It took around 2 months for us to travel from the Indo-Chinese border in Sikkim (or near as dammit) to the Southern tip of India. We left the majesty of the Indian Himalayas and ventured down to the plains at Siliguri. This is a major transition from pure, clean air to diesel exhaust; from coats and jumpers to sweaty T-shirts; from friendly Nepalese and Tibetan folk to the more reserved, but staring, Hindu majority; from aging and overcrowded jeeps to, er, ancient and overcrowded buses. Somehow they seem much worse in the heat. My plan was to travel to Kolkata in 4 easy steps, by bus. The first step was to the town of Malda, chosen simply because it was on the way. Unfortunately our bus caught fire one hour out of Siliguri and we had ... read more

When I first came to Kathmandu it was an atmospheric ancient city. Impressive wooden buildings lined many of the streets from which shopkeepers were selling the things that their familiies had supplied for generations. Lepers came down from their villages in the hills to beg from the throngs of ethnic people who filled the streets. The first ATM had recently been installed. Now the pressures of modernity and population growth have had their effect. There are plenty of ATMs and a distinct lack of lepers. Olde worlde Kathmandu has been compressed into a couple of areas around the Durbar Squares which you have to pay to enter. The hoards of pedestrians have been replaced by a gridlocked traffic nightmare with its attendant eye watering pollution. A concrete block city has risen to replace my (idealised?) recollection ... read more

I emailed my friend Chenchen in Beijing. ‘I can come in November, but I am worried that it will be too cold’, I said. ‘No, no’, she replied, ‘it will be pleasant’. So I booked my ticket. I spent the night in the airport in KL and then flew to Tianjin, a city 70 km to the South East of Beijing. My first impression as I got off the plane – ‘Coo, it’s a bit cold’. The taxi journey into town got uncomfortably expensive as the driver obviously had no idea about the general location of the City Youth Hostel. Luckily I had the phone number and they guided us in. The Tianjin Youth Hostel is of the low calibre variety and is not located anywhere near the city centre. Fortunately it is located near a ... read more

It was never part of my master plan to return to Chungking Mansions. Last time I stayed there I was caught in a tower block fire. A Chinese fireman, clad in full breathing apparatus, grabbed my arm and pulled me through a thick cloud of acrid black smoke. Unfortunately the surprise of this move caused me to take an involuntary lungful of the stuff which stripped most of the functional cells from my larynx, pharynx and bronchioles. It took six months for my normal voice to return, but my singing range was curtailed for ever. However, time dulls the senses. I was arriving in Hong Kong in the early evening and I knew the 'Mansion' was conveniently situated in Kowloon. Chungking Mansions is an enormous office block which has been continuously remodelled over the years but ... read more

Rwanda is famous in Africa for the quality of its roads, so I was pleased to see tarmac stretching away from the border post. A comfortable modern 3/4 bus transported passengers 24km to the nearby town of Ruhengeri. This might seem trivial, but after two months travelling in East Africa a smooth ride in a decent vehicle is a noteworthy event. Rwanda is an hour behind the rest of the region, so it was 9.30 am when I checked into a small hotel. By 11.30 I wished I hadn't bothered as a 100 metre walk in either direction was enough to get the gist of the place. Nevertheless, I met some disillusioned VSO workers who were packing it in after only a year (no electricity, no support, no fun) who gave me some useful accommodation tips. ... read more