Taj Garden Retreat

... on my clothes. In the late afternoons, Tom and I would jump onto the Enfield and drive over to the Taj Garden Retreat on the outskirts of bustling Madurai for a spot of tennis and a swim. Teddy Exports is well known ...

... (Marine Palace -rooms OK, property scuzzy) that we had tentatively booked (without prepayment - we are learning), we defaulted to the entry level Taj Gateway Hotel.  The Taj, of course, is the hotel chain that was targeted, along with the Oberoi in ...

... invited us in and cooked us a nice pasta dinner. Mimi's itself was a small block of Chalets surrounded by a nice peaceful garden. At the back of the guesthouse dwelt a rather large and skinny horse. It was a friendly beast and took a particular ...

... not like them.  It is said that, like a woman, like a Bollywood heroine, as you draw nearer to the Taj it draws away; as you retreat it comes towards you.   Shahjahan was the fifth of the Mughal Emperors. The first, who founded the Empire, was ...

... for many but also a place with more stoned people than I had seen anywhere else in India.  It has the feeling of a retreat and I spend three very relaxed days sitting in the hotel garden and wandering around with not very much to do.  Recharging ...

... and the largest glacier in Eurasia. It features a wide diversity of ecosystems, including successional stages due particularly to the retreat of glaciers resulting from climate change. The site is of outstanding universal value both for its beauty and for ...

... , which is well visible from the platform of the bow of the Church of Mount Mary, where I was before. The Retreat also had a beautiful garden with the 12 or 16 stations of Jesus. Á__ _ __ÁAs we drove along the coast line of Bandra, ...

... at Colva. After a couple of nights we felt strong enough to taxi south to Patnem where we found "Home" which made a wonderful retreat for a glorious sun-kissed week. I'm writing this epic from our hotel room in Mumbai before we catch the 0330 flight to ...

... we need to double this, or more, to have an acceptable place to sleep. With the heat and the dirt a cool, comfortable retreat becomes very important in order to maintain morale, especially at a time when we are becoming travel weary. Our final observation ...

... it too which made us laugh at their cheekiness! :) After that we nipped off for lunch (another thali) on a rooftop garden overlooking the Taj Mahal.  Whilst we were there a massive thunderstorm began.  We took shelter under a bit of corrugated ...

... using these bloody metal, handled contraptions as if just picking up a bottle to pour it wasn't good enough! We made a hasty retreat anyway and went to find somewhere cheaper to eat. We ended up at this fast food restaurant called Hot Millions and had ...

... would request photos with us. Fun at first but it soon got a bit repetitive and time consuming. After making a bit of a retreat we walked to the Prince of Wales Museum (again photos were not permitted inside) It was reasonably interesting although i ...

... three times, and his last words were "Hoy, Rama!" or "Oh, God!"  Along a sheltered path next to the adjoining retreat center was a long narrative of the history of the quest for Indian independence.  Forgive my snobbery, but I decided that I ...

... at this point, so I changed my mind. Some people I met sitting at a rooftop restaurant were talking about a nice little yoga retreat town in the north, close to the mountains. This sounded like excactly what I needed. With my ticket in hand, I ...

... nbsp;   Back to my room upgrade.  Following the two laboring bellhops to my new digs, I entered my new retreat for the next four nights.  I tipped them and surveyed my surroundings.  If the previous room was ...