Ever since we had left Rishikesh and got another vomit comet bus to Ramanagar, we had no seem another single westerner for a good few days. Except for the Kirsten family, other white faces were difficult to spot. Well, they would be since we were far far off the backpackers' beaten track. Who has heard of Ramanagur? Have you heard of Moradabad even? Even our guidebook failed to mention this pretty large city in India, but it was where we needed to go to start hea...

We heard them, we saw plenty of their pug marks, we came across others who actually saw one and we trawled all over the Reserve, but we did not actually see a tiger. Damn! Some of the forestry and ranger posts were tiger and elephant proofed as added precaution. Houses and outposts were surrounded by 10 feet tall electric fences and 6 foot deep trenches. Only slight paranoid then...Seriously, a male tiger come weigh in at 350kg (which is a little bigger than an A...

"Yoga" and "meditation" are buzzwords in Rishikesh.In fact, it claims to be the Yoga capital of the world, and the number of classes advertised on boardings everywhere certainly supported that.So how could I turn down this chance to roll out my exercise mat and begin chanting "Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm"? But which class to chose?Simple.Although laughing yoga sounded fun, and we missed the chance to have a go at this in Mumbai (www.laughter...

The Beatles have much to answer for! Not just some of the greatest music ever, but also adding a very significant stop on the hippie trail to the East, for Westerners, and probably ending the rampart use of drugs in modern Indian society. Huh? Come again. The Beatles famously came out to Rishikesh for a few months and produced their White Album thereafter. But they became very upset with the Swami Maharashi and his frequent demands for more money and the way he ...

Another early morning steping over the sleeping bodies of the reception and other staff of the hotel as we head out the door to catch another early morning bus to Dehra Dun and then ANOTHER one to Mussoorie. Oh well.....if you are heading off the beaten track, you have to do as the locals do. After a quick cup of masala chai and the bags tied to the roof again, we were off. By this time, we are so nonchalant about travelling in the buses that near misses and sh...