mjist

The bus from Jdhpur to Jaisalmer passed through 6 hours of desert. We had taken a private bus, meaning we had plush seats assigned to us. Apart from that, private buses operate in exactly the same way to government buses - despite how many times the commission profiteering travel agent who sells you the ticket assures you that you’ll be traveling on a ‘deluxe’, ‘super deluxe’ or ‘tourist’ bus. Although they claim to be faster than government buses, the private ones are always stopping to pick up and set down passengers along the highway. They go from being jam packed to empty to full regularly, as the locals go to market or to other villages. The locals always have a sack, or box, or a big bag full of something they are taking with them - ... read more

The end of our Nepali visas unfortunately coincided with a proposed period of Maoist strikes, including border closures, etc. So, in order to avoid getting stuck and overstaying our welcome (i.e. getting fined), we made a mad dash to the border, and down into India. Three dusty buses and an overnight train later, we were in Varanasi. We arrived at 6am to bargain with rickshaw drivers and lug our gear through the already busy market places. Despite all this, when we finally broke through to the river the sense of peace was incredible; while the winding alleys and markets of Varanasi are a free for all of motorbikes, hustlers, stray dogs and holy cows, along the river there is a palpable sense of reverence. We found a lovely place to stay, with a rooftop and ‘Ganga ... read more

Day Twelve - Muktinath (3760m) to Jomsom (2720m) We had a leisurely morning after the long day before. There are many merchants in Muktinath selling what are supposed to be the best yak wool products this side of Tibet. The wool is imported from Tibet before being woven on the side of the road in Muktinath. While most people caught a jeep to Jomsom, we decided that our legs needed a bit of a stretch. We also wanted to see as much of the Mustang region as possible (Jomsom being the capital). Mustang is separated into Upper and Lower, with the Upper bit requiring a special (read expensive) permit for trekkers - 500 USD for 10 days. We didn't actually get walking until around 11 due to much deliberation about scarves and shawls. We both ended ... read more

Beth and I are in Kathmandu after a quite long plane journey. We left on Monday morning by catching the bus up to Sydney where we were met by Beth’s aunties, Sue and Reet. We had lunch at the airport, and after a long while we boarded the plane. We had got exit row seats which were great, and the a380 was a lot of fun in that it was such a big plane. Beth and I had vegetarian and Hindu meals respectively, which was rather excellent. We watched a few movies that we had neglected to go see at the cinema. However, once we had arrived at the airport we had 12 hours to kill until our flight out to Kathmandu. We killed it on the free internet and by watching the second half of ... read more

At long last I was travelling again. The trip to Maine was surprisingly picturesque. In the morning Malcolm dropped us off at the AMTRAK station in Wilmington, and we caught the train north through Newark and New York to Boston. Although we didn't see anything of NYC, because the train tracks were all underground, the 'Northeast Regional' did take us past the beautiful sea front houses along the coast of Conneticut and Rhode island, before pulling into Boston after seven hours. Sadly, we were only in Boston for 10 minutes before our bus to Bangor pulled out, but we knew we'd be coming back. Before nightfall we got a taste of Maine's scenery, with thick dark forest on each side of the road making me wish that I had been healthy enough to bring my pack ... read more