Looking back on our last three weeks in India after leaving Rakkar I am trying to remember what happened ….lots of early mornings to see the sunrises over things……. long journeys through the night……lots of people trying to sell me stuff and not taking no for an answer, ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! What else? A few nights sleeping at the Andretta house, a couple more under the stars in the desert, oh and our last two staying in what can only be described as a shoe box with no lid! In hindsight it makes sense why we were absolutely exhausted when we got to Bangkok. I’ve now looked at my diary to refresh my memory on the details of what we got up to in those whirl wind weeks, so let’s start with our visit to Andretta. After ... read more

So much of the Indian experience is about the difference in culture and way of life, rather than the sights or tourist attractions. For that reason I'd like to try and describe a few of the idiosyncrasies that make India such a mind-trip. Despite the outward appearance of sometimes being backward or 'developing' to us Westerners, there are many things are so right about this country. FOOD: Dhabas for example are the roadside eating places, that at first look like grungy delapidated sheds with no front (which is exactly what they are) but actually offer freshly cooked (mostly) and fantastic value food, often at the most unlikely times of the day. Contrast that to your average Motorway service station in the UK, serving up reheated stodge at vast expense. Similarly chai shops offer sweet, milky tea ... read more

Rucka, Rucker, Rakker, Rruuucuurr - you wouldn’t believe the trouble the name of this village gave us and we’re still not sure how to say it now! For example on one bus trip back home from Dharamsala (all of 15km away), we said all the variations of Rakkar we knew, thinking they would recognise one of them, but no..... blank faces all around. No one seemed to understand, eventually after a few more repetitions one man said ahhhh... Rakkar!! He seemed just to repeat what we had said about 10 times, maybe rolling a couple more r’s. Anyway, hours of amusement for those on the bus and we did finally get home - rather wet due to a hole in the bus roof and travelling the last 12km by taxi as the bus broke down! In ... read more

Lexa blog: We enjoyed a luxury Jeep transfer from Manali to the old English hill station of McCleod Ganj thanks to Andrew and Joseph letting us tag a long in their taxi. We arrived expecting to stay just a couple of days but ended up staying for 10 after enroling on an 8 day Tibetan massage course. A great release for mind and body but in hindsight we didn't consider the cold factor when we made the booking! It was freezing and the electricity would intermittantly cut-out, removing the little warmth provided by small heaters that barely took the edge of the cold when they were on! So with freezing hands and a small plug fire adding a little excitement to the course we did our best to learn hundreds of complicated and sometimes painful techniques. ... read more

Famed for the Beatles stay in an ashram, Rishikesh is a bustling town on the Ganges or Ganga, visited by lots of Westerners. I had passed my cold onto Geoff by this time and Rishikesh turned out to be a great place to just spend time sitting and watching the world go by. We spent a lot of time doing just this by the Laxman Jhula one of two footbridges that cross the Ganges. Footbridge is a slightly lose term, as bikes force their way across between the people, donkeys, cows and monkeys. The pictures show the fascinating hustle and bustle, especially the monkeys’ that tried to wreak havoc everywhere they went. Something that has struck me is that apart from living on a diet of plastic bags, cows seem to have a very good life ... read more