Hotel Kabur, Pelling, Sikkim, India; Wednesday 24th November.

We arrived in Pelling in Sikkim this afternoon after a day spend riding up and down mountain roads in Jeeps on the road from Darjeeling after spending the previous four nights there nestled in the hills in the fog.

Darjeeling was mostly very cold and damp although we did get a couple of sunny afternoons which we spent walking around the town and visiting the zoo, Observatory Hill, a Buddist monastery and numerous tea and cake shops. The clearer weather allowed views over the Himalayas and snow capped mountian peaks in the distance. Darjeeling reminded us of winter back home; cold, damp and foggy, but the hot Darjeeling tea and Momo’s helped warm us up. We also stocked up on scarves, hats and warm clothes which were badly needed.

We left Pokhara last week where we white water rafted for two days along the Seti river en route to Kathmandu, spending the night camping by the side of the Seti. The rafting was excellent, and the taster has definitely made us hungry to do it again - only on a more dangerous scale. The smooth sections of the Seti (Level 3 (Scale 1-5) gave us the chance to see Nepal from a different aspect and was a very enjoyable way to see more of the country.

Kathmandu was not our favourite place; the tourist part of the city was pleasant enough with the usual Asian traffic chaos thrown in, lots of shops, traders, hotels and restaurants. However the rest of the city was pretty grim - pollution being the principal cause of the gloom. We spend a very long day experiencing the full brunt of India bureaucracy at the Indian embassy in Kathmandu for 5 hours “seeking permission” (form filling and paying money) to re-enter India.

We left Kathmandu by the over night bus to the border, which was a terrifying journey given that the driver seemed to think it was some kind of race against all the other buses, along unlit, hilly, blind bend, edge of cliff Nepali roads. Somehow we managed to get some sleep and one bus breakdown later we were woken up to change buses for the last hour of the journey to get to the border, where we had to walk about 2km across a bridge back into India. The usual filling in of a paper ledger and form filling then 2 more bus journeys and we arrived in Darjeeling - 25 hours after our departure!
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Hotel Sakura, Pokhara, Nepal; Monday 15th November.

We spent 3 nights in Varanasi through the Diwali festival, taking boat rides along the river Ganges - which was excellent for people watching; bathers, teeth cleaning, prayers, puja, burning ghats and washing cows - a true assault on the senses - especially our noses! We also visited 3 Hindu temples and indulged in the usual hustle and bustle of the bazaars.

We left Varanasi after an amazing evening watching the Diwali fireworks from a rooftop restaurant - the next day we were brought back down to earth with a 10 hour bus journey to the Nepal border. We crossed at Sonauli and stayed at the ironically named Paradise Hotel, which came with complimentary fag ends in the bathroom sink and was a rip off at £3.00 per night. The following morning we took the local bus headed for Pokhara, an amazing place by the side of a picture perfect clear lake (on which we hired a rowing boat), Phewa Tal and the snow capped Annapurna mountains as the backdrop, the vibe was much more relaxed than India and the fresh clean air was a welcome break.

We arranged a 4 day circuit trek in the Annapurna‘s, visiting a multitude of hilltop stations with amazing scenery along the way…that was when we got the chance to enjoy it as Mukundu, our guide’s default walking pace was 15km an hour (uphill)! We trekked through villages, forest, jungle and alongside the river, visiting Poon Hill (height - 3200m) and Gorakphur, home of many Nepalese Ghurka’s.

We returned from the trek exhausted and sore and in need to some warm sun, especially Helen. Today I paraglided for the first time, which was an absolutely phenomenal experience. I was terrified beforehand and woke up mega early unable to sleep. When I arrived at the paragliding centre I met my pilot who was a very reassuring Russian guy called Victor, he said in his strong Soviet accent “I’m pilot of 30 years paragliding - I’m professional” which was very calming for my nerves. The flight was amazing but did not cease to be any less scary despite being in the air for an hour, and my hands where numb from holding on tight. The views over Pokhara and the surrounding mountains was breathtaking, despite the light mist in the air, and flying at the same height as birds of prey circling the sky was unforgettable.

Singh Guest House, Varanasi, India, Wednesday 3rd November.

We left Jaisalmer again on the overnight train for Jaipur, were we stayed 3 nights at the Pearl Place. We spent a day exploring the city on foot and in the evening took a night tour of the city sights. The tour started on a bus, but when this became full we were asked to travel on the back of a jeep - which was much more interesting seeing the crazy busy sights of the old ‘pink’ city and Jaipur by night, the tour also included a stop off at a market emporium selling textiles, were Indian sellers gave “performances” of displaying their wares and trying to persuade the tourist of superior quality and a cheap price. The tour concluded with dinner at Nahargarh fort, with views over the city from up in the hills.
The following day we visited the city palace which was very impressive and included museums of weapons and costumes. We also explored the old town on foot some more.

We left Jaipur the following afternoon on the short train journey to Agra. Our guesthouse in Taj Ganj gave us our first glimpse of the Taj by night from the rooftop restaurant which was beautiful! On our first full day in Agra we decided to take a tour of the town via tuk-tuk with Uncle, whom brought us from the station the previous evening. We visited Agra Fort which had amazing views of the Taj and Yamuna river and was set in amazing grounds with marble and sandstone palaces. Uncle also took us to a marble shop for a demonstration and usual sales pitch. In the afternoon we visited Itimad-Ud-Daulah - nicknamed Baby Taj and the Chini-Ka-Rauza both mausoleums/tombs. The day concluded with a visit to Mehtab Bagh park, which had excellent views of the Taj from across the river.

The following day we set off walking towards the downtown area, and stumbled across a shopping mall, which included a cinema so we took the opportunity to watch our first Bollywood film in India, Jhoota Ni Sahi, not set in the glamourous back streets of Mumbai but in London of all places!

Finally on our last day in Agra we visited the Taj Mahal, its surrounded by manicured grounds and throbs with tourists, both Indian and foreign. It is an amazing sight and was worth the entry fee, although Helen did get furious about the state of the toilets which they tried to charge us to use!

That evening we left Agra and took the over night train to Varanasi, on first inspection it looks like another manic Indian city.