Getting to Siem Reap in Cambodia meant enduring the bus ride from hell. The country's war torn past has left the roads in an unbelievable state of disrepair and the shortage of government funds mean modernisation (or just normal upkeep) is slow to non existant in any area not immediately surrounding the city centres. The trip although terribly bumpy, dusty, hot and allround uncomfortable was solely responsible for getting a bus load of strangers to rally together and laugh our was in disbelief all the way to Siem Reap. It was some of these people that became our travel companions for [View Full Entry]

---

---

We arrived in Bangkok seriously needing some sleep, having been awake for approximatly 72 hours. The lack of shut-eye was unintensional, but after a very bouncy 'sleeper' bus from Goa to Mumbai and then a flight at 5am (2am check in!) to Bangkok we seemed to have missed any reasonable opportunity. In the cab from the airport to Kohsan Road we looked like a couple to nodding dogs! We spent all of about 2 minutes finding a hotel, the only requisite being that it had a bed and a roof! We told ourselves that although we really needed to sleep, we [View Full Entry]

---

---

Goa was never meant to be our last port of call in India, but unfortunately our plans to travel further south and then onto Sri Lanka have had to be put on hold for obvious reasons. It has to be said that the majority of our time in Palolem was spent eating, drinking and lazying on the beach, but occasionaly and against our better judgement we decided to venture off the golden sands and explore our surroundings! We took a two day trip up north and visited Goa's capital Panjim. Panjim is typically Goan with the distinct mixture of Indian and [View Full Entry]

---

---

We arrived in Margoa at midday on the 17th December and caught a taxi down to Palolem, a quiet beach resort with golden sands and leaning palm trees. We rented a beach hut on stilts for Rs300 (about 3.50 GBP) per day, dumped our gear and went for a swim in the Arabian Sea. Our days since then have consisted of getting up around 9am and having breakfast. We then lounge around in the sun and sea till lunch time. After lunch we lounge around some more reading, sleeping etc. Then we sit in the bar and watch the sun set [View Full Entry]

---

---

Delhi, Capital city of India since 1947. We arrived on the 10th of December after a twenty three hour journey. This adventure included three hours on a coach, a walk across the border from Nepal to India, two hours on a 'local' bus (never again!) and finally a seventeen hour train journey. At the station we decided to save money by walking to the main hotel area, so armed with our increasingly heavy backpacks we walked towards Connaught Place. After about fortyfive minutes, and various disagreements about whether the scale on the map was incorrect or not, or whose sense of [View Full Entry]

---

---

Chitwan National Park is in the far south of Nepal boardering with India. It is a large Jungle area which has been protected in order to maintain its diverse variety of animal and plant life. We chose to spend a couple of days just outside the park and pay for an organised programe of activities. This included visiting the local elephant breeding centre, an elephant ride into the jungle, a canoe trip and elephant bathing! It was a good couple of days, with the highlights being seeing the wild rhinos in the park and going in the lake with the elephants [View Full Entry]

---

---

Yesterday we arived back form a week long trek in the Himalayas and we are both shattered! Once we had decided that a trek was a definate must, we hired a local guide, Sauraj. Besides his obvious role of showing us the way, he also kept us entertained with his funny stories and neverending local information. We completed what is known as the 'Jomsom' trek. Flying from Pokhara, where we are currently based, to Jomsom (2713m) and treking the route backwards (apparently the easier option). The first day was an easy three and a half hour trek to Tukuche where we [View Full Entry]

---

---

Our first glimpse of Nepal was out of the plane window. Like any other flight we were flying over a sea of white clouds, but about 15 minutes before landing the mountains broke though and sat magnificently on the horizon. Our first real sight of the great Himalaya. Kathmandu, although very touristy in Thamel, is a great place. The people are lovely and so much less pushy than in Kolkata, its a whole much more laid back city. By complete chance we ended up in a really nice hotel called Hotel Florid, and for $8 a night we get a very [View Full Entry]

---

---

From the first moment you get onto the streets on Kolkata you are thrown into a world that is as far away from life at home as you can possibly imagine. The smell, fumes and poverty hits you harder than the heat (which is pretty hot). I think we maybe hoped that experiencing these things would get easier, but unfortunately it wore us down until we broke and bought two flights to Nepal! This is not to say that we would want to forget the experience. Some of the architecture is amazing and although a large percentage of the people live [View Full Entry]

---

---

We have arrived! We may have been delayed for 2 hours but we finaly landed in Kolkata. We found out just before we left the UK that there was a general transport strike in the city and that no buses, trains or the metro were operational, so our first experience of India was being well and truely fleeced by a dodgy cab driver!! We then headed to Sudder Street (the centre of cheap tourist hostels) and it was as if we were the only paying tourists they had seen this year! One after another we were offered the cheapest/cleanest/most honest hotels [View Full Entry]

---

---