were preoccupied with planning our next stop. The interior is cozy and comfortable, and the food is forgettable, but satiating. They have WiFi, but it's not free (Rs50/hour), even if you're a customer, which we think is bull hockey. And, to make things worse, the WiFi is really patchy, meaning you're paying for crap. The second time around in Fort Cochin, we hopped into Oy's Cafe again, hoping for the best, but our previous opinion was affirmed when the staff was disinterested, the WiFi didn't work, and there was nothing on offer to go with the (surprisingly good) coffee drinks.

We give Oy's...2 Happy Travelers.

Kerala Kathakali Centre - Fort Cochin, Kerala, India

Kerala Kathakali Centre (Kathakali Mandapam) - $6/person - Fort Cochin, Kerala, India

Kathakali is the traditional performing art of Kerala, and we knew we wanted to see a performance while in Fort Cochin. The show can drag on a bit long - you start at 5pm watching the makeup application for 1 hour, followed by a 1.5 hour show. If I did it again, I would skip the first half hour of makeup application and come for only the 2nd half of the tutorial, which was actually really interesting. And, if they were taking feedback on how to make the show better, I would definitely suggest shortening it to 1 hour. Still, we'd never seen anything like it, and found it all fascinating, especially since it's unlikely a group of Keralans are going to bust out in spontaneous traditional dance in front of us any time soon. The actors are clearly dedicated to their art, which is admirable in itself, but work very hard to put on an authentic show for their nearly entirely foreign audience. Learning about the different kinds of makeup used and about the tiny movements that depict various emotions was also really interesting. However, if they could cut the drum solos down, that wouldn't bother me either.

We give Kerala Kathakali Centre...4 Happy Travelers!

Kapithan Inn - Fort Cochin, Kerala, India

Kapithan Inn, $13/night - Fort Cochin, Kerala, India

After arriving to Kochi by train, we opted to take a rickshaw to Fort Cochin rather than the cheaper local bus. We arrived at Kapithan Inn and were greeted by one of the 2 women running this home stay. We had read that the hosts were extremely friendly, but we weren't really shown this friendliness. Instead, our hosts were distant and offered little welcome. However, they weren't unkind, so maybe they were just having a bad few days. The home faces an open field where local kids are usually playing and is guarded by a beautiful gate. It's a great location, close enough to walk to all the tourist spots in Fort Cochin, but separate from the shuffle of backpackers. While the family lives in an attached building with some interesting period and Portuguese details, the building for the guest rooms is simple and unremarkable. Our room was up a flight of outdoor stairs. The room was small and dingy, with an attached musty bathroom. Still, the room was clean and we were happy with the location and lacked the motivation to move rooms, so we stayed 3 nights, making sure to spend most of our time outdoors. The property does have free Wi-Fi, but it didn't work in the room, so we had to go downstairs and sit uncomfortably (both physically and in terms of personal space) on the kitchen stairs to use it. Kapithan Inn was a disappointment - mostly because we felt like they ignored us because we were renting a cheap room.

We give Kapithan Inn...2 Happy Travelers.

Alleppey Backwater Experience - Alleppey, Kerala, India

Alleppey Backwater Experience

Any backpacker in South India at least considers doing the backwaters, and the easiest and cheapest place to do this is in Alleppey. When we were in Alleppey, we chose not to rent an overnight houseboat (knowing that we would be back in Kerala in a few months to visit friends and that we would get the houseboat experience then), but we did hire a canoe and a driver/guide for an entire day to explore the area and it was a great experience. Alleppey (and the entire region, really) is a maze of backwaters and canals, some large and some small. People live along the water and entire on it completely to live. Their rice paddies are flooded (intentionally) by the water in these canals, they ride in water taxis and ferries to get to school, they eat the fish and mussels from these waters, they bathe in and wash their dishes here…they rely on it completely. Because the houseboats are so big, they can't enter some of the smaller canals, which is where an abundance of village life takes place. Our canoe was able to enter even the smallest backwaters, and we loved the experience. 

We give the Alleppey Backwater Experience...4 Happy Travelers!

Raju's Canoe Service - Alleppey, Kerala, India

Raju's Canoe Service, $6/hour - Alleppey, Kerala, India

We knew we'd be coming back to Alleppey again with some friends, so decided to skip the houseboat experience until we were with them. However, we still wanted to spend some time on the backwaters so, on the request of Macy at Palmy Lake Resort, we booked Raju for a 5 hour canoe trip. He arrived in the morning and began to lead us along a small canal to his canoe. From the moment we met Raju, he was friendly and informative, stopping to identify flowers and birds for us. Though his English isn't great, he knows enough to make his point, and isn't afraid to stumble through the words if it means you'll learn something or be entertained. In the canoe, we saw locals going about their lives, using the backwaters as their lifeblood. Raju explained it all to us; the work people do, how the children get to school, how much fresh fish costs, how to turn mussel shells into paint. He told us all the things we wanted to know, usually before we asked the question, and often times before we knew there was a question to ask. He was a fantastic guide. One of the benefits of doing a canoe trip vs. a house boat trip is that you're able to access the very small canals, which is where daily life happens on the water, something really special to see. Raju took us to a tea shop on the water, where they had a pet sea eagle that we were allowed to hold. We also unloaded out of the canoe and walked back to a small village (where there were no tourists) to see another glimpse of every day life on the backwaters. He told us how the water is treated and "purified" in the canals and even let Tom help paddle the canoe for awhile. Raju never ceased to be cheerful, kind and informative and we highly recommend his services (and hope you'll tip generously).

We give Raju...5 Happy Travelers!

Palmy Lake Resort - Alleppey, Kerala, India

Palmy Lake Resort, $15/night - Alleppey, Kerala, India

Rani at Mummy Bamboo House in Varkala suggested the Palmy properties and it was a good recommendation. We opted for the "fancier" of the two Palmy properties, and stayed at the "Lake Resort" versus the "Residency." We arrived via train and they sent a rickshaw to pick us up (for a fee). The property is nice; a green lawn, dotted with individual cottages, all surrounding the main house, where Macy (the owner), and her family live, and where there are additional, more budget rooms. There are large bird cages and aviaries throughout the property filled with pigeons and other birds, that they raise and sell as sporting birds. Aside from the pigeons, some of the brightly colored birds were nice to watch. Our little cottage was very basic, but clean, with attached bath (no hot water), and screened windows (which means you don't need a mosquito net!). While there was nothing wrong with the room, we felt the room should have been a bit more comfortable for $15/night. There were always women coming around to sweep the porches, a testament to the cleanliness of the property. Palmy Lake Resort is located about 7 kilometers outside of town on a quiet road and right on a small backwater canal, leading to one of the main canals. While the room was nothing to really brag about, Macy's cooking was. We had breakfast in the main house each morning, and Macy makes AMAZING appam breakfasts. Don't be afraid of curry for breakfast - it's delicious! Macy also arranged for a day trip on the backwaters with Raju, who was fantastic. While the seclusion of the property made for a relaxing stay, options for eating and activities were very limited without asking Macy to call a rickshaw, so we mostly stayed at Palmy for our 2 night stay.

We give Palmy...4 Happy Travelers!

Mummy Bamboo House - Varkala, Kerala, India

Mummy Bamboo House, $9/night - Varkala, Kerala, India

Mummy Bamboo House has been one of the great deals of our time in India. Wildly popular on TripAdvisor and amongst backpackers, we scored a room by calling a day in advance (during low season). While we stayed there, many other backpackers found rooms just by walking up to the building. Rani, the owner of Mummy, sent a rickshaw to the train station to pick us up (for a fee) and greeted us with open arms. The room was very simple with a basic bed, small veranda, and attached bathroom (no hot water), but it was clean and comfortable for our 2 night stay in Varkala. We saw that more deluxe rooms were larger and had hammocks on the verandas. We were told many times about Rani's amazing cooking but, unfortunately, were never able to try it, as we were still jet-lagged and our schedules were screwy. (We even heard about Rani's cooking from Indians in other towns so, if you stay at Mummy Bamboo, make time to sample her fare.) At the beginning of each stay, Rani provides you with an entire case of bottled water. At the end of your stay, she counts the bottles you took and includes it in your bill. It's a huge convenience. Mummy Bamboo is located about 50 meters from the cliff-side in Varkala, down a shop and guesthouse lined path. While there was no WiFi, we were fewer than 50 meters away from cliff-side restaurants with free internet.

We give Mummy Bamboo...5 Happy Travelers!

Vedic Heritage House - Kovalam, Kerala, India

Vedic Heritage House, $28/night - Kovalam, Kerala, India

Kovalam was our first stop in India (and on our year long trip abroad), so we decided to go over our budget a bit for our first 3 nights. Vedic Heritage House is a beautiful old home, with elegant wood verandas and simple, but comfortable rooms. We were just starting our trip, so it's possible we didn't appreciate the comfort of Vedic as much as we would now, but it was a wonderful stay. The owner, Charles (an Indian), splits his time between Kovalam and Norway and runs a great business. The basic rooms have a large, comfortable bed (or 2 twin, if you prefer) with a fitted mosquito net, ornate wooden furniture, and attached bathrooms of reasonable cleanliness (with no hot water). Both Charles and Mutu, the host/concierge, have studied ayurveda, so Vedic offers absolutely delicious, clean, healthy food. Looking back, it has been some of the best food we've had in India. The puttu and appam breakfasts are still fresh in our memories. Two huge perks of Vedic Heritage is the free, filtered water and the free WiFi. Charles and Mutu both made us feel right at home and welcomed us warmly to India. Vedic Heritage is set back off the beach on a dilapidated public foot path. The path is dirty and unpleasant, but you must use the path to access the beach and the "boardwalk" area. Also, while the room was very clean, we did see 2 large cockroaches in our room in the evenings. While this is not uncommon in budget rooms in south India, we would expect our $28 room to be roach-free. 

We give Vedic Heritage...4 Happy Travelers!