Up at 5am (this is getting to be a habit) to get a mini bus back to Kathmandu and then a Tourist Bus onto Pokhara. Buses here were all arranged by Inrepid (they use Royal Mountain Travel locally - good recommendation). All the buses were comfy and well specced - much better than our India Exploits... The buses stop a few times for bfast and lunch - we ended up not paying for some food as the bus disappeared in a hurry and there was a bit of confustion - maybe on the way back?... Arrived in Pokhara late afternoon at [View Full Entry]

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After a bit of a lie in we had a short mini bus ride to Bhaktapur (about 1hr) - was nice and short after the previous epic bus based adventures!. A lot more traditional, quiet and religous than Kathmandu - lots of narrow streets, temples and squares. Spent a few hours wandering around the streets with our guide. Visited a small mill which ground up the locally produced rice and a small studio where they paint Buddhist pieces on a stretched cotton canvass. Each paint brush was only 2 hairs wide and you get incredible detail - It takes 55 days, [View Full Entry]

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Up again at 5 am - seems to be getting more difficult to get up with each day that passes!! Got on a 'private' minibus that stopped many times to pick people up along the way (and for the driver to talk to all and sundry! Never trust a man in a bandana). Much cleaner and more civilised than the trip yesterday - bags were on the roof so we could relax and not have to worry. The bus seemed to have been oversold, so there was much discussion about seats and moving around of people and a few folks had [View Full Entry]

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Picked up from the hotel by the grumpy taxi driver - not a happy chappy! Were dropped at the Varanasi roadways bus station to start a very long and dusty bus journey to Sonauli. Unless you have experienced the local bus journeys in India, it is really hard to appreciate what a 10 hour journey feels like! It only cost 172 Rps (about 2 GBP), but was quite hard work. The first part of the journey was fine, but ended up having to change bus at Ghorkapur, which we didn't really understand and finally got the message after the guy waved [View Full Entry]

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Finally got to the Hotel de Paris- which is an amazing if run down former guest house of the Maharaja of Varanasi. Hotel was ok- the first in Varanasi (also called Benares - blame the british colonials for misinterpreting it!) - but would not really recommend it - the slightly romantic view we had from our 10 yr old guide book was a little out of date. Whenever we told people about where we stayed over the following few days they always described it as an 'old hotel' with a smile - all the other decent ones were 'nice hotels'!. Curry [View Full Entry]

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Up at a bleary eyed 5am to catch the Shatabdi Express out of New Delhi station. Managed to find the right platform, coach and jump on a moving train! Train is excellent and quick and have been fed well with tea, biscuits, spicy potato rosti and peas. Journey only takes 2 hrs and is very comfortable indeed - highly recommended. Agra is much calmer than Delhi but still very hectic! Many touts descended on us as we left the train - in the end we just had to pick one at random to take us to the hotel. Stayed at the [View Full Entry]

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Finally arrived about 2-3pm, a couple of hours late. Poor taxi fella was still waiting for 'Mr Rebecca Watchorn'. The journey to the hotel was really interesting - loads of cars, tuk-tuks, rickshaws, trucks and buses all trying to make their way on the rutted rocky roads. Who needs lanes and signs anyway!. Horns are used often and liberally - the roads are the second most dangerous in the world and it is easy to see why - they are all crazy!!. Had to play 'super frogger' (classic 80's electronic game to get the frog across the road) to get across [View Full Entry]

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