Our appearance in south-east Asia was the beginning of the end.We had a schedule, we had a flight, we had an end-date. Five months left before we had to find a job, and do it. Five months, five countries - starting with Laos. On the other hand, Laos did promise something different. Most travellers we'd talked to who had toured SE Asia had nothing but glowing praise for the country and it's people, so we were looking forward to it. The first thing we noticed was that it's a relatively poor country. Arriving at the border we passed through the gleaming modern structure that houses Thai passport control, and walked out the other side into... something else. There were a few rickety market stalls where local women in conical hats laid out their fruit and vegetables, ... read more

Emerging from Kopan was the spiritual equivalent of being punched in the face. Rather than face the full brunt of Kathmandu's chaos immediately, we opted to spend a few nights in Boudhanath, which has an altogether more relaxing atmosphere. After this brief readjustment period we headed back to the tourist mecca of Thamel. Our first order of business back in the 'real world™' was to pick up a package from the airport. This isn't as straightforward as it sounds and we were run around and kept waiting for a few hours before finding the right desk, the right price and the right package. While we were waiting K scooted across the road to find a toilet, and returned leading a diminuative waiter, who was dodging his way across the 4-lane road with a tea tray held ... read more

Sunning myself in Kasar Devi, I'd been quite close to the Nepali border. Having to journey back to Rishikesh had taken me in the opposite direction and I now faced an epic journey in order to enter Nepal at Mahendrenagar - on the country's remote western frontier. From there it would be another long trip into the center of Nepal, to the tourist haven of Pokhara. Yet another all-day ride would get me to Kathmandu, where K would be touching down on her return from 'the west'. (in acknowledgement of the fact that I do tend to go on about the hardships and discomforts of travelling, I should say that despite the distances involved and the horrific condition of both the roads and busses, I was very much looking forward to the journey. Nepal is truly ... read more

The ride up the newly-reopened road to Gangotri was long, hot, dusty and occasionally hair-raising, thanks to the narrow, rock-strewn stretches that had yet to be cleared after being swept away in the flooding. Still, a pair of headphones and a playlist named "Rock out" pretty much garantees a good time under any circumstances, no? Having been on the road for longer than I would have liked, it was a relief to finally arrive in the regional centre of Uttarkashi - soaked and shivering from a ferocious downpour that hit me just 15 minutes out. Uttarkashi isn't much of a destination in itself butI stopped here for a few reasons, tiredness being the main one. It is however home to the Gamauk National Park permit office, which I visited compulsoraly the next morning. Many positive things ... read more

We'd been blasting around north India having epic adventures for some time now, and Mcleod Ganj was to provide a change of pace. On arrival, we learned that we'd been given a place on the 'Introduction to Buddhism' sessions at the Tushita Meditation Centre just up the hill - starting the next day! There it was then - the next day we shed ourselves of all distracting items (basically anything electrical) and checked into the 5 day course along with about 50 others. The next 3 .5 days were spent mostly in silence, doing guided meditations, stretching yoga classes and buddhist teachings. It was interesting to learn the beliefs and methods of this eastern philosophy and a bit of an eye opener to those of us who had previously assumed a whole lot of mumbo-jumbo in ... read more