Hello. Here I am in sunny marrakech. Apols in qdvqnce for qny typos- the keys on this board are all over the place. Flight from gatwick uneventful. Found a cab at the airport easily. Minor heqdqche when the hotel i thought id booked didnt have a room for me, but they found me somewhere else round the corner so all ok. Staying at the riad doha - there is a website if you want to look it up. Nicely furnished, quiet little riad, with a sunny roof terrace, where i sat and had breakfast and drank mint tea this morning- jealous [View Full Entry]

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Got a cab from Nainital to Kathgodam, arriving about two hours before the train was due to leave. It was my first time travelling first class on an Indian train, and have to say I’m not sure it was worth it for the extra money- it wasn’t any more comfortable than second class. We arrived at New Delhi station just before 5am, and I got a tuk tuk to the Park Hotel. It’s one of Delhi’s 5* options, and as got there just as Delhi’s younger movers and shakers were just leaving, staggering home after a night on the Park Hotel’s [View Full Entry]

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Left Kausani on Saturday, and over nighted in Nainital, so as to be nearer Kathgodam for the final push back down to Delhi. We weren’t long out of Kausani when we saw and heard, walking along the road some way ahead of us, a group of about 15- 20 men. As they were walking they were chanting, and when we drew nearer, I was able to see that a small group in the middle of the huddle were supporting a stretcher, covered with a brightly patterned red cloth, on their shoulders. It turned out to be a funeral procession, headed by [View Full Entry]

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There are several advertising hoardings around advertising the Tea Research centre. Anyone who knows me knows that this would be my ideal employer- I can quite see myself researching tea, and imagine it would embrace such serious themes as cooling properties (very important) and ability to retain flavour and consistency when impacted by an external force (a biscuit, say). I don't think tea has quite the hold here as it does in places like Darjeeling and Assam, but there are tea plantations and factories, one of which is open to the public. It's about 4km from Kausani. I had to take [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday got a taxi from Almora to Kausani, where I am now, arriving about lunchtime. Kausani is little more than a hamlet at a crossroads, although there's recently been some development, as it seems to have found its way onto the extremities of teh tourist trail. I'm staying in a lovely hotel just above the crossroads- the room's great, complete with a little veranda and rocking chair for sitting and reading on. The only thing that's spoiling the atmos is the thought that I'm their only guest (not many people get up here, and it's out of season), which gives it [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday, after my thwarted attempt to make it up to Kasar Devi temple, I decided to explore the bazaar in a bit more depth, as I'd only had a quick look when I'd arrived. The bazaar in Almora is lovely; it's a very, very long, narrow, traffic free street made up of old, carved wooden shopfronts, all painted in different colours. They're all in various stages of decay- some are almost tumbledown, whilst others appear to have been kept up really nicely- although I've never been to the Meditteranean (not sure I spelled that right), some of them had that rustic-y, [View Full Entry]

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Travelled, in a cab, yesterday from Nainital to Almora. I'd read in another blog someone saying they found Almora a bit busy, hectic and unfriendly after their travels in the mountains. Whilst it can be a little hectic around the Mall area, it's quite easy to 'get away from it all', and so far, most of the people I've met have been friendly enough. Once I'd checked in yesterday, I went for a walk about Lallal Bazaar, which is a pedestrianised market area, behind/ above the Mall. Here you can buy anything, from woven shawls to television sets, plastic toys to [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday afternoon went to Swag Ashram, which the book suggests is the funkiest place in town. Wasn't overly impressed, although a couple of the ashrams are quite nice to walk around. I'm staying up in Lakshman Jhula, which has a much nicer atmosphere, I think- certainly more of a laid back vibe. This morning I crossed the bridge, and went to the Shri Trayanbakshwar temple. It's one of the two seven storey jobbies that looks like the castle in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and is one that Rishikesh is particularly famous for. Inside the entrance hall, the walls are lined with [View Full Entry]

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Everyone reads the paper in India. Even people you wouldn't expect. In Haridwar, my first proper morning, I watched as a boy delivering papers handed one to a girl selling puja on the pavement. They exchanged a few words, it was obviously a regular occurence, and then he sped off on his bike, and she spread the paper out on the pavement and started to read- perhaps the business pages, the sports news or maybe even just her horoscope. Neelambar Badoni (or maybe it was one of his associates) was reading the paper in the office on Mussoorie's Upper Mall, when [View Full Entry]

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Woke up about 6-ish yesterday, and went for a walk. Ended up at what i think must have been, if I've read the book right, the Jai Ram Ashram. A rag taggle group of sadhus, in orange robes and with painted forheads, were gathering in the driveway, opposite a small food stall, obviously waiting to be fed. The driveway opened up into a large courtyard, dotted about with several little temples, statues and wall mural type thingies, that looked as thought they were depicting scenes from something or other. The statues were large, mainly white, but a couple had had their [View Full Entry]

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