Destination: India

Bhanga Boys

Wed, 16 Dec 2015 | By davidford | Views [650]

I have now moved rooms to one more befitting my bachelor status. Facing Darjeeling, now shrouded in mist, it is smaller and lacks en suite toilet and shower. What it lacks it gains by virtue of the view (admittedly not a great advantage today), wardrobe ... Read more >

Tags: cigarettes, drink, food, friendship

Mushrooms and Clouds in the Hills of Kodaikanal - 2

Tue, 15 Dec 2015 | By vavachan | Views [1186] | Comments [1]

Chennai was experiencing non-stop rain for a week, roads were waterlogged and homes flooded. Luckily my sky palace on the third floor was a constant reassurance against any such possibilities. Also, my neighbourhood was relatively unharmed in what can ... Read more >

Photos: David_photogallery_Darjeeling1

Tue, 15 Dec 2015 | By davidford | Photo Gallery

Photos: David_photogallery_2Darjeeling

Mon, 14 Dec 2015 | By davidford | Photo Gallery

The Worm has Turned

Mon, 14 Dec 2015 | By davidford | Views [490]

Darjeeling, 14th December. Happy Birthday to Emms (my eldest neice) for yesterday. Hope you had a good first term at Universtity and a good birthday. Today it is I, sitting in the Himalayan Java Coffe House on the Mall, Darjeeling, who is tapping ... Read more >

Tags: hill station, meeting people, train journey

Change of Plan

Sat, 12 Dec 2015 | By davidford | Views [505]

My train for New Jalpaiguri leaves tonight and not tomorrow night as I had thought.  I've just booked two nights at the Dekeling guest house in central Darljeeling and I'm quite excited now and looking forward to what I hope will be a calmer ... Read more >

Tags: change of plan, food, train journey

Photos: David_Photogallery_Shibpur

Sat, 12 Dec 2015 | By davidford | Photo Gallery

Tagored

Sat, 12 Dec 2015 | By davidford | Views [555]

Today was one of my favourite days to date. As usual abandoning my plan to get up early and go to the flower market I went through the morning stop start routine ending up with meditation, this time including the Tiratana Vandana, a section from the ... Read more >

Tags: art, city exploration, fear

Photos: David_photogallery_Tagore_Kumartuli

Fri, 11 Dec 2015 | By davidford | Photo Gallery

Predictably Enough

Fri, 11 Dec 2015 | By davidford | Views [546]

Predictably enough, after coffe and diet coke, I could not get to sleep last night. I lay awake stewing over Nadeem's comment - Nadeem is the best and PUSHIEST manager I've ever had - and listening to the increasingly irritable howl of dogs, the quawing ... Read more >

Photos: David_photogallery_BotanicGardens

Fri, 11 Dec 2015 | By davidford | Photo Gallery

Photos: David_photography_CalcuttaCricketClub

Fri, 11 Dec 2015 | By davidford | Photo Gallery

Rest Day, 1st Calcutta Test

Wed, 9 Dec 2015 | By davidford | Views [767] | Comments [1]

I have now worked out that I can expand my screen so no excuses for embarrassing misspellings. My initial plan today was to get up at 5.30 and head down to the flower market. I changed this to 'Rest Day". After around a week in Kolkata and a longish ... Read more >

Tags: books, chi gung, food, meditation, rest, yoga

well that's it then

Wed, 9 Dec 2015 | By davidford | Views [414]

This evening I ate a vegetable biryani and another dish I didn't really need from Arkashan restaurant on Rippon Street. The Earl/Marquis/Lord? of Rippon was I believe a Viceroy of India at one point. I discovered this at the Victoria Memorial to my pleasure ... Read more >

Tags: nostalgia, revisitng past places

Freedom at Fourteen Thousand Feet

Tue, 8 Dec 2015 | By krakatao | Views [320]

After 6 hours of uphill driving, passing by one of the highest roads in the world, Chang La, Lina and I feel the air around Pangong Lake. A fortress of mountains around us acts like a bowl which seems to hold us gently and lay us softly on the mildly ... Read more >

Tags: #ladakh #travel #mountains #himalayas #adventure