Trekking the Annapurnas: Overcoming altitude sickness in Manang

This time last week I was on top of the world. At 5,416m, I had just achieved what I dramatically – at times – thought that I would die trying to do. I sipped the world’s most expensive cup of tea, had a worry about about the changeable weather and insisted we leave as quickly…

Evidence of the Earthquake in Kathmandu

The first thing you’ll notice about Kathmandu is the dust. Walking around the city, everyone – tourists and locals alike – walks with masks stretched across their faces. Horses, motorbikes and cars trundle past, leaving gritty clouds in their wake. Spend any longer than an hour walking around, and you’ll begin to feel the dirt…

The Unreality of the Taj Mahal

We came out of New Delhi airport just after midnight and it felt like the world had ended. Smog hung so low in the sky that even the taxi rank was hazy. It smelled like burning plastic. We were immediately descended upon by a flesh-hungry swarm of taxi drivers. After protesting to the driver who…

Celebrating a Happy Holi in Odisha

Bhubaneswar, a city in the North Eastern state of Odisha, was our first stop in India. We’d never heard of it before – a lot of people we spoke to hadn’t either – but we’d been brought there by an impromptu invitation to a Hindu wedding. We arrived late the night before the event with…

Sugar, Spice and All Things Nice in Udaipur

Being British, Indian food holds a special place in my heart. In April last year, when I first got home after seven months in South America, my first wish (apart from a hot bath) was to be taken to the local curry house for a welcome home feast. That’s why, on planning my trip to…

Superficial Scenes in Canggu

I’m writing out of order. We’re skipping Thailand, Australia and a night in Singapore that I probably won’t blog about anyway because I spent the majority of it in a windowless room about the size of a toilet cubicle. We’re leapfrogging over my flirtation with snowboarding in France, and how I now come complete with…

A Cambodian Horror Story: Phnom Penh’s Killing Fields and S-21

It’s been a long time since I was last here. After my last post, I made it as far as Australia and then I went back home to England in deepest darkest December where I felt totally and utterly deserted by the sun. After Christmas, I went to France and I broke my wrist on…

Girl + Scooter vs. Mountain

It’s often said that it’s more about the journey than it is about the destination. Never has this been more true than with my weekend in Pai – a small town nestled on the banks of a gentle river in the mountains of Northern Thailand. Pai is around ninety miles from Chiangmai. Route 1095 twists…

Wonder in Nusa Penida

Holy places are everywhere in Bali. From a small roadside stone shrine tucked between a mini-mart and a laundry service to a meditation space clinging to the side of a sea-pummelled cliff, the spiritual is ever present. Whilst I’ve always tended to err on the side of observer rather than participant when it comes to…

Elsewhere Again – Far East and Down Under

I couldn’t be happier to be typing in this familiar white space again. I’m back! I’ve gone elsewhere, and I’m over (t)here. The decision to come travelling again was an obvious one. As I sat on a plane back from Bogotá in April, at the end of my seventh month away from the UK, sadness…