10 things to do for free in Kolkata

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Jun 062012
 

Getting under the skin of any big city is best done on foot. But Kolkatans are justifiably proud of their fabulous metro: it is efficient and clean (there’s not a plastic bottle, sweet wrapper or smelly puddle in sight). With fares ranging from 4 rupees to 8 rupees—that’s 5p to 10p—it would be churlish to miss this treat. The metro’s single line runs from north to south (or south to north depending on your perspective), so you can’t get lost. Combine it with a walk and get to know Kolkata on the cheap. Continue reading »

An introduction to Kochi from the Guardian

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May 302012
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It just goes to show that a little persistence can (sort of) pay off. I’ve been bombarding the poor old Guardian for months with tips, opinions and comments. I’ve managed to get a few pieces in Saturday’s newspaper (but none of them has made it to ‘tip of the week’ and netted me that elusive camera … yet). I was lucky enough to have two of my longer essays spotlighted in “Readers’ blogs”. This week I’m stoked to say they chose my piece for their on-line introduction to Kochi (name credit an’all). Here it is, fresh from the Guardian website: Continue reading »

Time travel in Darjeeling

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May 212012
 

“It’s just a short walk from the Dekeling,” said jolly Mrs Dekeva, our homestay hostess.

I wonder how much longer Jamie and I are going to believe our dear Gorkha friends when they tell us somewhere is only a stroll away. My antennae should have been twitching when I found it wasn’t marked on my Darjeeling street plan. The Tibetan Self Help Refugee Centre does, however, appear as an innocent dot at the top of the small scale Lonely Planet map of the whole mountainous area. But a quick check (using my finger tip to measure) convinced me it was only 4 kilometres from our starting point. Continue reading »

Pink City detours: runner up in the Walkopedia writing competition

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Mar 292012
 

The vendor wanted ten rupees (about 12p) for a gloopy crimson drink in a hastily wiped glass. In a nod to hygiene the sidekick wore a grubby cloth tied round his head, but over his sweat stained shirt a grimy woollen vest was streaked with Jackson Pollock stains. After nine hours of almost uninterrupted walking Jamie and I wondered if we were tired and thirsty enough to try the lurid concoction. Continue reading »

A murder of crows

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Jan 162012
 

Kolkata’s South Park Street Cemetery, with its 18th and 19th century monolithic tombs, is full of the tales and tribulations of Britain’s earliest pioneers.

I turned into the last avenue in the graveyard, it was darker here, the air damp and uncharacteristically cool for Kolkata. Outside the twenty foot high mossy stone wall enclosure, the relentless drone of Kolkata’s traffic stopped. A raggedy crow hopped across my path. My footsteps slowed to a funereal pace as I waded through the shadows and memories of lives put to rest in this silent corner of the cemetery. The jungle was thick, allowing no direct sunlight to penetrate through the nest of branches into the city of mausoleums huddled together deep inside its shadows. Continue reading »

Kechopari Lake

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May 292011
 


Earlier this morning Jamie and I heaved ourselves out of bed to catch the sunrise over India’s highest mountain. In the silence of a Himalayan dawn, we watched the tiger-toothed caps of Kanchenjunga massif emerge from the blackness, changing from pink to peach and finally to a pure, glistening white. One kilometre below us, the valley tucked itself under eiderdown clouds, and people of the Lepcha, Bhutia and Nepali tribes began their daily work.
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Shangri-la in the eastern Himalaya

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May 222011
 


“I promise this walk is not long and nor is it steep,” said Jiwan.

If our recent experience of what a Gorkha regards as an ‘easy walk’ was anything to go by – a one in three incline through forest and driving rain for eight hours – we were not entirely convinced by Jiwan Rai’s assurances. Still, today he was wearing a suit and shirt, black shiny leather shoes and an umbrella hooked over his arm: it couldn’t be that difficult, could it?
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Bamboo House Papa

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May 202011
 


“Would you like to have lunch in Nepal?” said Pramod, the headmaster of RIBS primary school in Manebhanjang, Darjeeling district.

We had just spent the morning talking to his bouncing pupils, aged three to ten, and were ready for a break. So we strolled up the road, nodding to the disinterested border patrol guards, and jumped over a storm drain into Nepal. It hardly felt like moving into another country, but the frisson that goes with flouting the rules turned lunch into a small adventure.

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Sadla, Eritrea: Notes on a Small Island

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Mar 012010
 

The ultimate paradise island? We thought so. To get there just follow this position: Lon: 041 55.81E Lat: 13 52.77N

Since completing our 4500 mile sail from Turkey to India Jamie and I have been asked, on frequent occasions, what our ‘best’ experience was. It’s an impossible question to answer: the historic sites of Egypt, dugongs in Sudan, the children in Massawa, the warmth of the African people and the welcome in Aden jostle for position. But the first time it was asked our gut reaction – like the other crews on the rally – was “Sadla Island”.
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