We arrived here on Friday.

After an over night stay at the border town we drove to Butwal on the aturday, so as to get as far as possible through the counrty before protests about the diesel shortage might hold us up.

Then a day in Palpa which was just 40 KM down the road... very nice restaurant there serving us Nelapese food... the the back ground noise of a protest about the diesel and parraffin shortage.

Yesterday we arrived in Pokhara, which is an old hippy town which has developed into quitea tourist resort which a shopping promenade along the shore of the lake.

Before leaving India we went to the Corbett National Park. We even went on a jeep safari to see if we could see any tigers or elephants but they we all sheltering from the rain!

Off to Katmandu in a couple of days.

We had beef steak last night... the first since Bishkek!

It is much easier to find internet places in India!

So, we are now close to the ganges and at the place where the Beatles came over 40 years ago.

Dharamshala was very pleasant. The Tibetan refugees seem less agressive that the locals. It was very damp there and the cloud rose from the valley every morning when I had breakfast... fantastic view!

Since then we have driven here via chandrigarh. We crossed a swollen river in the truck yesterday. We drove quite easiley through the water. We will spend three nights here before going to a national park, where we might see tigers.

India is not as hectic in the smaller towns and cities. All is still interesting

After several visits to Bishkek we have arrived in India.

After the fresh air of Kyrgystan, Dehli seemed quite suffocating. We did a bit of sight seeing and managed to arrange train tickets to Agra.

The train journey was hectic but we arrived in Agra and were booked in to a pleasant hotel very close to the Taj Mahal.

Yes it is very impressive... however, after returning to Dehli, we joined the new truck and our first stop on out journey towards Dharamshala, was a place called chandigarh. It was recommended to visit the Rock Garden. It was one of the most pleasant afternoons I have ever spent. It was a garden made or constructed from rubbish! It was delightful.

Since then we have driven further into the Hymalayas and are not at Dharamshala. We are off to visit the Dalai Lama's monastery tomorrow.

Sorry about the lack of information, but I didn't seem to be able tp get to a computer.

Well, we are now in Bishkek.

Plan C/D is now in operation!

We left Baku on the ferry across the Caspian Sea to Turkmenistan. To cut a very long, three day story short, we could nott dock. We were anchored for two days within sight of thwe post but we couldn't dock. It was a strange three days but we entertained ourselves, read a lot and found various things to eat!

Eventually we were back on the truck. It was a mad dash to Ashgabat so that we could see the mega sunday market.

We stayed in a four star hotel in the very clinical town We extended our visas... the first visitors to manage it. After three two days there we drove off through the Karakum desert toward Uzbekistan. It was very hot. We stopped to camp one night so that we could see the man-made gas crater... quite spectacular. One night beside a man-made river and a short visit to an historic site close to the border with Uzbekistan.

At the border we were met by Jalol who eased our way through customs. We were now on the largest part of the Silk Road. First Khiva, then Bushkara, Samarkand and Tashkent. We saw every madrahsa, mosque, caravansaray worth seeing. It is all very impressive. The scenery in between was a bit monotonous...cotton fields or desert.

After Uzbekistan Kyrgystan awaited us. A complete change. Very little man-made culture to view but incredible scenery. After one night in Osh we began to make our way towards Song Kul lake. Amazing, from the mountains to the moon rise!

In the mean time we had learnt in Bushkara that the truck would not be allowed into China. Plan B was to drive across into Pakistan and into India... I decided to go straight to Katmandu and meet up with the others there....

By the time we arrived in Bishkek for the first time we knew that the Pakistani visa would take 4 weeks.... and by then the Chinese visa would have expired.....

Plan C was organised that same day and we would all fly to India, Pete would rent a truck from another firm which was sitting in Katmandu and we would then do India and Nepal. We will fly from Calcutta to Bangkok to pick up possibly another truck.

At the moment we are waiting for visas and hope to complete the journey to Singapore, all be it a different way round.

4 People decided to go to china as a small group.

I hope to continue more frequently now.

And no complaints so far!