The first time I rode a proper motorbike on a public road was in 1996 in Nepal. Faced with a day’s hiking to go from Dhulikhel to Panauti and see a Buddhist temple in the Himalayan foothills, Jenny and I decided to get smart and hire a motorbike. That should reduce our day [...]

India is a world away from Britain. I went with Jenny in 1996 and really had my eyes opened. In India you don’t just get to live, you have to do it actively. You are alive because of the choices you made that day - you didn’t get in the cab with [...]

Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong has quite an exciting approach if you have a window seat. As you approach, you suddenly realise you are only a few meters up and all that’s below you is sea. At the last moment, someone slips a low-lying island underneath you with a runway on [...]

When I was in Dhulikhel many year ago, a town that was popular on the hippie trail through nepal in the ’60s, I was in a restaurant where they had a european-friendly menu. On it were:
Boiled Ex
Scimble Egg
Pordge
- I’ll have scimble ex please.
- No scimble ex.
- Do you have boil ex?
- yes yes, boil [...]