Bob and Sarah

So after enduring six months in India last year we came back for more - some think we're crazy, others know just how much it can get under your skin (we're already talking about reasons to come back again in the future!!!) So where have we been and what have we been up to?... After a brief stop in Australia where we hooked up with Harriet, Jon, Barb, Eddie and Will and had a brilliant few days, Bob left me in Delhi in April and headed for the Nepalese Himalaya. There he met up with Scottish Andy to trek the Annapurna circuit - they had an awesome 3 weeks, successfully made it over Throng La the highest pass on the trek at over 5000 metres and completed the circuit. Meanwhile I was living Big Brother style ... read more

I have been travelling for two years now and have been moved just this once to publically recommend a guest house via this blog. I have stayed at Lake Diamond in Pokhara twice on separate visits to Nepal, and found the welcome to be so warm and the staff so friendly that I offered to write this blog for the owner Man Kumar. Man and his family operate the place in a relaxed low key manner where their philosophy is to make their guests feel like part of their family - a home from home as Roden, another staff member explains to me. Roden always has time to sit and chat on the balconies and is the local arranger, who can sort out anything for you, from bus tickets to trekking guides and porters to a ... read more

So we've been pretty slack about blogging but it's been great to settle down for a while and unpack the backpacks! From India we had a lovely few weeks in Australia visiting friends in Melbourne, Sydney and Port Augusta in South Australia. It was strange experiencing reverse culture shock on returning to the developed world after so long in Asia - Melbourne airport and train stations were eerily quiet, clean, orderly and empty in the early hours of the wintery morning on which we arrived! It was great to hit the open road in a hire car, after getting used to bumpy buses and long train journeys the freedom of being behind the wheel of our own car on the spectacular Great Ocean Road was awesome! From Oz we headed to Auckland and took a week ... read more

This is written for those out there who have the chance to visit Nepal, India or New Zealand and are interested in finding some quality teachers and friends who would like an insight into some of the experiences I've had along the way this year! I myself didn’t know where to start when looking for classes in the various places I’ve visited in the last year, my experiences were mixed! Read on for more info and scroll to the bottom if you want links to recommended teachers. What an epic year it has been on the road from the UK to NZ. We’ve passed through many beautiful, strange and interesting places, met fascinating, bizarre and awesome people and now I’ve reached the other side of the world I find myself reflecting upon my journey. I have ... read more

Whilst this blog seeks to entertain its main purpose is to be informative for those thinking of heading up to Ganagotri to trek to Gamukh and further beyond. There is a few things worth knowing that are not in the guide books before that might influence your decision as to how to do it, where to stay and whether to use guides and porters. The trek itself is lovely and fairly straight forward, passing following the Ganga valley's sheer rock faces towering above, right up to the source of the Ganga - the Gamukh glacier. The sound of the raging torrent of this great river itself is always with you, and the emptiness created by new permit rules restricting numbers to just 150 people a day makes the walk very peaceful in this hectic country. My ... read more

It's some time now since we visited Tibet but the memories stay with me of the peaceful, friendly, smiling Tibetan pople, their devout Buddhism enshrined in the many temples and monasteries and the beautiful landscapes of their country on the roof of the world. We have since encountered Tibetan peoples in exile at Boudhanath near Kathmandu in Nepal and in Dharamsala/ McLeod Ganj, the seat of the Tibetan Government in exile in India. Even in exile the peaceful approach to all is hugely obvious and inspiring. The Tibetan people stand at an important crossroads as two historic moments approach - the Beijing 2008 olympics in China and the 50th commemoration of the March 1959 uprising against China's occupation of Tibet. We witnessed a microcosmic example of the Chinese attitude towards the Tibetan people as described by ... read more

Introduction This blog, now in its second edition, is to act as a reference site for those non-fatal diseases, ailments and minor irritations that can blight the traveller is his quest bumming round the globe not having to work. Its a tough life on the road and contrary to one's working friends who believe that their mates are just on a long holiday and sending back the occassional sanctimonious 'having a great time while you are at work' email to their mates, nothing could be further from the truth. I give you a compilation of complaints incurred so far - expect others to follow as the suffering continues. Readers are invited to comment or contribute hitherto undiscovered inconveniences via the comments facility... Update - 23th April Templetitis Causes You are in a place considered 'out of ... read more