It was with a little reluctance and general lethargy that we got round to packing up our gear (some old, some new, some blue.. and quite a lot left behind). With this second chance of repacking the bags and with the experience of what to, and more importantly, what NOT to bring, we dragged our lighter bags to the center of people transport mayhem, KL's one and only Pudu Raya Station. Richy thinks that its grubby and rather dated but San doesn't recall it being that well-lit! We eventually located our bus parked outside thanks to the efficient ushers running around with their yabbering walkie-talkies. The bus was the epitomy of luxurious communal road travel. Ladies and gentlemen, only 28 seats, your own TV screen with navigable channels covering 4 languages and own soft downy blanket ... read more

It was pleasant to watch Haridwar wake up at 5 in the morning, sky already bright at that time, the Ganga Ghats already peppered with people carrying out their morning ablutions in the cold cold grey-blue waters. We headed lost in our own thoughts towards the train station to see if we have moved from our waitlist positions to confirmed seats on our departure from Uttaranchal. We scanned the passenger list and broke out into smiles when we saw our names. Postively, we went in search of the station master to help us decipher the list and our smiles turned into 'uh-oh' when he told us that we have moved from waitlist 10/10 to wailist 5 and 6. 'Gulp! How-now Brown cow?' 'Let's board anyway and feign ignorance' Richy said as he formulated a little plan ... read more

An early morning (4am) start and a sleepy kiss from San saw Rich off in the direction of Haridwar GMOU bus kiosk with a schedule to be back in 5days in order to catch our train from Haridwar to Agra the next morning. The rickety old bus left at 5am on the long cramped journey to Govinghat. During this world trip we have been on some hair-raising bus journeys but this one took the biscuit. As the beetlenut crazed driver threw the bus round the hairpin bends on the potholed one-and-a-half vehicle wide roads, I peered down the often several hundred metre drops into the river below, the sound of travel sick people throwing up out of the windows. 13 hours and one short stop later I arrived at Govinghat (1800m as) amazingly still in one ... read more

With a train late evening, and needing to make our way across the channel to the station, we left Fort Cochin mid afternoon. An ordinarily straight forward route was transformed into a rather ardous one with the house on our back, the short walk - ferry - long hot sweaty walk to the station pulled the corners of San's mouth down further down south, further than any part of her body would every travel with age! To break the misery, we sought out a place in Ernakulum where the blessed Air-Con deity existed. We found the Nescafe Cafe and it was so welcome, it was with some restraint that San did not kiss the floor . We had high hopes for the 7.45pm 'Rajahamsa Semi-sleeper' class bus, which we naively thought would be an air-conditioned oasis ... read more

In front of the Cathay Pacific check in counter, we were told that the flight was a day later. For a moment there, it was a confusion of 'did we get it wrong... again?'. Shortly it became clear that it was not our fault.... *phew*. The flight leg from Bangkok to Colombo had been cancelled due to a terrorist bomb just outside of Colombo. After establishing it was not our fault, we had the luxury of being put up, courtesy of Cathay, in the airport hotel that was the faceless business hotel setup you get anywhere in the world today. But as backpackers, who are we to complain? Instead, we sauntered in with our loads and partaked with big smiles the spread of the complimentary buffet, oysters, sushi and all. Well rested and washed up, we ... read more