Same, same….but different. This is apparently what travellers arriving from India say about Nepal. It is also what Indian vendors say when you ask for a product in a different size, colour…and then they produce something that bears absolutely no resemblance to the item you wanted (er….since when did a lime green and purple patterned nightdress look like the light blue top I asked for in a different size?). Personally I think Nepal is very different to...

To Kathmandu On Saturday night I began my journey to Nepal. I boarded the night train at New Delhi station where I found myself in a carriage with a gregarious Chinese man. He was busy entertaining our fellow passengers with anecdotes and stories, most of which were pretty incomprehensible to me, but was quite diverting. Less amusing was his request that I 'teach him English' at 11 o'clock when all I wanted to do was sleep! Eventually he got the message and I se...