Bus journey A holy man carrying a plate of offerings and what can only be described as religious paraphernalia pushes onto the overcrowded mountain bus. He winds his way through the bodies until he faces me. He then hits me on...
Category - Travel
India is like having an American girlfriend, one of those blonde, fake-breasted high school cheerleading stereotypes, who happens to have the unfortunate habit of turning into a 48-year-old alcoholic drug-user at any moment when...
The majority of men in India between the ages of 10 and 40 wear some seriously funky threads: a skinny, dusty appropriation of seventies glam rock chic, future flouros, and faded retro paisley. Big-collared patterned shirts...
After endless fickle cycles of eating and sickness in India, I finally arrived at the point where curries, thalis, street snacks, dosas, paranthas, and chai all felt right in my belly. I had reached a state of nirvana. There was...
In the former Raj hill station of Shimla, where sweaty beetroot-cheeked Brits once flocked to escape the blistering heat of the plains, there exists an absolute gem of a coffee house. And not one of those fancy identi-kit modern...
Forget about licking the rainbow trunk of some rare tropical frog and wandering goggle-eyed around the Amazon. Don’t waste your time picking magic mushrooms from the turds of Finnish reindeers so you can spend days rolling...
I refuse to pay £12 a night for a room in India. It sounds ridiculous but it would be nearly twice the highest amount I’ve paid since arriving and I am a tight-arse. I am fully aware that at £12, the room I am in is by...
I am in an episode of Scooby Doo. It is evening. I am stood knee-deep in undergrowth, peering through chained railings. The gates that block my way are covered with rusty Keep Out signs. I am looking for a creepy gatekeeper to...
There is a child carrying a baby. The child cannot be more than five years old; the baby in her arms is not yet two. She asks me for money. Then she is running after me with the baby heavy and awkward in her arms, shouting:...
They Sell Sanctuary – Record Shopping in Delhi I have flicked with all the rhythmical fluency of a well-oiled machine through records right across the world. My fingers have shunted back and forth, part flick, part pull...