Hurtling through time and space in a coffin shaped enclosure brings thoughts of life and death to mind. Perched high in our double sleeper bed of the night coach to Udaipur I fleetingly contemplated joining the 4 or 5 metre high club. Briefly. The kamikaze bus driver made sleep well nigh impossible so you might need to do something else with your time. I keep forgetting that we do have an ipod loaded with stories which took us four weeks to work out how to turn on! Winnie where are you when we need you? The hotel Rangniwas came highly recommended by our previous hotelier, and the fact that it came with hot and cold running dachshunds was just a wonderful bonus! The pool from the sitting balcony looks so inviting but the winter warmth here ... read more

Rajah Banerjee - from the exterior a pukkah sahib, Cambridge educated, eccentrically dressed, an inheritor of social class and property, a man of influence with an interior spirit of democracy and a firm belief in 'partnership not ownership.' The world famous Makaibari Tea Farm, producer of exquisite Darjeeling Tea, supplier to the Beijing Olympics, operates on strict organic, permaculture principles. I stirred the thought that his grandfather and mine might have also shared a cuppa of the superb silver tip first blend which we were sharing together. We talked of cabbages and kings, methane-fired burners to Bill Mollison. Regarding environmentalists he opined that it was better not to meet your idols in person. A well-respected man of convictions and true ideals can be a cantankerous individual. Sustainability being key, Rajah has ensured that local women have ... read more

Next stop Diu - oh sorry Jaipur Courtesy of IRTC we found ourselves unable to get a berth on the train to Ahmedabad on the way to Diu. Remaining cool, calm and collected we got to experience the wonders of a luxury bus to Jaipur. Visions of comfy sleeper seats and inside toilet faded as the tuk-tuk pulled up outside the bus. Grumpily I complained that this beaten up, held together with sellotape, grubby bus was not what I called luxury. So grumpy was I that I forgot to take a photos of yet another common mode of transport in this varied country. Ah well, despite amazingly uncomfortable seats we were delivered safely into Jaipur and the hands of a babbling tuk-tuk driver Bablu who ferried us to the best value ever hotel called the Sunder ... read more

At a trot, with the trots. We arrived at dawn; ignoring the ominous stomach rumblings I climbed the numerous flights of stairs to the rooftop to see the fabled Taj. Where was it? At sunrise it should rise mystical out of the morning mist. Blanketed in a heavy fog a vague outline emerged. Familiar contours, spindly minarets and forbidding gateways loomed out of the gloom. We chanced our arm and my stomach and headed out to see the mini Taj, a blended concoction of white marble and red sandstone predating the style of the Taj. Following the recommendation of Around the World in 80 gardens we meandered our way through Mehtab Bagh, viewing the building across the Yamuna, unfortunately a mere polluted trickle at this time of year. But was it the Taj? In smog, fog ... read more

You really can’t get lost in the twisting maze of back alleys which make up the bazaar behind the ghats of Varanasi. Just wait for a few minutes and a procession will appear, a motley collection of pall bearers chanting ‘Ram naam satya hai’ as they shower the bier with red rose petals falling onto the golden yellow marigolds and the red and gold funeral cloth. The outline of the corpse is tightly bound, a shadowed human shape I had just about got used to seeing until glancing up at one passing behind me as we purchased some halwa from a small stall, I looked onto a dead woman’s face. I gasped and possibly turned paler than normal. She too was going where all the others were heading. Down to Manikarnika Ghat to the open cremation ... read more