It's time to come home

I am boiling hot in Delhi, but making the most of my last couple of days of my incredible travels.

I cannot believe that I am at the end of my amazing journey and it has been so much more than I anticipated. The places that I have visited have been brilliant, but more than on any other trip that I have been on, the people that I have met have played such an important part of my adventures. Travelling alone can be very challenging but in India, Nepal and Tibet I have met the most amazing people who have guided me, befriended me, offered me true friendship and support.

There are so many special people to mention - from Deepak and his family in Nainital who became true friends to Tej and his family in Kathmandu, who welcomed me as one of the family. To people that I spoke to on trains, buses and planes, who embraced my enthusiasm of travelling in their respective countries, to the Tibetan woman in Pokhara who took me to the Tibetan Refugee village, to the families in Luni who welcomed us into their homes, to everyone who was a smiling face, a helpful guide and an interesting travel companion, I thank you.

This trip was not a crazy adventure to find myself in India, Nepal or Tibet or loose myself here - this trip was a true personal challenge to travel here as an independent woman and yet again my heart is warmed to experience the goodness in people. Of course there is bad, very bad here, as there is everywhere, but it is a shame to feel safer on the streets of Delhi than back home. It is a shame to feel that people here are much more friendly and giving than back home. We have so much, but here there is more human spirit flowing through the streets, homes and hearts of the people. My journey was to find this and so now it is time to pack up my rucksack and leave.

My journey comes full circle

I am now in the lake town of Nainital, away from the heat and chaos of Delhi. My adventure started here and it is only fitting that it ends here as well. I can now spend a few days relaxing.

Today I took the cable car up to Snow View and spent the afternoon chatting to friends that I had made previously - it's so nice to see a friendly face so far away from home. Also very few western tourists visit here, so it's interesting to be in a place away from most tourist traps and western influenced restaurants and shops - I'll leave that to Delhi and the tourist area that I will be staying in.

Delhi and beyond

So I had the most terrible nights sleep on the overnight train to Delhi. After all my complaints about the heat, the air conditioning was too cold as I was on the top bunk. Still I am now back in humid Delhi and have a few hours to waste before I get another train to head north, back to Nainital where I started my trip. This will then take my journey full circle.

Latest news from BA is that my flight is still scheduled - hurrah, apparently onboard services many be disrupted. Let's wait and see as the cabin crew are normally quite miserable and arrogant as it is!

Varanasi - city of life

Love it or hate it Varanasi is an amazing place. Set on the sacred river Ganges, it is one of the holiest cities in India.  The river is full of people bathing and doing their washing, streets are full of pilgrims, cows, goats, cow pats and lost travellers.  It's so colourful, so smelly, yet so overwhelmingly spiritual.  Last night I took an amazing three hour boat trip as the sun set behind the city.  The ghats along the river came to life as the 43 degree heat of the day cooled and a nightly Ganga aarti ceremony of fire and dance was performed as I watched from the boat - just incredible. 
Again this morning I took a boat to see all the locals and pilgrims together performing puga as the sun rises.  This is a photographers paradise!
You just have to ignore the hundred daily requests for taking a boat, buying silk or having a special view of the burning pyres- in this heat there are too few tourists and so everyone is more desperate for business.
After almost eleven weeks of no stress I now find out about the ba strikes- and my flight is next Saturday - you never know this blog might need to be extended, watch this space. Still I have just been to a Hindu temple and was blessed, so there's hope yet!   

Along the right tracks

My time came to leave the mountains and to head back to flatter lands.  Just escaping the rains and literally living in the clouds means that I needed to head to Varanasi where it will be boiling hot.  
Now came the real adventure test - my first solo train travel and luckily my wait listed unconfirmed ticket was confirmed at the last minute and I had a second class ac sleeper - fantastic as it turned into an eighteen hour journey!!!  I stated talking to a couple just before boarding and ended up in the bunk above the wife.  Whilst watching the Indian landscape change through our window, we chatted all day and it was a brilliant opportunity to learn, discuss and share so much and what could have been a long lonely journey was completely changed.  Travelling is not just about what you see, but even more memorable often is infact who you meet along the way.   

Election Fever

I must admit that I was looking at the BBC news this morning before the power cut stopped my viewing. Talk of a hung parliament, people not able to vote, high turnouts, atleast I got my neighbour to cast my vote, as every one counts. I will have to wait until this evening, when power is back to see what has happened.

Before I head back to the heat of the lower plains of Varanasi I have moved to an amazing hotel and really feel like the Queen of the Raj. Staying at Cochrane Place in Kursoeng, again I seem to be the only foreigner, as this area is full of Indians escaping the heat of Calcutta and the south. I have an amazing room with views of tea plantations surrounding me along steep mountain sides and of course have just treated myself to a lovely cup of tea and banana cake.

Will visit one of the near by plantations tomorrow morning and hope to see some tea pickers in action and hope to taste the brew after wards.

Am I more interesting than a tiger?

Not a question that I have ever had to pose myself before and I can imagine your responses. However, I can confirm that in India I am infact more interesting than a tiger! Today at the zoo, despite the tiger pacing around its enclosure I can confirm that more people took photos of me, perhaps I should start charging!

I was up at 3.30 this morning and jeep bound for Tiger Hill to see the sunrise, which was great. When I headed back to town the clouds had cleared and I was able to see some of the Himalayan mountain range, which dominates the sky line here, so that was fantastic.

I am heading out of Darjeeling tomorrow to go to a lower hill station, as I must admit that the heights and drops here are mind blowing. It has been brilliant to visit here, great tea, and interesting sights. A Tibetan Refugge centre and the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, where Sherpa Tenzing was cremated, as he spent most of his life here. Also I visited a very old monastery and there was a funeral going on - so that added to a cultural experience as well.

Will report back in when I am at my next destination of Kursoeng, surrounded by tea plantations, so I look forward to yet another good cuppa!

Up above the clouds....

A quick get away from Kathmandu was a good move as I have now seen on the BBC news that there are many demonstrations and a national strike.
So I made it across the border successfully, after a 40 min flight in the smallest plane I have ever been in - and of course not a tourist in sight, which was great as as always made me the talking and viewing point of the journey! I then headed up to the hills to a small town called Mirik and stayed there for three days. I even went to church yesterday, which was a most bizarre experience, as it was all conducted in Nepali, as we were only 10km from the Nepalese border. As always there was also a great Tibetan Monastery to visit and I hope that I captured some great photos of a monk cleaning the giant Buddha statue's face with a giant duster!
Had a bit of a nightmare journey up to Darjeeling today, as quite a lot of the journey was through the clouds, as we are so high, so visibility was not too good. I stuck in my ipod and closed my eyes for some of the journey as we sped around the hairpin bends with incredible views (sometimes) and huge drops (all the time). I have rewarded myself not with tea by reaching Darjeeling, but by having a lovely G&T!!!
So I am on the last leg of my trip, back in India now and I laughed at the poor attention to detail and timetables of my trip back to India. When I checked in at the domestic airport at Kathmandu they said that the plane left in ten minutes and I could board that earlier flight and they would wait for me - hurrah. Then when I went across the border I questioned whether I had wasted that day in the Visa Centre in Kathmandu to see the High Commission special permission required to return to India, as the man in his immigration office (shed) took three seconds to stamp it and wave me off!

And off again....

As Moaist strikes loom over the weekend I have luckily managed to change my flight and leave tomorrow for a border town so I can head back to India.   Who knows what will happen here,  but there are often violent episodes and this country is already fairly unstable, as the constitution still needs to be ratified.  
Already people from more rural areas are coming to Kathmandu, so it is best to leave early.  Already in Pokhara I experinced a strike and nothing was open and the police and army presence was sizeable.

The day of complete contrasts

As I walked through the candle lit streets of Kathmandu tonight not even the full moon could  light the way.  This morning I saw flames in a completely different setting, not helping sight, but flames of funeral pyres along the sacred Bagmarti River at Pashupathinath. Here funerals are conducted for all to see.  It was such a utterly strange but equally compelling experience to sit and watch the rituals of this open cremation.  The giving of water to the deceased, covering in cloth and powder, the mournful rituals of the close family and then the setting of the body on the logs and starting the fire.  It was so weird to watch and I must admit that I couldn't look away.
I then headed to Bodhnath, which has the most incredible stupa in the centre. It is now surrounded by many Tibetan monastaries and devout pilgrims walk clockwise around spinning the prayer wheels. Today was a day of visiting and seeing rituals together with such a strong devout culture.
Tonight I dined with the family of one of the NGO members who I undertook my field trip with.  It was so interesting to visit his house, which as always is a simple one room living space for himself, his wife and two daughters. Their generosity was amazing and we even watched some BBC news which was a rare treat - and an even greater treat to hear the Gordon Brown 'bigot' tape, just like a scene from that brilliant political satire show.
I saw a beggar eating from food on the pavement today, which was swarming with flies, I walked past the funeral pyres and felt the flames heat my face, I ate when the wife could only eat when her husband and guest were full, I also did the very Asian thing of being a passanger on a motorbike with both Tej and his four year old daughter and you know what I did next - I stopped off at the bottle shop on my way back and bought the strongest beer I could find!  Here ends my day of contrasts in Kathmandu.

Off to Chitwan National Park

Another great lesson travelling in Asia is endurance!  I Left Pokhara on a hot and uncomfortable local bus travelling 
for five and a half hours on an incredible journey past lush rice fields, dusty towns and steep valleys. Venturing there was a risky move as now it is just before monsoon season and the temperature is increasing. Still as always all things are taken into consideration,  as it just meant that in the heat of the afternoon we all took a siesta.  So three days there were packed with jungle walks, elephant safaris, spotting rhino in the jungle and seeing the elephants at work, transporting grass from inside the jungle.
The second test of endurance  came yesterday whilst completing the journey back to Kathmandu. A 164km journey took us 8.5 hours!!!! Granted it was along the spectacular winding road following the river that slices through Nepal, but you then have to then climb up the notorious seven hills to get back into Kathmandu valley. These narrow and steep roads are always littered with accidents and crazy truck drivers

Having a rest

Having a mini break in my tavels
Pokhara is the perfect place to kick back and relax. A huge lake, great views, touristy choices of restaurants and I love my balcony. Today there is a strike in town and all the shops are shut, no-one seems quite sure why there is a strike, Maoist distuptions most likely or just general upset or sherpa and porter strikes, who knows in Nepal, where people power and political movements are strong, but as everywhere, the army is even stronger and their base is just round the corner.
My balcony overlooks a building site and I can see into the forever manual construction of the top floor. In the heat of the day cement is mixed and spread thickly over each brick level. One female worker brings her tiny son each afternoon, and he must only be just older than 1. She places him down by the pile of bricks, where he silently sits and plays. How different things are! Yesterday he just looked up at me and burst into tears - poor little thing!
No doubt I will see him again tomorrow, as word on the street is that there is another big strike tomorrow, but after that I am off to Chitwan national park for some safari adventure!

Another day another power cut.....

Things that I will not take for granted back home:
- electricity
- hot water
- drinkable tap water
- freedom of speech
- lack of overbearing police and army 
- recycling
- cleanilness
- great coffee
- ability not to stand out all the time
- orderly queuing
- healthy gut! 
These are just a few things that are problematic in Nepal, India and Tibet!  But these things add to the chaos and the experience and mark as seperators between developed and developing countries, between democracy and dictatorship, between freedom and injustice and all these things make the world a dfferent place wherever you are.   

Now sit back and relax ........

So Sunday was an organising day and I have now booked all my Indian train trips - major achievement in itself!  Monday was spent mostly queuing at the Indian visa office in Kathmandu to gain permission to re-enter india.  And Yesterday it took 8 hours to get to Pokhara, as there were vehicle problems littering the winding road.  One lorry had just broken down in the middle of the road, a bus had turned on its side, a petrol tanker was having to be towed, a truck and gone into a house and all making for a slow but interesting journey in my non a/c local bus.
Still I am now having a mini break within my break and relaxing by the lakeside and soaking up some lovely sun.     Again the changes here are huge from when I was here 16 years ago. Many more hotels, shops and restaurants, but with that comes choice and I joined some fellow travellers last night for some Nepal Ice beers (7%hurrah!) and the most amazing pizza - great choice! 
Must dash I am very busy relaxing! Am sitting on my balcony and can see the amazing Annapura mountain range now coming into view from behind the clouds!

More queues, more chaos

Had to queue for 4 1/2 hours this morning at the Indian visa centre.  Just one small official change has huge effects, as I need special permission to re-enter India, as it is less than two months since I left - and this special permission comes at a cost!!! 
Still I am relaxing in a garden restaurant with free wifi access and have just had a treat of a burger for lunch .... Sometimes it's nice to have a break from rice or noodle soup! Must get my strength up to join the queue of hundreds collecting their passports later this afternoon!!!!    

Half way there

Half way there

I can't believe that I am already half way through my travels - already I could write a book on all my 
adventures.  As I have headed back to Kathmandu it makes me appreciate just how incredible this journey is.  From the over surveillance and lack of free speech in Tibet you can really see how a nation are fighting to maintain their identity.  Just as there is a significant China town in major cities across the world,  equally there is a much smaller community of Tibetans who have fled their homeland.  
Last night at a local street festival here it was funny to see all the young people out on a Saturday night. The street could of been any where with burger bars and fashion boutiques and girls dressed in mini skirts and lads in jeans. 
I was asked yesterday to proof read a speech one if the heads of the NGO I worked with, which next week he will present on the indiginous populations of Nepal to the UN in New York. It made me reflect - are we all trying to be the same? The east wants to be more western and the west more eastern,  exploring yoga, alternative medicines from China and India, tantric, meditation and religion.  It is always the older generation that uphold the traditions and values and at what point will these be lost in time?  That is why travelling is so amazing - to explore all our differences across the world,  before Lhasa has a Mcdonalds, before that older generation has gone and gone too is their pride to be different.

Long road to Lhasa

Flight booked, travel confirmed and I am fulfilling a life long dream by heading to Lhasa overland on the friendship highway, the highest road in the world!  
Join the bus in Kathmandu and we start our journey heading forever higher, leaving at 1300m and after crossing the friendship bridge we have entered China.  We have our body temperature checked, a thorough bag search, as we can't take in our Tibetan lonley planet guides ( too many mentions of the Dalai Lama and Chinese occupancy) then we got through.  Joining our 4x4 jeep we began the incredibly steep climb, not for the faint hearted sitting 'drop' side.  The scenery was stunning and we began a week long adventure by staying in a small village hotel that  was so cold we needed two duvets!!!!!  
Next day was a travel day on  the Chinese well constructed tarmac friendship highway across the erie lunar landscape of the inner himalaya's.  Small bunches of houses were scattered across this harsh lanscape. The first pass that we stopped at was at 5,320 and we all felt the effects of this high altitude.  I had a thumping Headache and others were sick.  Back in the jeep and we all fell asleep, only to be woken up by the driver announcing that we had a photo stop for Everest ..... Just incredible.
Along the 630km drive to lhasa  we stoped at xigatse and gyantse, visiting the most amazing monastaries, watched monks chanting and saw the most incredible temples.  
The high anticipation of reaching Lhasa was initially  spoilt by the high density of modern
Chinese shops and apartments.  Luckily all that was left behind when we reached the Tibetan area and stayed for three nights in a wonderful 300 year old guest house, formally a temple and more recently, the home of the tutor to the dalai lama.  Sadly there was an enormous police and army presence here - there were even surveillance cameras in the monastaries.  So many tales to tell of this trip, but it was the most incredible week of adventure and a huge challenge with dealing with high altitude on a daily basis.  But Tibet as every where else is full of the most amazing people and I was humbled by their devotion and unwavering sense of identity and being able to live in the conditions that they do (both politically and geographically)!!! 

Hurrah off to Lhasa tomorrow

Begin the trip of a life time tomorrow and start an 8 day trip overland to Lhasa. Will be taking the highest road in the world!!!!
Only had confirmation from the Chinese embassy at 7.30 tonight, so it has been a busy evening of sorting out getting the lens of my nikon fixed, renting a sleeping bag and buying lots of water.
Will sign back in when I return from Tibet next Saturday :)

Have a little patience ....

Patience is a virtue.....

I always think that travelling reminds you of three important things:
Patience, your abilty to really challenge yourself and the reminder that the world is overwhelmingly full of the most amazing people.  The hardest reminder of the three is of course patience.
When will this local bus leave? When it is so crammed with people it might burst.
when will the young beggar take his head of my foot desperately needing money?  When he sees someone who looks more likely to give.
When will this traffic jam end, as I have been sitting on a local bus for almost five hours with little progress?  When the lorry that has crashed way ahead is cleared.
When will I get served at this post office? When I manage to stop everyone pushing in front of me.
Will I be able to start my Lhasa trip tomorrow?  Only if my visa comes back from the Chinese embassy today.
Where is my breakfast of poached eggs, porridge and lime tea?  Oh must dash the waiter is bringing a tray over to my table now :)

All this before breakfast!!!!!

After completing some very interesting work on the receipt of pensions in Nepal and the social impact of financially empowering the older generation, I got back to being a tourist for the first time this week.
I took the only cable car in Nepal up 1300m to an amazing temple and watched a goat being sacrificed! Don't worry there are no photos attached. It's so interesting to be somewhere that is so culturally different and have these opportunities.
Tomorrow I want to do some wondering around Kathmandu, but I have just had a great steak dinner with the guys from the NGO here and had my first glass of wine in almost a month and it tasted so good.

Hurrah it's cooler in Kathmandu

Bid a sad farewell to Emma at Delhi airport and after a short flight I arrive in katmandu. Last here 16 years ago it now feels to be bursting at the seems. Have sucessfully made contact with the local NGO and have an exciting and challenging week ahead.

My room has a great view of the famed monkey temple and this evening before sunset I walked over to the base of the temple and it was full of Tibetan monks and devout worshippers spinning the many prayer wheels - it is just such an amazing and magical place.

Last day in India

Survived the overnight train from Jodhpur to Delhi. In a country that at the moment is so hot, our carriage felt like a freezer!!! There were a few government VIP's in our carriage also, so the armed guards on the train added some reassurance to our travels.

Have spent a dusty day walking around Delhi old town and as always was in awe of life unfolding before our eyes. An 'electrician' was standing in a van roof leaning up into the multitude of falling electricity wires on a pylon to fix a fault. In the same street there were ox drawn carriages, rickshaws, beeping cars and people carrying more on their heads than I could in my arms.

It will be sad to leave India (but I will return soon). We have met so many wonderful people, from the student teacher on the train who wanted to be a writer to try to highlight the social injustices to women in India, to the lady who shared her lunch with us on the train as we travelled north to a hill station, so many people who have smiled and made us feel welcome, whether we were visiting a temple, lost on the street or ambling along a train platform. India has been amazing, but like most things in life you get out what you put in!

Birthday celebrations number two

In the style of the Queen, yesterday was designated as my Indian 40th (four weeks after the original). We had the fort hotel to ourselves all day, so swam, had a massage, went on a safari then got a bit drunk and slept on the fort roof all night!!!! Had a brilliant birthday cake with Hindi writing on it and a big 40, so certainly celebrated it in style.

Thank goodness for 46 rupee anti-biotics - all well again now. Have also been exploring Jodhpur. The old fort is incredible, the best that we have seen so far.

Also we visited the local school yesterday morning, which caused quite a stir. The headmaster has taken us under his wing and even went to the local jeweller to barter for us!

Hurrah a quick trip to the chemist....

Whilst Emma is in shopping paradise in Rajasthan, my shopping seems to have taken a more practical line. New compact camera purchased, had hair cut, got torn trousers sewn and the latest great purchase - anti-biotics for a horrible bacteria diarrhoea infection (don't worry won't go into details). Now staying in a heritage fort in a tiny village almost 1 hour south of Jodhpur..it's amazing and of course we stand out there with our scruffy clothes and backpacks (Just found out that Madonna has stayed here!). Have just been walking around and were invited into a house, which was incredible - and we only popped out for some water! Have arranged to visit the school tomorrow, which will be a real exerience. Must dash to start my course of tablets.

Good and bad ......

There are good days and there are bad days ... Spent all morning in bed sick and then went out and managed to spill water on my smaller camera and now it is not working..... These things come to try us!  Still in amazing Jaipur and visited one of the many palaces today.  It's such an incredible city and it's funny how quickly you get used to the streets being full of  bikes, buses, cows and camels. Last night saw an incredible Hindu procession through town which was lucky timing.  

Dusty Jaipur

Just driven a ricksaw along some dusty streets in Jaipur! Today the heat equals my age ... So that's quite hot. Every day has its own adventure, yesterday was sunrise at the taj mahal and today was navigating the old city on foot. Sitting on the roof top of our amazing heritage hotel with wifi access, drinking kingfisher and listening to a local band - London feels a million miles away !!!

The heat here equals my age

It's 40 here and so am I

Now in the pink city of

Feeling hot, hot, hot.....

Arrived at boiling hot Agra and it feels a million miles from home. Headed to the usual tourist haunts which are amazing. Great bus ride to Fatehpur Sikri today, a great world heritage site, could see the road through the open gear box! Meeting some people tonight that we met on the train a few days ago - medical students from Agra, so should be an interesting evening!

On top of the world.....

Early start yesterday - up and out at 5am and walked up to Snow View...took us an hour in the pitch black walking up the steepest paths. Thank goodness for Emma's arm and my walking poles. Sadly the view of the Himalaya's was not to be as it was too misty but a great achievement to climb up and really enjoyed the cable car ride back down! Our greatest achievement of today was a serene boat ride and a walk to the temple, but ready and packed for our overnight train trip tonight!

Up up and away

So little time has passed, but there have been so many adventures ....almost missed our train leaving Delhi, as we managed to be at the wrong station. Consequently we then had the most hair-raising ride to Old Delhi station in an auto rickshaw. That was nothing compared to the hour taxi ride later that night getting us way up into the hills to Nainital...I was gripped to my seat - but we did see a wild tiger as we headed up around the hundreds of hairpin bends......
If you have a second google Nainital Zoo - it surely must be the highest zoo in the world and we walked up and down today - a great achievement for me - especially at this altitude - I think that I left hand prints on Emma's white shirt, as I clung onto her arm for the descent!

Ready to leave Delhi

Have just spent the morning walking round the incredible streets near our hotel...not a tourist in sight!!!! Having checked out the local construction sites don't think there's any CSCS cards passed here...
Off north this afternoon for what I am sure will be a memorable train journey.  So glad to be back in India, it's so amazing.

The day that lasted forever.....

Despite having a  lack of  sleep on the plane, the amazing meeting with Emma went so smoothly at baggage claim at Delhi... then for a first there was a driver waiting with my name on a sign, just brilliant and I could get used to this.
What to say ....  well you are never short of an amazing sight or sound.  We took to the streets and had a long walk to the Red Fort, passing cows and horses, carts and cars - all life to look at and they surely looked back !!!!! Have been up on the rooftop for an evening meal - thali and a couple of Kingfishers...adventure here we come!

One more sleep....

Left work on time....check
Drank too much wine....check
Too much still to do ....check

Six sleeps till India

The count down is speeding up and the to do list is ever increasing ...... this is my test message to set up my blogg. It would be great to share my adventures with those who are interested.
Perpare yourselves for laughter at my travel escapades, amazement at the things that I will do and see and sit back and enjoy my adventure.... x