Chilling in the late afternoon sun on a roof-top in Chiang Mai, waiting for the sleeper bus out of here tonight to Laos. Grabbed Lacey's notebook and thought it was about time I concluded the India leg of my blog… Delhi Spent 2 days in Delhi, my last stop in the dry and dusty North. Felt a lot more comfortable there second time around with a bit of time in India under my belt - was all a bit crazy on my first, and brief, overnight stop there back on my first ...

Varanasi Stayed in Shanti Lodge in Varanasi for 3 nights, a popular backpacker haunt with prison cell-like rooms (only worse in some cases) but with a sociable roof-top terrace overlooking the Ganges. Checked in at the same time as an Aussie girl, Chrissy, so hung out on and off with her for a few days. I'd been building up Varanasi in my head for a while after reading lots about it and seeing a prog or two featuring it, but in the end I'm not sure it lived up...