We left the hell hole of Agra and caught an overnight train to Varanasi with what remained of our tour group. This was to be a whistle stop one day visit to Varanasi as we had to get back to Delhi for the 25th to catch our flight. This day although very hectic was alot of fun as Varanasi is the most chaotic place we have yet seen (and we've seen a fair few of those!). We arrived at our hotel from the train and pretty much straight away took a cycle rick...

We arrived in Agra in the evening of the 22nd after a long and very bumpy ride from Jaipur. On the way we visted some ancient Indian holy town now deserted in the middle of the day when it was as hot as hell so enthusiasm was minimal to put it mildly especially as we've seen so much of this sort of thing recently. We felt a bit sorry for the guide who was trying to explain the no doubt interesting history of it to a group who really couldn't give two hoots. ...

We arrived here on 20th May but to be honest the city and all it's dubious charms were rather lost on us as we had travel hassles to sort out thanks to the ongoing Nepal political situation which has cointinued to deteriorate. Our current tour company, The Imaginative Traveller has now decided that they won't take the tour into Nepal and finish in Kathmandu as they feel it's too risky now. We understand their point of view but we are absolutely furious about...

We left Jaisalmer early on 17th and headed back towards Jodphur passing through a pretty unpleasant sandstorm in the desert. After having lunch in Jodphur we headed towards the remote village of Chandelao where we stayed at a lovely heritage hotel. The village here had a population of only around 2,000 people who weren't used to seeing tourists. This meant that we could at least walk around without the hassle of beggars and people trying to sell you things! ...

We arrived here in Jaisalmer, a desert fort town, 100km from the Pakistan border on 14th April after a seven hour coach ride from Jodhpur. The scenery along the way became more and more arid and you wonder how the remote villages and their inhabitants, farmers and indeed animals survive in such a harsh enviroment. The driver continually has to dodge cattle and goats that wander onto the highway and we see plenty of camels too. When we arrive in Jaisalmer, ou...