Maggie Rees

Namaste everyone Well the bus journey took quite a bit longer than anticipated, mainly due to breakdowns on the narrow, twisty and hilly road! (At one point we could see the vehicles queuing in the opposite side of the valley, 20 km away). We arrived in Pokhara at 5.30pm instead of 1.30pm and it was a wet and miserable evening, the monsoon obviously hadn't quite finished! A very comfortable hotel called Fishtail Villa after the large mountain that over looks the lake, only we didn't get to see it because of the weather. It's only a short stay as we're due to fly out at 6 am tomorrow, but we finish our trek here so perhaps we'll get to see Fishtail then! Unfortunately the weather isn’t any better next morning and after waiting at the airport ... read more

Hi Everyone We've used Delhi as a base whilst touring Rajesthan and northern India, so we thought we ought to spend a couple of days sampling the delights of Delhi!!! Luckily our host Rajiv,at the Blue Sapphire where we were staying took us on day tour of the main sights and he proved to be a wonderful guide, even if the trishaw men were too much for him to handle!!( If a local Delhian can't manage them, what hope do we poor foreigners stand!) First to Old Delhi to the Jama Mastjid Mosque, it is a huge austere building, but the alternating stips of red sand stone and white marble make it never the less striking. It also has wonderful views of the Red Fort, and it's a rip off for charging 200r just to take ... read more

Hi Everyone 2 days in Delhi to repack with warmer clothes and it's off to Kashmir by with Spice air. (A curious fact, with flights into and out of India, all cabin luggage has to have a label that is stamped at security checks.) Unfortunately it was raining hard when we arrived in Kashmir, and as we had intended to look at the accommodation offered on houseboats before deciding, we had no idea what to expect except that we wanted to be on Lake Nageen. At the prepaid taxi desk, the man offered to take us to a "really good" houseboat, so we said we would just look at it. We arrived at Lake Nageen in pouring rain and were met by a man who took us across to a houseboat called "Nairobi." Despite our strong ... read more

Namaste(Hello) All, Well, it's fair to say that a bus journey in India is nothing like a bus journey we've experienced any where else! We thought that we had booked a tourist bus with a/c, but that service wasn't running. This bus was a sleeper and we just didn't believe how many people went up into the bunks above us It wasn't until we stopped and most of the people all got off that we realised!!! At the start of the journey, there wasn't anyone sat in the aisle, but this soon changed as more and more people got on, and when it stopped halfway, we would have lost our seats if we'd got off!! Later as it started to rain, someone banged on the roof and the driver pulled up for a pee stop. Now ... read more

Hullo everyone Well to got from Amritsar to Bikaner, we had to take a taxi, (the journey Amritsar- Bikaner - Jaisalmer was the only part that the Lonely Planet couldn't help with) it was relatively expensive but the easiest way As it was an 11 hour journey, Bilbar our driver who happened to be a Sikh picked up a second driver, just out of Amritsar. He then told us as he didn't have a taxi licence, so if we were stopped by the police, he was our friend and the other guy a driver!!, The country side changed dramatically as we left the Punjab and into Rajasthan, from very green and lush fertile countryside with cotton plants, maize and rice paddies to very dry and dusty desert with some scrubby grass and some goats herds and ... read more