I shut the door of my hotel room, turning the key to lock it.I walked slowly down the steps onto the busy street. There was noise, lots of it. The street was full of people strolling and shopping, cars beeping their horns and people on bicycles dodging the traffic. It was mid afternoon, India in…Read more The Path to Nirvana – Swimming with blind Dolphins
Set to impress!
India has a habit of throwing things at you that you least expect. Isn’t this what I have promoted with my travel business – always expect the unexpected! Cooking is something that I have always been drawn to, cooking for people is high up there on the list of things that I like to do.…Read more Set to impress!
Compassion in action
One of the great things about my job as a tour leader is that you get to meet special people doing special things. They are often the quiet ones - starting small, doing everything on the smell of an oily rag (as we say) and hovering in the background. However these quiet achievers make a…Read more Compassion in action
The Full Circle
I’ve left India. Like a marriage that has been teetering on the edge, of having lost it’s magic and being simply not interested, I’d struggled these past couple of years, of hanging on to memories, to alliances, to friendships that seem to be old and stale. It was like having a partner that you couldn’t…Read more The Full Circle
An unexpected find
Train travel never really held a fascination for me. Not until I came to India that is. I have always thought it as a mean of transport, to get from one place to another. During my time in India I have learnt, experienced and felt so many things through train travel. It is not only…Read more An unexpected find
My Desi Dog Billy
Ours is a slow burning love. The type when two old people are sitting there comfortably in their chairs side by side watching the world go by. It was never an instant type of love. We had to warm to each other. Both with trust issues – mind through a broken heart and his through…Read more My Desi Dog Billy
My Rooster Year
This year is supposed to be a big one for me - 2017. Turning 60 in the year of the Rooster (my year) in Chinese Horoscope or the year of the Fire Bird in the Tibetan calendar. Whichever you believe, it is still predicted to be a year to remember. To use an old clique…Read more My Rooster Year
Where are all the women?
We are sitting in the Taj in Mumbai, sipping champagne, waiting for the time for high tea, playing ladies when one of the women said, where are all the women? Looking around I wondered what she was talking about. I didn’t see any women in the room or had not been in touch with…Read more Where are all the women?
Dancing while the Sun is up
The sun is high in the sky, the hall is darkened, the drums are beating and I am tapping my feet to the music. It is good dance music. I am suddenly pulled from my seat close to the stage. There are smiling young faces everywhere, happy, twirling to the music. South India music, with…Read more Dancing while the Sun is up
Monsoon in McLeod Ganj – the home of the Dalai Lama
McLeod Ganj is a small town perched on ridge just below the Dhaladhur Range which forms the Indian Himalayas. It is a very special place for many reasons, the major one being it is the home base of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and the epicenter of the Tibetan refugee community. It has also been the hub of foreign tourists wanting to experience the magic of being…Read more Monsoon in McLeod Ganj – the home of the Dalai Lama
unplugged in india 