Josephine feels heat in India

BY JACKIE KEOGH

THE soaring temperatures this week have been a doddle for Josephine Walsh of Bantry who unexpectedly found herself in India where it hit a record-breaking 51 degrees.

Josephine was one of twelve paying tourists who turned up at an airport, ready to be flown out to a destination chosen by the host and tour guide, Francis Brennan, a man who also has the distinction of being Ireland’s most famous hotel owner.

‘I signed up because I knew it would be an adventure of a lifetime,’ said Josephine, whose husband Barry and son Sean believed it would turn out to be a trip to Los Angelus, while her daughter, Aisling, was betting on Lourdes.

‘It didn’t matter to me where we were going,’ said Josephine. ‘I just wanted to do something different, something exotic, and the fact that Francis Brennan was leading it added to the fun of it all.’

The ten-day trip – which involved a 1,000k round trip of Indian’s Golden Triangle of Deli, Agra and Jaipur – involved average temperatures in the high 40s, plus a 51-degree spike; dealing with Deli, a city that has a population of 17 million, and public conveniences that are less than ideal, but it also exposed the travellers to a country and a way of life that they might otherwise not have experienced.

The first in the six-part series entitled ‘Francis Brennan’s Grand Indian Tour’ was shown at 8.30pm last Sunday on RTÉ. 

The second instalment features the group on tour in Agra, where they get to visit one of the wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal. The visit to the monument proves memorable.