High Roads: Bhutan

We arrived in Puentsholing hungry, so our priority was to find somewhere to eat. Shouldn’t be that difficult … We didn’t want a big meal – just a snack at a café. Just enough to tide us over until dinner-time that evening. Down a side road we found a couple of places: Restaurant sign outside;…

Slow roads: Sikkim and West Bengal

We left Darjeeling the next day for Pelling in Sikkim. Our route took us through slopes cushioned with the wobbly lines of tea bushes before becoming much steeper and more wooded. Pithy signs by the roadside advised drivers to exercise caution: Drive Slow Remember your family are waiting for you Better late than late Don’t…

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…