Ah, Dharamsala! Western style food and a mountain village. The mist hasn't lifted the whole time we've been here, but apparently the views are amazing. - We've had a look at the postcards! The main reason for coming here was to find out more about the situation in Tibet. Many of the indiginous people from Tibet arrive as refugees to Dharamsala, and it is the home in exile of the Buddhist leader. "On 22 Novemeber 1989 I participated in a peaceful demons...

We ended up in Srinagar 2 days after arriving in Delhi. This was never part of the plan - we hoped to get a train to the hills of the east (Shimla), but the floods had seen to the train lines being cut, and at that time over 52 people were missing. Apparently refugees were arriving to the main cities suffering from water bourne diseases, although we didn't see this ourselves. So, anyway, we were highjacked by a travel company in Delhi and ended up on a plane the ...

Our final post from China. We are soon booked on a 1st class train (with matresses, ac and fake flowers on the table - real luxary at last) for our final journey, back up to Beijing, and then have our flight to Delhi. Our visit to Shanghai certainly has improved our understanding of China, where the country is now, and where they are heading. Shanghai at present reminds us Singapore. Cutting edge, modern, high rise buildings. Clear open parks and fast efficient ...

We've had a busy time travelling around a small corner of China using the trains. We left Beijing and travelled through the day to Datong, famous for some carved caves, and then on to Pingyao. Then to Xian, famous for the Terracotta Army, and finally to Shanghai. These train journey's are quite an experience, and the experiences we've had getting to these sights have often eclipsed the sights themselves. The trains range from a hotel on tracks in the 'soft slee...

I'm writing this from our next country - not this time through laziness, but due to the censorship in China. Blog sites are often not accessible in this controlled society, and you certainly would have to be careful about what you wrote 'just in case'. So, instead I waited, and now I can speak more honestly about our experiences. After Cambodia the pace of travel continued. We returned over the Thai border back to Bangkok, and than got a wonderful sleeper tra...