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!