Flew out of Delhi to Bagdogra and arrived half an hour earlier than scheduled - a pleasant surprise. Met by the driver from the Elgin hotels group (who have arranged our tour around Darjeeling, Gantok and Kalimpong) and started climbing the mountains towards Darjeeling. The weather was quite foggy in places but we had good views. Lots of traffic on the road and we had to squeeze past each other at times. Stopped at Kurseong for our first cup of Darjeeling tea a...

Spent a few hours at the Craft Museum which showed a collection of traditional houses from the various states as well as good exhibitions of craft. The textile museum was particularly interesting despite being badly lit and in need of more information and signage. We did our shopping at the Central Cottage Industries Emporium which was a large building selling handicraft, furniture, paintings and textiles from all the Indian states. It had the appealing benefit ...

Despite having arranged wake up calls for both rooms, only Rosie managed to get 2 calls - presumbably the 2nd call was for me - she did inform them that they had already called her and that they should call the other lady, but I guess they had filled their quota of 2 calls so I didn't get one (just as well I had set my phone alarm). We set out at 5:45 am with our park guide for the 20 minute drive to Sariska National Park - a former hunting reserve of the royal ...

Today's trip by road to Alwar was horrible. We were on the main highway to Delhi again for about 5 hours and then 2 hours on another less crowded highway to Alwar. It is incredible how many lorries/trucks are on the road here. Fortunately, the highway is divided, so you are spared having one trying to overtake another one whilst on your side of the road (you still have the occasional rogue car, bike or small truck taking a short cut on your side). For the most pa...

A welcome short driving day - only 1.5 hours to Sawarda. Most of the drive however was on the national highway which links Mumbai with Delhi. Our stay at Sawarda is in a small village at Fort Sawarda which has been converted by the owners into a home stay. The Fort has always been in the family and dates back to the 17th century. 15 rooms have been completed and they are still in the process of renovating and converting other rooms. After a lunch of dhal, bhat a...