JUST A QUICK NOTE SINCE I'M ONLINE FOR A SECOND - AND MY APOLOGIES FOR THE CAPS. THE CAPS KEY IS STUCK ON MY MACHINE AND IT TAKES A LOT OF EFFORT TO RELEASE IT. WE'RE BACK IN DELHI AND HAVE ARRANGED FOR A 515AM PICKUP FOR THE AIRPORT FOR OUR FLIGHT TO BANGKOK. LAST NIGHT WAS AN AWFUL NIGHT FOR ME THOUGH. THE MOSQUITO BITES I WAS COMPLAINING ABOUT EARLIER FLARED UP LIKE CRAZY. THERE ARE TWO ON MY FOREARM ALONE THAT ARE SO RED AND SWOLLEN THAT LITERALLY HALF MY ARM IS RED AND ITCHING LIKE CRAZY. THERE ARE [View Full Entry]

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It’s hard to believe that today is our last “real” day in India, as we leave for Delhi tomorrow, and fly out to Bangkok early Tuesday morning. India has been a real roller coaster - truthfully, probably more lows than highs most of the time (at least when we weren’t being coddled by a friendly family!) India has a reputation as being extremely difficult to travel in, and I’d say that it’s highly accurate. The problem isn’t just one thing - it’s many, many things that build up over time that become extremely wearying. I certainly wouldn’t [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Jaipur in Rajasthan yesterday, and we’re amazed at how hot it is!! When we arrived a month ago in Delhi it was really chilly, but we’re only slightly farther south and it was about 33C today. I actually have a really difficult time coping in the heat, so I guess it’s good to start getting acclimatized before Asia, since we leave for Thailand on Tuesday, and it is a staggering 37C in Bangkok at the moment!! I’ve not been able to update my blog for a few days, so I suppose I will pick up where we left [View Full Entry]

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I'm currently sitting in my friend Neetu's room, so I don't want to hog up her laptop, but just wanted to log on to say that we're staying at her place with her EXTREMELY friendly family in Patiala in Punjab. We've been cared for extremely well, and have been shown around everywhere by Neetu and a few of her family members. I shall update more in the next few days (possibly from Rajasthan?) but I will write about: our trip to the Punjabi crematorium, Paul's awkward encounter, a few cool things we've seen, and (best of all) our experience at a [View Full Entry]

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Today we left Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj and arrived in Amritsar. The bus journey - first four hours of the trip, before we switched to a train - was, to put it mildly, terrifying. The bus driver was absolutely insane. I don't think I've ever had such a vigorous workout in a vehicle. No exaggeration: if you didn't hold on with literally all of your strength, you would, as the gentleman in front of me did, go flying across your seat into the aisle. It was unbelievable. No wonder India has the world's highest fatality rate due to traffic accidents. I don't think [View Full Entry]

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I've recently been strutting around the place rather cockily, wondering what all the fuss is about when people mention getting sick when they visit India. That was until last night. I felt fine yesterday, and felt a bit unsettled when I went to bed, but had no idea that I would be plagued by nightmares about rats, dirty street kitchens and bugs, and then would suddenly awake to run to the bathroom to vomit. I've felt awful all day - I haven't thrown up again, but I've been confined to the room up until now, and the thought of food is [View Full Entry]

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Paul and I, along with our new Irish mates, have spent the past two afternoons volunteering at a Tibetan English language school. The idea is quite simple: native English speakers go into a class of Tibetan adults, break into groups, and chat with them. It's been a really cool experience, actually, although hard at times. The biggest problem is that the people in the groups are at varying levels: some people are just about fluent, and others are barely beginners. So it's very boring for a beginner to listen to, say, a discussion on Tibetan politics (which people are very keen [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday we went to our second cooking class. It was taught this time by Lhamo, the owner, and not his wife, who we met with the first time. Lhamo is a pretty nice guy, and he also had some interesting stories about leaving Tibet. He left when he was only 13 years old, and the trek took him two months, instead of the 27 days his wife needed. There was also a five year old in his group who was carried on the back of their guide! Crazy stuff. All was well, with the four of us (plus Lhamo) working away [View Full Entry]

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Yesterday we had a very, very easy day - perhaps the first day we've had since we arrived that we actually felt like we are on holiday!! We started the day with an hour and a half Ayurvedic massage. I have no idea what that actually means; what I do know is that we paid less than ten quid, we were quite relaxed at the end, and massages are far, far less discreet than I would normally be accustomed to. You know how when you get a massage at home there are lots of sheets, blankets, robes, etc. and they're all [View Full Entry]

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I just tried to upload some photos, but the computer keeps crashing! Oh well, I'll give it a try another time. Tomorrow we are going to momo making class! And yesterday we also saw a mongoose. It terrified me, as I thought it was an enormous ferret. Gross. Today we walked to the main Tibetan temple in town, and to the Dalai Lama's residence, which was pretty cool - very spartan and rather austere, especially compared to some of the stuff you see in the Vatican. Although we did have a very friendly monk wave at us and say hello! [View Full Entry]

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