Patience is a virtue

Eventually the train started 7 hours later than scheduled. Luckily after a late dinner on board I slept and slept and slept. You couldn't even see the landscape past by, as it was covered in fog, resulting in the train just creeping along. No one knew quite how long our delays were and we just sat and dozed and drank tea from our flasks.  I was so glad that I had reserved the bottom bunk, as I could stretch out and relax.   Eventually after midday  disappeared then by three we knew we were so far behind.  I eventually got to Gaya junction at 8pm, stretching an 11 hour overnight trip to     a numbing 21 hour marathon.   Arriving at Gaya brought the usual chaos, a surge of auto rickshaw drivers wanting my custom. I took the one offering the quoted price by my hotel and sat for 40 mins for the cold and windy journey to Bodh Gaya. Upon Arrival  I felt that I deserved a medal! 

You are too bold

What I love about travelling is that the people that you meet take on equal significance to the things that you see.  Heading to the train station after 10pm was an experience, with so many trains delayed the platforms were jam packed, but I quickly found some fellow passengers to while away the time with. An older gentleman was quizzing me on my trip and after hearing my plans he turned to me and said that I was too bold!!!! Given that our lives as western women are so different, full of choice, opportunity and freedom, in his view I am too bold and given that on all of the hundreds of people at New Delhi Railway station I was the only westerner perhaps at that point he was right. 

India time consists of a lot of waiting

As I'd slept too much in the day and eaten some amazing tandoori chicken late yesterday evening, I eventually drifted off to sleep at 4 am.  Given that my room didn't really have the luxury of daylight streaming through a window, luckily I was woken at 11.30 am by a call from reception checking my check out time.  Thank goodness for the call.  After a leisurely breakfast I wandered down the road to the station just to check the  train departure time,  as when I rang to confirm my room booking at Bodhgaya I was told that the train is often delayed.  Great advice, as it had moved from 4.30 pm back to 9.10 and I had a whole afternoon in Delhi - not the best bonus in this crazy chaotic city!  However i took the opportunity to head out to jamil masjid, the largest mosque in India and enjoyed the unexpected quietness and tranquility of the mosque and chuckled when a family insisted that I was to take centre stage in their photo.   Then off to one of the fifteen world heritage sites in India, Humayun's Tomb. An  Amazing 16th century tomb built in marble and red sandstone, so the day was not completely wasted.  Now have to wait even more as the train is now departing at 10.50.  India time is always full of a lot  of waiting....,

It's great to be back

How civilised, I was met al the airport by a driver with my name displayed on a board. My how my travelling has changed, as I used to revel in the chaos of local buses and trains to get to my first destination.  So, back in Delhi and its brilliant!!! Checked in and slept for seven hours before heading out to old Delhi. There's never a dull moment on the streets; cows, kids, rusty old ambassador cars honking their horns and just hundreds upon hundreds of people everywhere you look.  It feels that everything is bursting at the seams.   An old man came up to me and welcomed me to India .... What a great way to start the trip. Within minutes another guy stopped me to ask if I wanted to take his picture and drink some whiskey ..... It's great to be back!!!!

Greetings from Helsinki !!!!!

Just completed the first leg of my journey and am settled in a cafe in the airport. I've already been in every shop, seen every Moomin souvenir and brushed my hand across the reindeer fur rugs for sale.... Ummm still three hours to go until I head off again, so there's plenty of time for more walking, as my poor back is still sore and there's no chance of an upgrade. I think I will just savour the calm here, as it's all going to change in India. 

Just a couple of weeks to go....

Still to pack, get visa, confirm accommodation and print off itinerary

But counting down the days till my next amazing adventure in India

Must not fall asleep

Back in Doha again and my travelling adventures have come to an end. 
It's Been an amazing trip- I've been blessed by monks, chartered boats, visited the commercial long neck village and headed back to Luang Prabang after fourteen years.  
As always you realise how small the world is and that wherever you go it's full of people like you. The only chance is that we have no say in our destiny of location at the beginning.  Throughout the world today there is so much unrest, so much corruption and so much hate. Travelling rekindles the spirit of wonderment, opportunity, accomplishment and hope. From beer drinking with the street vendor in Bangkok, to helping the lad in the English class in Laos, to catching up with old friends in Chiang Mai, so often a trip is not so much about what you see but how you experience it..