Free Tibet We left our rude hotel owners at 9am and luckily checked out the same time as an Italian woman (Martina). We asked if she wanted to share a ride to the bus station and she said she was getting the toy train towards Dharmasla (McLeod Ganj). We had read a lot about the toy train but found it impossible to get any reliable information about it from tourist information and the internet. After some confusion of where the train stops we managed to buy ti...

Brother's in Amritsar On the way from the station to the old town (where we were staying) the rickshaw driver pointed out a popular restaurant called Crystal. We thought it looked good so took his recommendation and thinking it was a popular restaurant it would be easy enough to get a rickshaw there. It turns out it wasn't as well-known as we had thought, or perhaps we weren't saying Crystal the correct way! We eventually got there but not before we had asked...

Life in the main bazaar When you stay in one place for a prolonged period of time things that seemed so alien on arrival soon become the norm. I have mentioned some of our favourite restaurants along the Main Bazaar but thought, as we were here for over a month I would write in more detail about some of the people and places that are familiar to us now. Smyle Inn is our home away from home in New Delhi. We get reasonably reliable internet, air conditioning, w...

Salaam Baalak Trust For our first two days volunteering at SBT we were expecting just to observe some of the permanent staff to get an idea of what level the boys were on. We then thought we would get a small group each to teach some English too or to develop their existing knowledge. However, this is not the way it happened. Instead we arrived on the Monday (after me passing out on the metro on the way) and sat down waiting to observe only to be surrounded...

For the first weekend since we arrived in India both James and I were feeling fit and healthy, so we ventured to the mayhem of New Delhi Railway station and booked a train to Jhansi 5 ¾ hours away in the southerly direction. Our train left the station at 6:00am so we were up early and in our 2nd class carriage (much to James' disgust) just as the sun was rising. The journey was pleasant enough with comfortable seats, enough leg room and more food then we coul...