Next stop on the India tour is Ramnagar for the Jim Corbett National Park and tiger safari. The journey there involved our first Indian Rail experience - a 3rd class A/C sleeper train.

We arrived at 6am not realising quite how far north we had come (virtually in the foothills of the Himalayas!), as our driver picked us up in an open top jeep the 40 min drive to the hotel was windy and freezing! With little time other than to drop our bags off and grab a fleece we were straight onto 'Tiger' safari at the Jim Corbett National Park. Our first encounter was with a heard of very unfriendly elephants. Initially there were only 2 - a mother and calf and it was clear at the outset that the mother was very uneasy at our presence. She let out a loud trumpet, stamped her feet and eventually charged at our jeep! Our driver hit reverse and retreated - the mother's cry of distress attracted more elephants and within minutes a heard of elephants blocked the road ahead. At this point and for reasons to this day remain unknown, our driver decided to spin the jeep round and slowly drive forward in an effort we can only guess to antagonise the elephants. He was successful in his endeavour as 3 elephants charged at our flimsy vehicle, coming within a couple of metres before the driver got us out of there.

For the rest of the day we unsuccessfully chased tigers around the park, the nearest we came to seeing any tigers were some footprints in the dusty path. We did, however, see elephants, monkeys, deer and wild bore - spirits were low as we returned to our hotel in the evening having spent 10 hours in the national park without having seen as much as a tiger's tail. On the plus side we were the only guests at the hotel and it's restaurant was excellent.

Second day of 'Tiger' safari was very much the same as the first, we saw plenty of animals but still no tigers - we were very disappointed.

Due to the inefficiencies of the Indian Railways we had to stay an extra night in Ramnagar and catch our next train a day later than we had hoped. Unable to make a deal with our current hotel for a decent rate for the extra night we headed into town to the grimmest hostel ever where we were treated to wafts of urine throughout the evening.

While walking around the town of Ramnagar we heard some loud music emanating from a couple of large marquees, which we decided to investigate. Before we had time to protest we were grabbed by the hand and pulled into one of the marquees which was hosting a wedding. We were seated, handed plates of food and posed for what seemed like a million photos. We were bowled over by their hospitality but it was a little like being the main attraction at the zoo!

In the evening we headed to the only bar in town for our first alcoholic beverages of the trip so far. It was a seedy affair with darkened windows, low lighting and curtained off booths. We subsequently discovered that alcohol consumption is generally frowned upon in India - particularly for women, not that it stopped Gemma.