London Tourist - rediscovering home: 5 places to see in London

It's too easy to forget what's on your own doorstep; the old adage 'out of sight out of mind' is irrelevant in travel - it's quite the opposite. 

With 15 years beneath my belt being a vilified Londoner I seem to have forgotten the beauty of a city that has ranked number one for global tourist destinations. Following nearly five years of "campaign London" starting with the Royal Engagement, Royal Wedding, Queen's Jubilee, Olympics and recently ending with the new Prince the spotlight has even helped me reinvigorate the love for the capital and rediscover my environment.

1. Stepping onto Portobello Road for the first time in over 10 years, while it's much smaller than I remember, much less Bric-a-Brac and significantly more chain stores - and it has lost its historical edge, what it doesn't lose is the backdrop of Victorian Britain. The beauty of the colourful streets reimagine life here over a century ago when horse and cart were commonplace and the market was the centre of all refinery and wealth. Today, other than marvelling overly priced antiques it's the remaining independent stores that take my fancy. 

We stop in a burger joint for the biggest baddest burgers and fresh lemonade that I haven't had in an age - the prices mediocre as costs in the capital have continued to soar over the past decade, I assure you that there's no stopping them and finding a bargain is next to near impossible. 

2. Then just a couple of weeks before Christmas the city is ablaze with fairy lights and the festive dusting covers the city as I flit between the quirky - Vauxhall Tavern for its sing-a-long cabaret night and I show a visiting blogger around London's gay night life being reminded that fun can be had on a weeknight without much expense nor heavy head next day. 

3. And a visit to Winter Wonderland was perhaps the biggest spectacular surprise I've experienced as a Londoner for a number of years. This mammoth indulgence in Christmas brought the spirit and the excitement alive as thousands squeezed into Hyde Park and meandered around the fairground, markets and food stall supping on Mulled Wine and local beers.

4. Next stop Camden, the last time I visited this infamous destination I was a student. The place was quirky, historic, shabby, with drugs being sold on every corner; shop fronts bulging out onto the road, litter strewn across the streets, rats scurrying out of view and a multicultural diverse community of hipsters, punks and tourists. Today the place has been gentrified, very much middle class Britain with its cultural heritage diluted and the magic essence that made it Camden (like Carnaby Street was once the backdrop to 1970's Britain) pretty much evaporated,

The streets are clean and free from exploding shops, the markets are now laden with European imported goods, extravagant food stalls and the same groups of tourists that inhabited it many years ago. The hipsters and punks have all but gone and now any well to do respectable citizen will proclaim to having spent the day In Camden. For me, the walk was pleasant on a slightly frosty day as the winter sun spilled into the alleys and courtyards of the refurbished market but the touch I remembered had vanished.

5. My London finale was a trip down Oxford Street shopping with Mum for Christmas, the still not pedestrianised road is becoming more treacherous as the years go on, but the remarkable festive magic goes from strength to strength as the large stores of Selfridges,  House of Frazer, Debenhams, John Lewis, et al all put on spectacular visual displays in their shop fronts. Escape the crowds by eating In the side alleys but always go early to avoid the crowds.

London 2013 still works for me, but the changes have stripped places of the individuality they once owned and still there are changes that should take place. Perhaps my biggest disappointment about London, as one of the leading capitals and number one choice for tourists is its gay Pride event - whether it being marred by financial difficulties the fact remains that one of the most progressive countries in the world fails to deliver a first class pride precession baffles me, and even more so that financially burdened Spain can put on a show three times it's size in Madrid. Which incidentally spurs me to continue travelling, appreciate London for what it is - home - and that my doorstep is the world.  

Varanasi, India - celebrating Holi

Happy Holi - the children chime as I pass in the street.

Happy Holi - the adults greet with enthusiasm and grabbing your hand to shake, smiling all the while.

And this is 2 days before the festival. 

Holi is full of colour and appears to be a cross between Christmas and Halloween and Bonfire Night all thrown together. It's about family, friends, community, welcoming outsiders, religion, colour, happiness, and a lot of face paint. I had been warned in Varanasi that it is the most vibrant place to experience Holi - and potentially aggressive.

The day before celebrations kicked off, I purchased a cream linen top to make the most of the impending colour. Whilst walking the alleyways children approached me hands-clapsed with coloured powder decorating my face and dusting my hair. These vibrant blues, greens, reds, pinks, purples are aluminous.

By nightfall the parties commenced, by 10pm it was time for me to call it a night. Most the men were stoned or drunk and the party was getting a little out of hand for my liking. So I looked forward to an early start of the next day’s festivities.

Early on Holi the event starts wet! No more dry powder, it's now become coloured water bombs, water pistols filled and barrels line the streets containing buckets of colour. I set off, as midday approaches I was advised to stay away, this is when the adults become a little drunk, stoned and overly excited. But In my experience walking alone is not safe! Try to avoid it at all costs.

I walked a long the Ghats and was colour-attacked several times by young children, to me this seemed reasonably quiet. Becoming brave, I decided to head into the alleyways - here it was calm and infact rather empty. Hidden in some corners were children ready for attack. I headed for the Main Street for the sunlight and feel more secure, I didn’t need any more hidden colour-attacks. It was eerie, some people gathered in the streets and children played. I walked, taking it all in - no cars, no bikes, no rickhaws, nothing - just people! The hectic markets of the day before had vanished. It was like 28 Days Later, or visiting London during Christmas Day. Then suddenly, from out of nowhere a group of 20 kids start throwing paint bombs at me and firing cannons of coloured water. At this point, I ran and escaped, just a few hundred feet later  to encounter a group of 15 teenagers charging towards me. Suddenly my fear envelops me, they are not just firing coloured bombs this time but also aggressively demanding money, pushing me into a corner and touching up my pockets.  Sense of survival prevailed, as I ran to escape, losing my treasured Vietnam cap in the instance.

At this point it was time to turn back. I headed to return to the Sahi Riverview Guesthouse, I didn't feel safe, I felt alone, I felt vulnerable.

On returning to the guesthouse I met a group of pristine white tourists ready to head out. I warned them of the dangers as they excitedly invited me along, not one to be out done and the option of being part of a pack of 5 made the prospect more appealing.

That was it! 5 against the world…well not quite. It was time to Rock! Holi. We had a wicked time - exploring the city, becoming absolutely soaked to the bone in colour staining our bodies with reds, purples greens and yellows. We danced with holy men, and partied with the locals, and you could easily feel the mood of the atmosphere change as more of the men became aggressive. Being sensible we all concurred to head back to the hotel to shower and attempt to remove this dye from our bodies.

20 minutes of scrubbing and I still have colour stained on my skin - purple back, pink neck, red eyebrows, purple finger nails, yellow calves. I give up and sit in the sun to dry . 

Lunch at Lotus Lounge and we then set out across the now quiet neighbourhood of Varanasi - much is closed and it’s suddenly a different city again - a peaceful place. By 5pm we wander the alleyways coming across families emerging from afternoon religious ceremonies; all clean, wearing their pressed “Sunday finest”. It's a different world to the mess we were confronted by earlier in the day.

We make our way to Lotus Lounge, a rooftop overlooking the Ganges. Here we watch sunset and dine lounging on cushions and exchanging friendly banter. I then head back to the guesthouse to for a taxi to catch my train to Agra.