We woke early to see the world’s third highest peak and there she was, Kanchenjunga, at dawn, ready to witness … More
Tag: Travel
A tale of a dry day in India (it must be election time)
Departure Lounge Bar| Kolkata Airport | India We’re just about to leave India and go to Thailand on our 90 … More
Helpful hints on how to climb a 17 foot elephant on your wedding day
From Jorhat we travelled west for one and a half hours till we got to Kohora, a small village on … More
Things to see in Majuli, the world’s largest river island
We sailed to the world’s largest river island, Majuli, in the mighty river Brahmaputra and cycled in stunning Assamese countryside … More
To Sivasagar: home of the Assamese kings
We’ve made our way to the ancient capital of Assam, full of monuments of the Ahoms. Digboi to Sivasagar | … More
Digboi, the oil town in the rainforest
We’ve made our way to the easternmost corner of Assam, to a sleepy town by a rainforest called Digboi. It’s … More
On the lazy man’s road: the story of Dhodar Ali
We’re travelling further east in Assam, towards Digboi on an old road that has a curious tale about it. Dhodar … More
A storm in an Assamese tea cup
We’ve arrived in Upper Assam at the start of the tea plucking season; the tea-pluckers are out in full force, … More
I’m backpacking around South East Asia for 90 Days
When a rare opportunity for extended travel arrives, you just have to grab it with both hands I’m going backpacking … More
10 Annoying Behaviours on the London Underground
Londoners have a love-hate relationship with their metro system The Tube; but it’s more than just standing on the wrong … More
Great travel annoyances of our times: the hotel toaster
At the hotel breakfast, that metal appliance that toasts your bread on a little conveyor … I mean… how hard … More
Farewell to the land of a thousand hills – epilogue
Well, it’s taken 42 blog posts and over 60,000 words, but I’ve managed to get there – this is the … More
The bar that sold bananas
Wise words I once heard while buying bananas in a bar in Kigali, Rwanda in 2008: ‘Nothing can heal without … More
7 tips for volunteers in Africa
It’s almost time to fly home. These seven months in Rwanda have felt so much longer – the richness of … More
The Ragged Children of Kinigi
When the ragged children of Kinigi danced, it was a scene of both joy and sadness, those imposters both, two … More
The snowman in the heart of Africa – Climbing Mount Karisimbi (part 2)
Continued from part 1 I walked towards the fire where there were two crouching silhouettes outlined in bright orange. I … More
Climbing Mount Karisimbi
CLIMBING MOUNT KARISIMBI , a snow-capped volcano between Rwanda and the DR Congo, the tallest peak in the Virungas, was … More
Images of Angkor Wat
Angkor Wat may not provide you with solitude at times and watching sunrise can be something of a tourist trap. … More
A Weekend Break in the Northern Hemisphere #2: Kampala and Lake Victoria
Crossing the border from Rwanda to Uganda, a traverse from Francophone to Anglophone Africa, offered subtle changes from the bus … More
A hike up Mount Bisoke and a lesson in understanding gorilla sounds
One Friday afternoon, with Freddy’s permission, I snuck out from work early – we had decided to climb the perfectly … More
Sometimes on Tuesdays, always with tea
Sometimes you can’t see how incredible a person is when you first meet them. Still waters run deep, people are … More
Faith, devotion and complicity
I enjoyed lazy starts to the day on the veranda, shooting the breeze with Peter the security guard. We’d breakfast … More
Where you never walk alone
In contrast to my daily commute in London, my walk home in Kigali was rarely dull, no two journeys were … More
Electric-green unplugged
Today it’s April the 7th 2018, a day that marks the 24th anniversary of the start of the Rwandan genocide. … More
As Time Goes By …
Giving a training course to a group of nurses in Rwanda gave me a new perspective on the concept of … More
Unguarded Moments
The basic facts I knew about Rwanda before I lived there were: it has rare mountain gorillas. Diane Fossey, the … More
Being mindful – bug bites and quiet nights
Most of the nights after work were quiet nights at home and I found my pace shifted down a gear, … More
The Creepy Village of Kuldhara
When a fellow traveller at the hotel in the desert town of Jaisalmer told us there was a haunted village … More
In Search of Silence and the Missing Female to Female Nine Pin
It’s been a few months since I last posted for the series ‘Letters from the Heart of Africa’. We are … More
The Childhood Adventures of Owning a Globe
On my seventh birthday my parents gave me a globe. My own spherical world of colourful landmasses and oceans, strung … More
Hey Loons 