Friday 8 July 2016

India in Monsoon



It was time to return! I was back in India for my 3rd visit and for the first time in 3 years. It had been far too long. Visa applications were a lot simpler with the E-Visa system, and there were still many flight bargains to be had from the UK. Mine was with Qatar Airways for £420 return from Birmingham – I even managed to get a free upgrade to Business class!  Booking train tickets from the UK however was still as difficult. I had big problems registering with IRTC, and eventually gave up setting up a new account and luckily was able to use an Indian friend’s account to book a train ticket for part of my trip.

Saturday 5 March 2016

Backpacking Sri Lanka



I arrived early afternoon at Colombo International airport, after a comfortable Emirates flight from Birmingham, via Dubai. I was expecting a long wait to get through immigration, as all I had was an email confirming I had been granted an E-Visa, but no, straight through with a new stamp added to my passport!