The Kindness of Strangers

On Saturday I wrote a blog about my time in India in 1999. I talked about my experiences in Jalandhar where I was taken in by a family thanks to meeting someone on a bus and spending a few days staying with them, completely impromptu. It turned out to be probably the most rewarding experience …

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Trip of a Life Time – India (Part 3)

India for the first time. Where do I start? For any intrepid world explorer, or simple backpacker such as myself, India is the essential place to visit. At least once, if not several times considering just how big the country is and how much there is to see there. But for me in 1999, it …

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Train Journeys – Almaty to Semey (Kazakhstan)

Ahhh yes I’m taking you Central Asia today for today’s train journey. The journey northward from Kazakhstan’s cultural capital Almaty to the somewhat Russian Semey in the north is certainly a long one, and although a good portion of it is overnight, it’s still rather a special time to spend on the rails.   An …

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Trip of a Lifetime Part Two – Thailand and seeing how it all worked

So off with a bang! Thai Airways had me coasting through the clouds overnight. I remember the flight distinctively. Left at 1am, dinner a couple of hours later. Lights off for three hours and then lights on again and a movie – Sleepless in Seattle. Irony appreciated. Then breakfast and touchdown at just after 6am …

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Train Journeys – Darjeeling

Most of the train journeys I have written about so far have been longish journeys, overnighters, epic stories of survival (ok that’s an exaggeration) but not all worthwhile train journeys in the world are like that, in fact some are quite short. Take the seven-kilometre toy train journey from Darjeeling as a prime example. It’s …

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