Namaskar The vehicle of choice in the Himalayan foothills is none other than the trusty jeep so, after negotiating our way amongst 100 or so of these 4x4's at the bustling jeepstand, we bought ourselves tickets for the 3 hour journey from Darjeeling to Karmi Farm near the village of Kolbong. To our amazement, but no real suprise, as the journey progressed we picked up more...and then more passengers until a 'full vehicle' suddenly took on new meaning. Our j...

Namaste! Lucky me had had a second bout of Delhi belly in the previous 2 days, so our 5am departure from Jaldhapara Wildlife Reserve to Darjeeling wasn't ideal. We left our lodgings in the dark and cold, as always fully loaded tortoise-like, with our backpacks on front and back, assuming as we had been told there would be plenty of jeeps about to take us to the train station before their own dawn game drives. The roads were deserted bar one jeep that c...

TRAINS Indian Railways is the world's largest commercial employer with more than 1.4 million employees, transporting over 18 million passengers daily - and is also a law unto itself. The British were instrumental in laying down 63,327 kilometres of rail track during colonial reign and we, along with millions of Indians have depended upon the trains in order to move across the country. Our experience of taking the trains has varied between 'pleasantly...

TRAINS Indian Railways is the world's largest commercial employer with more than 1.4 million employees, transporting over 18 million passengers daily - and is also a law unto itself. The British were instrumental in laying down 63,327 kilometres of rail track during colonial reign and we, along with millions of Indians have depended upon the trains in order to move across the country. Our experience of taking the trains has varied between 'pleasantly...

Cultural Learnings of Glorious Nation of Indian Peoples - 'God's own Country' The food is delicious! Whether from a tiny hole-in-the-wall or a 5 star hotel we have yet to consume an unpleasant meal. And boy have we consumed a lot of meals! Wherever possible, taxi and 'auto rickshaw' drivers will charge at least double the metre'd fare using any excuse plausible for tourist consumption. The complex process of hacking and sp...