Ronnie Barker....

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... is alive and working as a bus conductor in the Himalayas! I have a photo to prove it!

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A wonderful nights sleep, you can really relax at the Orchard Hut and in fact my door wasn’t even locked. It was just what I needed as I headed back on my 24hr journey - 30 min hike, 45 min bus to Chamba, 6 hr bus to Pathankot (via Dalhousie) and overnight train to Delhi.

I must be getting used to the driving or the mountain air is getting to me, as I’ve started to change my thinking. It actually takes some skill to look through the garlands and pictures that decorate the windscreen, negotiate a full bus with a flat tyre round a narrow mountain bend, avoid an oncoming truck and miss the cow wandering across the road, without batting an eyelid; and this happens on a regular basis. I reckon Ferrari should be looking to Indian for the next F1 champion!

Back in Pathankot, I made my way back to the friendly tourist office and cleanest loo - he really does win the most helpful India to date and waited for the train. I was pleasantly reassured that there were a number of travelers waiting too as this would be first overnight journey and I’d heard some stories, but my heart dropped a little as the train pulled in and they rushed off to 1st class while I made my way to 2nd AC.

In the end if was a fairly uneventful ride and empty train. I secured my rucksack, made my bed and gracefully clambered up into the top bunk. It rather threw me in the morning when we arrived at Old Delhi not New Delhi station, but was sharp enough at 5.30am to outwit the scooter touts and made it back to Afzal’s in one piece…. They never stop!

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