Well, our new van arrived, and it's a corker. The only drawback seems to be that our new vehicle comes with a new member of staff, the driver's mate. And of course he has to have a seat. It seems only fair. And now Nareesh, the guide, has bagged himself a double seat, so we have actually only gained one extra seat between us, how did that happen? But there is now room to move around, our seats recline and they are bigger and comfier and, as Nicole so eloquen...

Firstly apologies for the lack of communication, we are on the road, rushing hither and thither, and it took me three days to realise that the last blog I posted, from Varanasi, got chopped off the second paragraph. Sorry to leave you hanging! Normal service has been resumed, albeit belatedly as I just haven't had time to write as we are just too busy being tourists. Our departure from Varanasi was delayed by four hours due to that interminable damn fog, which a...

Varanasians (Varanatians? Varanoosians?) like to pretend that the thick cloud of grey smog that permanently hovers over the city is a weather blip. They refer to it as fog, as if it were a transitory thing that might blow away at any moment, revealing blue skies, fluffy white clouds and clean air. But in a city of 5 million people, most of whom are cooking over open fires or using calor gas to cook their food they've already got a fight on their hands to maintain...