We've been in a bit of a slump lately. Our last month in India was a drag. We became thoroughly disgruntled with the country, its ways, and its people. Our arrival in Singapore perked us up some. We felt the thrill of being in a new and unfamiliar place, a different culture and landscape. The cleanliness and orderliness of the place was shocking but relieving. Everything sparkled and shone; the space-age skyscrapers, the spanking new cars, the fashionable teenagers, even the pavements themselves. The people were polite, and after India, seemed cheerful and relaxed. With more than 4 mil [View Full Entry]

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Only a few hours after our arrival in Goa it became clear that I was going to have to modify my boorish behaviour. Travel in India toughens you up, and after several months of it the words "please" and "thank you" had disappeared from my vocabulary almost entirely and I thought nothing of shoving old ladies to the ground in order to secure a bus seat. But in Goa things are different. People queue in an orderly fashion, there are pedestrian pavements, observed traffic laws, and littering is a punishable offence rather than an encouraged civic duty. Goa remained a Portuguese [View Full Entry]

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From Udaipur we had a long journey ahead of us to get to south India, the first leg being the 6am bus to Indore. Travelling through Madhya Pradesh we couldn't help noticing a pattern in all the towns we passed through - they were all crapholes. Indore looked no different, only bigger, as we rolled in at about 6pm. We had four hours to kill before the night bus to Aurangabad. We bought our tickets, checked our luggage in the cloakroom and went out looking for something to eat. Around the bus station were a whole medley of restaurants of various [View Full Entry]

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One of the first things that grabs your attention upon your arrival in Rajasthan is how vivid and varied the colours are. The landscape is largely desert or semi-desert with flowering shrubs and trees punctuating the red and yellow background. The state is famous for its striking uniformly coloured cities. There is Jaipur - the pink city, Jodhpur - the blue city and Jaisalmer - the golden city. Watching the sun rise or set over these ancient places whilst muezzins make the call to prayer is a captivating experience. But the most eye-catching display of colours are those adorned by the [View Full Entry]

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The driver started doing that trick again, revving the engine, honking the horn and inching forward. But by now we knew it didn't amount to anything and after a minute or two of this he got bored and went back to snoozing behind the wheel, the engine ticking over. I sighed with self reproach as I watched yet another near-empty government bus roll by. I passed the time by observing the subtleties around me that betrayed the fact that we were back in India; the whiff of paan in the air, the distorted bollywood music being played at excessive volume, an [View Full Entry]

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There's only so much you can write about trekking before you start to sound like an anorak, and only so much you can read about it before it becomes tedious. Having already written three fairly detailed trekking accounts, I don't particularly feel like writing too much about how beautiful the Himalayas are. So here are some of the choice photos from our two week trek in Langtang National Park, you can see for yourself. [View Full Entry]

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it may have been inferred that indian food surpasses nepali in a general sense from our previous writings and observations. however, there is a lot of indian food in nepal of course, and kathmandu is one of our favorite places to eat in the world. in fact, after finishing our langtang trek we have spent the last week pretty much only eating in our favorite joints around our hotel in freak street. we feel a little piggish and ashamed to admit this, but after the poor trekking cuisine, we had to stock up before starting volunteer work tomorrow. many times the [View Full Entry]

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trekking in annapurna region, the circuit and then sanctuary was great, but the food wasn't overall. mainly due to obscenely inflated prices coupled with miserly portions. same with the langtang experience. however, here are some food related trekking photos, the lodge dining rooms were often cosy and fun and the fresh apples around kagbeni the best i have tasted. [View Full Entry]

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After spending some time in Nepal the first thing you begin to miss about India is the food. After the initial optimism and enthusiasm you foster for Nepal's culinary individuality, sooner or later you are forced to admit that it just doesn't compare with its southern neighbour. The national dish is called dal bhat (dal=lentils, bhat=rice). At its worst it consists of a plate of white rice with a few spoonfuls of tarkhari (bland potatoes) on the side and a small bowl of watery dal. At its best there is the addition of a little sabje (vegetable curry), achar (spicy pickle) [View Full Entry]

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in india all foods are fancy foods. some look better than they taste, more often it is the other way around. one thing is sure, it will be hard to leave these wonderful foods behind, the fun of street snacks, the ritual of the thali. not to mention the addiction to the spicey and sweet chai. perhaps we will extend our trip just another month or two... [View Full Entry]

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