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Seven days in Tibet

Getting to Lake Manasarovar and Mount Kailash from Kathmandu requires a comprehensive equipment check, at least two days of arduous travel and a remote border crossing so we were expecting … Continue Reading →

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Lots more temples and a few elephants

I’d hoped to work on this post about some more of our Nepalese destinations while I am acclimatising in a remote place called Taklacot which is just over the border … Continue Reading →

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Annapurna blessing

One of the first thing to get one’s head around here is that, at over 80%, the population of Nepal is more Hindu than that of Hindustan (India). Moreover, the … Continue Reading →

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Safe Arrival in Kathmandu (Gods be Praised)

I had forgotten what my friend Chris had said about this being one of the most challenging airports in the world until a couple of seconds before we landed when … Continue Reading →

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Ratnagiri, Kingdom of the Mango

Before leaving Pune we had a wonderfully impromptu send-off from a couple of local piped bands. Flushed with their successes in the recent All India Police Band contest and resplendent … Continue Reading →

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Maharashtra, Land of the Storyteller

We arrived in Pune by the early morning train and settled in to a simple but comfortable hotel in the city centre for a few days. For me this is … Continue Reading →

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Bijapur, City of Victory

By the time we reached Bijapur (now being called by its earlier name of Vijayapura), last destination on the Karnataka route, I had completely forgotten why it was so important … Continue Reading →

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Karnataka, Voyage of Discovery II

The state of Karnataka only came into existence after Independence. Before that the land of the Kannada speakers fell under the sway of one pan-Deccan Empire or another as fortunes … Continue Reading →

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Karnataka, Voyage of Discovery

Our journey up the spine of the Deccan state of Karnataka from Mysore to Bijapur turned into something of a thrill ride backwards and forwards through its history as we … Continue Reading →

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Hampi, Hippy Heaven

This is one of the most important archaeological sites in India. From the 14th to the 16th centuries it was an immense city of half a million people, second in … Continue Reading →