Our last two days at Sarika were, thankfully, much more relaxed than those that had gone before! The alarm clock was consigned to the bottom of a suitcase and we were able to resume lazy lie-ins, followed by breakfast on the Palace terrace. Breakfast was always followed by a bracing chilly swim in the pool before taking some gentle excursions. Our final jeep Safari went deeper into the National Park than before: The scenery became much more rugged with tree-lined gorges, winding hair-pinned trails and gurgling streams. The wildlife was pretty much as before although, just once, we hurtled o [View Full Entry]

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Are we glad we did it? Yes, absolutely! Would we do it that way again? No. Absolutely NOT! I would love to see the Taj Mahal in all its morning-misted majestic beauty, atmospheric and enchanting. I know that it could easily move me to a different spiritual plane. Instead we saw the Taj through throngs of jabbering visitors, were carried on a crushing tide of humanity around its inner sanctum to emerge, blinking and dejected under a dazzling midday sun. Right place, wrong time! Yet again our holiday slumber was shattered by the strident clangour of the alarm clock. We were [View Full Entry]

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The sound of the alarm clock battered our senses through a fog of fatigue. The clangour inflicted a pain that was almost physical. Somehow I managed to find a light switch in the unfamiliar darkness of our room and reluctantly, oh so reluctantly, we dragged ourselves blinking to the bathroom. After yesterday's long excursion to Jaipur the last thing we needed was an early morning safari. But once we stepped out into the chill early-morning air and heard the dawn chorus our heads cleared and spirits soared. At the front of the Palace a fleet of jeeps waited for us. We [View Full Entry]

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Jan and I were full of eager anticipation as we made the chilly early morning stroll from our bungalow to the Palace entrance. The day promised much: an elephant ride up to the Amber Fort in Jaipur, plus visits to Hawa Mahal (Palace of the Winds) and the City Palace. It also promised a less than comfortable coach ride to Jaipur and back. As a consequence not all of our group were prepared to make the excursion, but numbers were sufficient to demand two coaches. On the nightmare trip from Delhi to Sariska our guide, Raj, had attempted to keep the [View Full Entry]

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This year we decided to try something different for our November Far East Foray: Instead of travelling alone, setting our own agenda, we joined a group excursion to India and Nepal. The prospect of spending ten days with a disparate bunch of strangers seemed more daunting than any physical challenge we might meet .... but in the end "people watching" proved to be just as fascinating as the animals we hoped to see on Safari! But first we had the ordeal of the outward journey to get through: We left home at 3am to drive from West Wales to Gatwick, hitting [View Full Entry]

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I can't bring myself to travel 5000 miles for a holiday and then just languish on a beach for two weeks. If there are trips available to be taken, some awful compulsion forces me to cram them all in. For unfilled intervals Tuk tuks and Taxis are pressed into service ... or even Shanks's Pony. See as much as possible, then fly home to relax ;o) HOUSEBOAT This was our third "overnighter" and the one I expected to find most challenging: We were to spend two days on a converted rice barge, cooped up in a confined space with total strangers [View Full Entry]

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Thompson's Curse: Is it just me? Every time we book an excursion with a Holiday Rep it starts and ends in the same way: An empty coach arrives, we climb aboard. Then drive for the best part of an hour touring all the local hotels to pick up more clients. We cheerily acknowledge each new arrival as the coach gradually fills. At some point there will always be clients who aren't quite ready. Engine switched off we sit muttering curses while enduring stifling heat, gradually melting into our clothing. Then an overweight, blotchy-faced couple clamber aboard and shuffle down the co [View Full Entry]

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We feel really privileged to live just above the Gower, with its miles of golden sandy beaches and stunning scenery - Britain's first ever Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. But there's one huge downside: Every November it starts to rain. Every Day. Every single dismal day! Not just the occasional downpour, but constant driving rain. Relentless, uninterrupted depression-inducing rain. Grey skies, driving wind, dull, dull, DULL days :o( That's how we came to be standing in the puddles outside Lunn Poly, scanning the "Late Availability" offers behind the rivulets running down the [View Full Entry]

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Nothing enhances an excursion so much as a good guide: Last year in Northern Thailand and then two months ago in Sri Lanka we had been blessed to be in the company of some of the very best :o) Good guides are warm, witty and approachable. They will quickly get a feel for their clients needs and tailor their approach to what interests them and how much detail they want to absorb.... We were met in reception by our guide for an excursion to Ayuttaha and quickly established that he possessed none of these qualities :o( As we trundled along the [View Full Entry]

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Our transfer from Hong Kong proved to be a lot faster than expected: My pockets feeling significantly lighter after paying our room bill (an endless list of cocktails and laundry!) added to an overwhelming feeling of loss as our car whisked us through the streets of Honky for the last time. We arrived at the airport for our Thai Airways flight to Bangkok with plenty of time to spare - a chance to have a proper look at the new airport facilities..... Fat chance! At the Thai check-in we were bumped onto an earlier flight and calmly told that our plane [View Full Entry]

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