After leaving Varanasi we went on by train to Umaria. Unfortunately the train was 4 and a half hours late so instead of arriving at 10.15pm we arrived in the small hours and had a further hour by car to the Tigers Den resort in Bandhavgarh where we spent 2 and a bit nights. We could have stayed up and gone on the safai at 5am but we were too tired. However the next two days we made up for it by seeing 5 tigers and a python devouring an Indian Roller. We then ha...

After a few days in the much cooler Darjeeling we have now moved on to Varanasi. We had splendid views of the Himalaya but did not manage to see Everest as there is only one view point from Tiger Hill and the mist didn't clear for us, but we have now seen the worlds second highest mountain. We saw quite a few endangered species in the zoo in Darjeeling including red pandas. Varanasi is the spiritual home of the Hindu religion although it is also close to the pla...

We have just spent a very hectic few days here, our primary aim was to see the Rotary eye project which gave us a very busy but enjoyable schedule. Our hosts gave us a very warm welcome and we were amazed by how much hard work they do. They are a truly dedicated group of Rotarians with Service Above Self being very much their ethos. We spent our third day on a tour of this great city and had a very good guide who showed us many aspects of the life here. We saw...

We have just spent an incredible 12 days touring China. I say touring but we have barely scratched the surface. This is a vast country with so much to see. We started with three nights in Beijing and enjoyed a great day trip to the Great Wall which lived up to our expectations. We even used a tobboggan to get back down to the car park which saved us a half hour walk and therefore more time on the wall. We did all the usual sites in Beijing itself ( that is what...

Now in Hong Kong after 5 days of touring the North of Thailand. This was an extremely interesting trip with the opportunity to visit some of the 9 tribes that live in this region. Our trip included staying in a Lisu village and sampling some excellent cuisine. I will never get used to sitting cross legged to eat. We got to see many temples and found that we couldn't quite explore the whole cave system when we stopped for a tour as we both found it too claustroph...