We boarded the Golden Travel coach for the long journey to Pokhara. After a predictably slow start we made good progress until an accident brought the traffic to a complete standstill for over an hour. We finally reached the relaxed town of Pokhara soon after 16:00. The touts were nowhere near as aggressive as we [...]
The International Guest house was a peaceful haven, just outside the chaos of the main Thamel tourist area, where we were to base ourselves for a couple of days. We had a day and a half in Nepal’s capital before Pam arrived. Wanting to save the sightseeing until she arrived, we spent this time relaxing [...]
From Varanassi the road to Kathmandu leads north to the city of Gorakhpur then on to the border at Sonauli. From there it’s the simple matter of a seven to ten hour bus ride to the Nepali capital of Kathmandu. We began our journey with a six hour train ride from Varnassi to Gorakhpur. We [...]
It’s hard to know where to begin when describing Varanassi. The place was a bit of a shock for us even after nearly two months in India. The narrow lanes of the old town heaved with vendors, tourists, pilgrims and animals. From our balcony we were able to witness the chaos: monkeys swinging and scurrying [...]
I had been really looking forward to arriving in Delhi for several weeks. Aside from the excitement of visiting India’s capital city, I couldn’t wait to see some of my friends for the the first time in nine months (some longer.) They had come for a friend’s wedding in Faridabad, near Delhi. We stayed at [...]
As with most tourist destinations in the north of India, Agra had been badly affected by the fall in tourist numbers following the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai. This clearly had a devastating effect on small businesses struggling to survive. The less serious, yet extremely annoying, effect on us was an intensification in the hassle [...]
On arriving in Orchha (by musical auto) we immediately bumped into our friends from the Mumbai to Hospet train, Paawan and Sushma. They invited us to join them rafting down the Betwa river that evening. The sight of the riverside tombs as the sunset was truly memorable. The next day we took in Orchha’s sights [...]
The overnight train journey, in first class, from Mumbai to Jhansi, was made all the more pleasurable by sharing our compartment with the lovely Paawan and Sushma and their two gorgeous sons. As well as keeping us entertained during the long journey they continuously fed us with the delicious home-cooked food they had brought with [...]
A highlight, for me, of our visit to Mumbai was a walk around the Oval Maidan. Never have I seen such a number of cricket matches in one place. The games were packed so closely together that a bowler in one game had to be careful not to bump into the wicket-keeper in the adjacent [...]
…in South India. The breakfast options are excellent and lunch is a daily, potentially never ending, feast. If, after all that, you’re still feeling peckish there’s an enormous selection of freshly cooked snacks and sweets to have with your evening chai. The lunch time ‘meals’ have been something of a revelation for me. The best [...]
