Railway Rigmarole

After a little discussion between Rory and myself, a route around India was agreed and considering my "Security" job can be extremely tedious at times, I willingly accepted the task of booking the various journeys required.

If you ever fancy a mental workout I would highly recommend attempting to purchase Indian Railway tickets online. When I accepted the task I was unaware that a 1st class degree in Railway Time-table-ing was required. However, after an hour of entering the same station and passenger information repeatedly I managed to find an Indian bank that would accept my payment. My options for seating were fairly slim as we had left booking quite late in Indian rail terms. But I managed to secure two beds in a 6 man cabin (Pictured Right) for an over night trip from Delhi to Varinassi.

One Trip down, seven to go.

After a few more teething problems and 120 Rupees (£1.70) worth of cancellation fees, I managed to book tickets for all 8 legs of the journey and it only took me 8 long hours.

The route we will shall take is shown on the map to the left (Click to enlarge).

First we are taking the blue loop through Delhi - Varanassi - Agra - Jaipur - Jodhpur - Jaisalmer and back to Delhi.

Then we will take a short 3 day trip to Shimla (Red loop) which is apparently "a mock Tudor settlement with all the characteristics of a suburban town in Surrey". I've also read that Everest can be seen from Shimla on a clear day. I'm pretty certain you can't do that in Guildford.

Santa's little visit

I must have been a good boy this year as St. Nick was extremely kind. He got me a whole host of items to aid me on my adventure including one item which nobody should be without, The Universal Travel Plug. A plug capable of blocking any plug hole on the entire planet. All I was expecting this year was a lump of coal so I was especially pleased to receive this little hoard.

Saying that, in the world's current economic situation, a lump of coal can only appreciate in value....

New Name

"The Adventures of James Peel" is now available via its new address:

www.jamespeel.info

The Positive Side of the Credit Crunch

I went shopping today for various items of Travelling paraphernalia. I went to blacks in Norwich and was very pleased to discover they had a 20% off sale on everything in-store for one day only. I'm now fairly well prepared equipment wise which is more that can be said for my sidekick who is hoping a Tesco carrier bag, a box of PG tips and his collection of 35 guide books will suffice.