Thank you, dear readers

I've really enjoyed doing this blog, posting pictures and writing of our travel adventures. So thank you, dear reader, for your comments back to me as it was grand to know you've been tuning in.  X

Home sweet home - minus luggage

We're home! Safe and sound. Our luggage however is still in London because Delhi airport decided to close for an hour to practice for this weeks national celebrations, which had a knock on effect with our travel plans.

The flight from Kathmandu to Delhi was delayed, and we were circling above Delhi in the fog waiting to land for an hour, thinking that we were going to miss the London flight. The transfer desk (avoid it if you can, it is a lesson in inefficiency) eventually gave us our forward boarding cards for London and also the hop up to Manchester. Luckily the London flight was delayed as well so we only just had time to get it. However 'going through security' segregates men and women, so I didn't know if Bern had made it through at the same time as me, so I waited and watched the 'male' queue looking for him. He had made it through quickly hooray, and so a quick trot to the departure gate and onto the plane. 

The London flight with Virgin Atlantic was actually great because of our extra legroom seats and also because the plane was new. Made a nice change after all the manky transport we've been used to. 

Flying over Pakistan and Afghanistan in the day meant you could see their mountains and goodness me they were beautiful covered in snow. Absolutely stunning.  Getting into London was also good as you could pick out landmarks. We got off the plane, and we were singled out by ground crew with new tickets for a later flight to Manchester as we had missed our scheduled one. I was chuckling to myself, thinking goodness these guys are good, how do they know to pick us out, then I looked around and thought actually it's very simple as we were pretty much the only white faces on the plane! 

So off we trot to Teminal 5 as Virgin put us on a BA flight. Another transfer desk for new boarding cards but - oh what - the desk staff told us that the gate had already closed for that flight! We got the boarding cards anyway and were told to run as they would try their best to keep the gate open for us. 

Sprint sprint sprint through T5 - like you see in the movies except with much less grace and style - escalator steps two at a time - excuse me excuse me - am I a magnet for stupid people - then to the gate to see, hooray hooray, we could still get on. Thank you, BA!

And so, 45 minutes up to Manchester for the last flight of the journey. We were sure that our luggage hadn't made it with us after all the kerfuffle at Heathrow, and sure enough it hadn't. One piece was back in T1, the other in T5 and the third was in transit between the two! A courier will deliver it hopefully Sunday, maybe Monday. So no hair dryer or toilet bag until then but I will survive! 

Very tired on the way home in the car and we swapped driving duties 3 times to help each other. Home to a cold house but I didn't notice as I zonked out straight away. Good to be home.

Kathmandu day 6 - lets gan yam

Home today, or 'gan yam' in Cumbrian dialect. Great food again in Yang Ling Tibetan restaurant with our friends last night, and I will miss not having momos for another year. 

I hope that our journey goes without a hitch and we will be back in the land of wet and cold before we know it. X

A little samey - sorry!

Just reading these last few posts and I'm aware dear reader that they are quite samey, we get up, we go shopping, we have lunch, we do more shopping then we go out for dinner! No sightseeing or anything that's a lot of fun. We did when we first visited but now we didn't give ourselves a lot of time to do anything but work! Next year I'd like to do a trek, it's just organising everything at home so we can be away for a longer period. 

But for now, here's a photo of a rickshaw!

Kathmandu day 5

Madly rushing around trying to complete our orders today, and also going to see our trekking guide friend at his home for lunch. We met his son and daughter, and they fed us dal bhat (lentil curry) with rice, plus two other vegetable side dishes of spring greens, broccoli and tomatoes. There was also a very spicy pickle made from tomatoes, garlic and chilli which was delicious but I had to have it in small bits! It was great to have home cooked food rather than the usual restaurant fare. 

I wanted to show you some of the things we've been buying - I really like the dragons! They are wooden and are an opposite pair. We sell quite a few of the singing bowls which are played for meditation but the price of metal and also shipping per kilo keeps going up so it's sometimes tough to know how much to buy. 

Sock update .....

I finished the original sock after making it smaller, but then I thought that I could try a new design, something a little prettier perhaps.

This has front posts and clusters! Ooooh get me. 

Some city views

Went up onto the hotel roof to get some sun and see how the view was. Some days it's very smoggy but today wasn't too bad. There are a few pretty roof gardens amongst the concrete nightmare! 

Kathmandu day 4

I can't believe we've been in Nepal for 4 days! Time has really flown by. Last night we went to Fire and Ice pizza restaurant, run by an Italian family, and it was just lovely. I hope we can go there again before we leave on Saturday (today is Weds). Today after breakfast outside with the newspaper (didn't really understand much of it) we bought traditional singing bowls, wooden masks and carvings, then met Dave for lunch at Yang Ling Tibetan restaurant for a catch up as he had just arrived. 

Having a breather this afternoon - maybe I can get some more crochet done? 

But first, a cup of English Breakfast tea. I might be over 4,500 miles away but I still want a good brew! We normally travel with a kettle, tea bags and ground coffee as these home comforts make a huge difference to our morale. 

Kathmandu day 3 - ginger lemon tea, silly hats and labels!

It promises to be another cloudless day in the city but because the streets are fairly narrow you have to search to find a sunny spot. Luckily the Pumpernickel bakery has a nice garden so we breakfasted there. Their hot ginger tea with lemon and honey was delicious. 

Onto a hat manufacturer next and we are getting lots of these daft 'mountain' hats plus the usual assortment of sun hats which took ages to choose as they had so many samples! Our day then consisted of meeting the CAN manager for lunch, then buying embroidered purses and sew on patches, brightly coloured headbands and 'buffs' in a variety of colours and sizes. Woolly hats and gloves next, then back to our exporters who had a surprise for me! They had made clothing labels for our woolly jumpers .... how chuffed am I? We've never had these before so they look great. The image makes them look blue but they are actually purple. 

Kathmandu day 2

Remember I said I hadn't been poorly? I spoke too soon. Spent a few hours in the night nursing a sore and aching tummy and had a very quiet morning but by lunchtime I was up to speed again which was a relief.

We then chose some great wool colours for our roll neck jumpers and some fab knitted hats, gloves and socks for a market in York in Feb, so we are asking everyone to have them made and sent by then. It should happen ..... our guys are pretty fast. We then met the country manager for CAN (Community Action Nepal) whose office is only 10 minutes walk from our hotel, then we are seeing him for lunch tomorrow to catch up on how things are. 

Because there's limited electricity every day, the shop lighting is quite dim when it goes dark so we try to do our work in daylight especially if we are picking out fabric colours. So we rushed around buying Thai fishermens trousers before the night fell! Got some great funky stripe fabric that we've not had before too. Dinner with Shap friends then early night.

Kathmandu day 1

Had a good flight into Kathmandu - we could see the Himalayas as we came into land.  The usual confusion at Nepalese immigration about which desk takes the money and which stamps your passport .... and the queues for each were very long and full of cranky travellers. Had to laugh though by the time we got to the luggage carousels - we saw the Delhi flight was on carousel 2 so we went to that one, but because we had spent so long at immigration in the queues our luggage had been already taken off and stacked neatly, and the Delhi flight it referred to was the one that landed half an hour after ours! No sophisticated luggage system here, just a hole in the wall where the bags get poked through. 

Taxi into the city centre to the hotel although the driver wanted us to go with him to 'tourist office' to book 'many trips' - don't know why he thought we were the sort to do that as we looked very dishevelled and certainly in need of a good wash. We are staying 6 nights at the Tibet Guest House, but we could only get the room we wanted for 5, so we got a free upgrade in a deluxe room for the first night. 'Deluxe' is their word, not mine! 

Within 5 minutes of arriving our friends from Shap who have been trekking in Nepal called in, then our Nepali guide from the trek we did last year called us and arranged to meet up! Had lovely meal in the evening with Shap friends with a couple of beers to wash down all the yummy momos (savoury dumplings). Talking of which, because I haven't been poorly this trip and lost any weight I too resemble a dumpling! 

Delhi Airport

Well, you can't argue with that! Garland of plastic marigolds, anyone?

It's so glossy and glitzy inside the airport, such a stark contrast from this last 11 days travelling about. 

All checked in, and we got emergency exit seats (hooray) and we are flying with Air India who aren't half bad. Bernard has gone to check out the pharmacy in the departure lounge and see if he can get antibiotics for chest infections as one of us normally gets something icky like that in Nepal. Plus, and this is a first for me, I didn't get sick at all this time in India. Miracles do happen! 

Just reading the Delhi Times and my horoscope for today contains the following gems: if I am travelling for finalising matrimonial plans of children I will get good news, and I will get good news from the northwest direction. Love and romance look decently good, though momentary fights due to anger are indicated. Court cases will be well contested but I have better chances. 

I'm so glad.

Finishing up in Delhi

We only had half a dozen jobs to do in Delhi but they took most of the day! It's such a hassle to get from a to b in the main bazaar as it's so crowded plus there's so many motor bikes and handcarts to avoid you can't walk quickly or side by side. Got two lovely wool rugs for home made in Kashmir though.

Excellent curry in Malhotra (across from the hotel) - their garlic chicken tikka was so delicious. The mutton tikka was a bit chewy mind you but when you get curry as good as this you don't really mind. The picture shows the cafe but we didn't fancy the one next door called Festa because it's too close to 'fester'..........

Back in the hotel thanks to the power of a VPN we were able to watch BBC iPlayer on the laptop which makes being 4,000 miles away not feel so bad. Otherwise auntie beeb doesn't let you watch from abroad. The wifi here is really fast - same in Kathmandu as it's basically new tech. 

Tune in next time when I will report from Nepal. X

Train back to Delhi from Ajmer Junction

Back onto the Shatabdi express up to Delhi. It was late leaving which was unusual as the Indian railways pride themselves on being punctual. Our carriage of 52 seats on leaving Ajmer had only 8 occupants but when we got to Jaipur (2 hrs up the line) it was jam packed, being the Friday night late train back to Delhi. The waiters surpassed themselves firstly with a tray of tea (you have a thermos with enough for two gorgeous cups), including spicy vegetarian sausage roll with ketchup, crispy fried lentils and a little portion of sugary coconut and almond flakes that don't half give you toothache. 

The main meal was three types of curry, two chappatis, sachet of devilish pickle, fragrant rice and a pot of yoghurt curd to cool down the spiciness. The little portion of vegetables were soft and gently spiced,  the top left hand curry was paneer cheese with onions (wowser hot) and the lentil daal to the right of that was just scrummy. I daren't eat the pickle as I wished to leave my taste buds intact. 

And yes, Bernard got his butterscotch ice cream. 

Pushkar day 5 - Coffee, TOLFA then back to Delhi

Our last morning finishing off bits of business. Superb banana and honey pancakes at honeydew cafe with pneumatic coffee. We've been going there for years and it's great to hear their merry jibber jabber with the customers as they prepare the food and drinks. I can't drink their coffee without lots of hot milk as it makes me want to lie in a quiet room for half an hour afterwards if I have it neat.

Today's highlight was a visit to TOLFA (Tree of Life for Animals) on the way to Ajmer station from Pushkar. On the way we saw lots of camels and goats - I had to stop and take pictures as you really are in the desert scrub. Shap it is not! The landscape and climate is just fantastic in January but I remember visiting one September when it was roasting and my poor English skin lasted about 3 minutes before it started to burn up.

At TOLFA we have just sponsored a dog kennel there for 12 months which means we pay for food and medicine for each of the poorly inhabitants. We also got to see the puppy compound which for me is like being a kiddy in a toy shop. After having my fingers and shoe laces nibbled by young and old dogs alike we got the train from Ajmer to Delhi. I will write separately about that as the food was outstanding and deserves its own tribute. 

Pushkar day 4 - a little bit more

The wifi went a bit skew-wiff these last 24 hours so apologies for radio silence, lovely people.

I've now bought my rugs, two sizes this time instead of one, plus new skirts in very funky patterns. I had a wrap skirt made there and then by our tailors as I wasn't sure about the fabric, but of course they were right and what the heck do I know. 

After that we sat drinking coffee watching the world go by - or go buy - in the main bazaar. Pushkar is so much cleaner than Delhi even though cows wander the streets and troops of monkeys gather above your head...... 

The best flavoured crisps!

These magic masala crisps are the best flavoured in the whole world. Spicy enough to make your nose run yet so moreish. I don't think you can buy them back home, and if I put some in my luggage they won't stay whole, so I will just have to enjoy them here. Shucks!

(The spice powders listed on the packet are onion, chili, mango, coriander, ginger, garlic, black pepper, turmeric and cumin). 

Pushkar day 4

Here's to another good day today. We are looking at rugs and more skirts from a different manufacturer including our silk wrap skirts, so we will be hand-picking saris from which they are made. In the meantime I am enjoying a hot cup of chai by the hotel fountain, which has scented rose petals scattered around it.  

Pushkar day 3 - not the best part of India.

I'm pretty tolerant as you all know with all things great and small. It is now 1:54 and as desperate for kip as I am, there's nothing I can do to stop a band on the rooftop of the opposite hotel playing at full volume right now. Not happy :-(. Here's to earplugs. 

Pushkar - day 3

Up and at 'em today! Spent 5 hours choosing tops, dresses, trousers and fabrics and blowing the budget..... just a little! So many fabrics in so many groovy patterns ... Oh and kaftans too for the summer.  For lunch we had a great curry of potatoes, peas and okra with buttery soft chappatis courtesy of the factory bosses mum. Thank you mummy Ji! We got a lift to the factory but walked back to town in the sun which was a real treat after the wet and cold of the UK. Little children walking back from school (immaculate uniform and hair) shouting hello from the other side of the road to us then hiding behind mummy's sari when we said hello back! So cute. 

My brain was totally fried after concentrating so hard on clothes so we wandered around the bazaar and sat and had chai tea with people we had already ordered from. We still have quite a few things to buy tomorrow and we leave Friday lunchtime so all being well physically and mentally we will have achieved our aims. 

I'm sad we didn't get chance to go to TOLFA today but I'm sure we will get there soon as it's just such a great place. 

Tea was street food cooked in front of us - a felafel wrap with humous and veg inside for £1.20. Marvellous! 

Crochet sock update

Now then, don't all ask at once how my smaller pair of socks is doing ...... actually they're MUCH better! 

Pushkar - day 2

Overslept! But that's good as we weren't expecting to do much work today. Banana pancake with honey for lunch with strong coffee, then we went to find one of our manufacturers who was at home flying kites with his family. This guy is also a trustee of TOLFA (Tree of Life for Animals) whom we support back in the UK through selling our goods. I've just sponsored a kennel out here for a year so I hope we will have time to go there. If so I will report back! 

Not much kite flying but everyone was trying their best to bring down their opponents kites. There was lots of music and dancing on the rooftops and I shot some video so I will try and upload a few things. We then bought some jingly dangly mobiles and had a walk around the holy lake. This is a record - we had 15 minutes to ourselves of peace and quiet before we were accosted by someone wanting you to worship with him and then once you stop then it's open season for others to accost you, albeit in a gentler fashion than Delhi. In our peaceful moments we saw lots of birds - a large kingfisher too - and enormous pike that must have been over 2 feet long. 

I saw some lovely shawls too - but for the web they must be identical else you will be photographing everything singly and that's no good really. One of 'many problem' that exists doing business here. 

Pushkar - day 1

A short taxi ride over the mountain from the train at Ajmer to our hotel in Pushkar. We booked this place back in October as it's always hard to get into. It's a converted mansion house (Havelli) with rooms on 4 floors designed around a central open space, with hanging plants / creepers growing downwards. We are here for 4 nights and I'm glad I bought my hot water bottle as the rooms are not heated. The warmest place is the rooftop restaurant as they have charcoal braziers up there. 

Had a quick walk around town just now to say hello to our contacts. Apparently it's the kite flying festival tomorrow so most businesses are closed, but we don't need so many things from here so that's not a problem. Bye for now! 

The mightly Shatabdi Express to Ajmer Junction

This train is great - it takes 7 hours, travels over 440 km and only stops at about 5 stations on the way. There's only one FIrst Class AC (aircon) carriage and the rest are standard. We walked the length of the train to find our carriage and I counted 15. The alternative is taking a taxi down the notorious Rajasthani highway and that takes 9 plus hours which is a real drag. We paid 100Rs (about a quid) to get from the hotel to the stationin a little tuktuk, how on earth two large suitcases, two travel bags and two large Brits fitted in it I'm still not quite sure. Thank goodness he didn't take any corners at speed. Think Jeremy Clarkson in a Reliant Robin. On arriving in the station we were accosted by the usual annoyances - someone trying to sell us beads and others wanting to drag our luggage, and then when we went through the main station concourse to the platform, the barrier has a luggage xray machine (the man sat by it was having a nap) so another chap checked our ticket and said that 'there was a problem with our train' and 'it's not running today' which was utter hogwash. They are just touts who are well known to deceive foreign travellers and then sell them a taxi / tour to their destination. Bern gave him short shrift and then onto our platform where we had hot chai tea for 9 rupees a cup (about 9p). When we found our carriage, our names were printed on a passenger list taped to the outside of it which is always a reassurance.

The food on this train is always fun. You're never sure what you're going to get but it normally goes down well. They serve Tetley tea with a vacuum jug of water and some 'Marie' biscuits when you get on. We got on at 5.45am so I was gasping for a brew. There is even a printed menu on the tray the waiters bring to you your meals on that itemises everything, i.e. one knife, one pack butter, one napkin, one ketchup sachet etc. Our actual breakfast was Kelloggs corn flakes with hot milk, a banana, a choice from four vegetarian savoury options, none of which we could fathom, but we got a South Indian squashed veg couscous with fried salty potato on top, hellish hot oily curry sauce and yoghurt curd. More tea to follow (hooray) and bread with butter and jam (two pieces). I think we get more food before we get off at Ajmer, and Bern is hoping that they have the butterscotch ice cream like last time. 

Second day in Delhi

Another good day shopping but a much later start due to sleep catching up wth us both. We bought more jewellerly and bangles, incense cones and wooden holders, some enormous woven blankets, umbrellas, a few sparkly bags (see pic) and other bits and bobs. Then back to our exporter's office to give them a list of our purchases, then that was the day gone. Superb and I do mean superb dinner at Malhotra (cafe opp hotel) of hellishly hot popadoms and the saltiest lime pickle, Chicken garlic tikka, then shared mains of spicy veg biryani, stuffed garlic nan with potato and chicken karahi with green chillis. Two lime sodas to drink and the bill was eight quid all in. I didn't take my phone to dinner else I would have taken a picture. I'm writing this at 4am as we're catching the early train today down to Rajasthan. Could have done with more sleep but I can maybe kip on the train. A pic below of the Main Bazaar in Delhi at night during a quiet period with no scooters dodging between the pedestrians. Not so many tourists around that I could see. 

A good day shopping

Gracious me, what a busy day we had yesterday. Firstly, we took a tuktuk to Janpath, which is row of Tibetan shops about 15 minutes ride away. They specialise in turquoise jewellery but what we were really after were little jewellery and trinket boxes. All found and bought, with a few bracelets that we'd spied, then back in the tuktuk to drop off with our exporter. We then tackled the main bazaar in Paharganj which is where our hotel is, I'll try to take some pictures today to give you a flavour. We also bought fleece clothing (ponchos, baggy trousers, zip hoodies) and lots of other trinkety type things. That believe it or not took 7 hours. Today it's more of the same - we've seen these lovely brightly coloured umbrellas which would be useless in the rain but very pretty as decorations and also some carpet bags (think Mary Poppins) in a similar jaunty fabric. Post more pics later x PS look what we missed on TV last night. 

All kinds of every car

You forget that nobody in India has a driving license like we have but remember it very quickly when you get into a car. After the serene expressways that form the airport roads, you enter into the melee of three lanes but five cars across them, roundabouts that have no give way and you enter at full pelt, and the total mish mash of all types of cars. Tuktuks, Ambassador cabs, scooters, vans, and Range Rover Evoques. No animals as yet casually strolling anywhere but there's time.