The Fallas of San Jose

It was my idea to take Carruthers to Spain. Brilliant idea, I thought. Carruthers can almost always be relied on to get us from here to there without getting us lost or having an argument or losing her cool. You don’t get SatNavs with Attitude …yet. (Carruthers? Well, you wouldn’t want any old TomTom, Dick…

Nagaland

From across the valley the tops of the hills looked as if they had been sprinkled with granulated sugar.  This was our first glimpse of Kohima. We drove into a dusty, dirty town, criss-crossed with electric wires and clogged with traffic. The streets were lined with small shops selling everything from paan, cushions and quilts,…

Ladakh: Mountains and Monasteries Part 2

We woke to a day of glorious sunshine. After a relaxing morning and lunch, we strolled into Leh to see what was going on. Answer: absolutely nothing. The shops, cafes, stalls, markets were all closed and there were very few people about. The taxi strike had apparently shut down the entire town – but the…

Ladakh: Mountains and Monasteries 1

When I saw the picture on the front of the tour dossier I knew I wanted to go to Ladakh. It was a picture of a small monastery perched on a rocky crag. Just that, nothing more. The building itself wasn’t particularly imposing, but the white walls bright in sunshine against a backdrop of shadowy…