Bangkok. There’s nothing hidden in a name like that. There’s plenty of Bang and no one knows how much Kok, but certainly a bit more than most people bargain for. Unfortunately on our budget we couldn’t afford to indulge in any whoring or sex swap operations, so we were merely voyeurs to the seediness. Even for seasoned Bangkok veteran Jenny, the sight of fat old white men walking round with pretty young Thai girls who look like they’d be happier at their parent’s funeral takes some getting used to. Many a meal was enjoyed sitting at a table next to an [View Full Entry]

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You wouldn’t believe what adventures we’ve been having! Just thinking about it all makes us both topple over with giddiness. We’ve seen so many wonderful things and learnt so much that we are now much, much better people than anyone else, fact. Actually, that’s not all true. For a start we spent some of our time in Singapore which is one of the tamest cities in the entire world. Although it’s cleanliness was a welcome change from the madness of India, Singapore is just like the city of London (the really dull bit where Canary Wharf is), but with an absurd [View Full Entry]

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Oh dear oh dear, where to begin? Let's just say the past week or so has thrown up some eventful moments. It all begins in Bombay...or Mumbai or whatever you want to call it. We loved Mumbai, still do. After weeks of dust and strange little towns we welcomed the relative familiarity of 'cosmopolitan' Mumbai. Don't be mistaken, it's still very much India, but it's India where you can buy a bottle of wine that tastes good and eat a wagon load of gourmet food without worrying about it all shooting out of both ends five minutes later. We indulged in [View Full Entry]

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For anyone who has never seen Octopussy, it's shit. It's easily the worst of the Roger Moore bastardisations of Bond. And in Udaipur, it's played in every restaurant in town. There's no escape. So spare a thought for the poor waiters in who have have had to witness this crud every day since the film was shot there in 1983. What must have seemed a blessing at the time can only be considered a curse now. In the film, Rog encounters snake charmers, men on beds of nails, fire eaters and sword swallowers all on one stretch of street before hopping [View Full Entry]

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We've fallen in love with camels, there's no two ways about it. Following our adventures at the camel farm, we headed west to Jaiselmer in search of more. If you're looking for it on the map it's 26.92° N 70.9° E and gas mark 12 on a conventional oven. On arrival at the wonderful Desert Haveli at 4 in the morning, we were sleepy and still vulnerable, so when we were shown to a room which was far too beautiful (expensive) for us, we were defenceless against the lure of a comfy bed where we managed to sleep for all of [View Full Entry]

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Imagine the scene, you're silently scanning the foliage for a sight, a glimpse of movement. Your eyes strain...what was that? nothing, hopes dashed. You've been waiting, hoping for hours. Maybe, just maybe, you'll be the lucky one. Lucky enough to sight one of the rarest and most majestic animals on earth, the Bengal Tiger. Another sound, a twig breaking, your eyes dart looking for a flash of yellow fur. Nothing. Patience is the key, silence...silence...waiting... Antelope graze, crocodiles lie baking in the morning sun, then a new noise, one you've not heard before: 'MICK! MICK, MICKKKEEEEYY! [View Full Entry]

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(or tajy marra for any cumbrians reading this) Ok, toot toot, we're on another sodding bus, and this one's sodden too! Lest we forget the weather we're leaving behind, our trecherous carriage came complete with damp seats to bear us south! no matter, as we were on the back seat which kept falling off...only a 12 hour journey. Fortunately, the driver had a genius idea for fanning the bus, perhaps with the intention of drying the seats. As we approached Delhi, he decided not to pull out whilst overtaking another truck. Time saving, maybe. Foolhardy, said I. And I was right, [View Full Entry]

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No rest for the wicked, and frankly, after five days of yoga and holy sites, we were far from wicked. Nonetheless, we had to pop out of the protective hug of Varanasi's old town, into the mind-bogglingly congested streets towards the train station for a 16 hour journey west, to Rajastan and its capital, Jaipur. I say 16 hours. But the train was one and a half hours late by the time it left. It was four hours late after 30km and by the time we reached Jaipur it had taken a bum-numbing 24 hours! Amazing to think that the world [View Full Entry]

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It's hot at last! But we had to work for it. Where were we? Ah yes...the night bus. We hopped on a pretty rickety bus at 9.30pm for a journey across the foothills to the town of Dharamsala, and more specifically, Macloedganj, home to the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetan refugees and monks. Unfotunatley, we got there in good time...5.15am to be precise. And with nowhere booked, we sat about for a couple of hours with just a few mangey dogs for company, until a hotel took pity on us and fed us. It was around about this time that [View Full Entry]

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Sick of buses, our next journey saw us leap onto the night train to the holy city of Varanasi, on the banks of the Ganges. Ant was particularly excited about getting on a sleeper, an enthusiasm which slowly ebbed away as the hours of discomfort, noise and sleeplessness took hold. Every journey, it seems, has at least one event to make it stand out. On this occasion, it was the poor bloke 2 bunks below who woke at around 2am to find one of his bags had been nicked. We'd grabbed the top bunks which should be a lot safer from [View Full Entry]

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