It seems only a very short time ago that we were coming back from Zambia and here we are off on our travels again. This time back with VJV for another of their "cultural" type tours so unfortunately it'll be more temples than tigers! Actually it's a bit of a test to see if either of us enjoy this type of holiday still or whether we should concentrate on safaris in the future.
We fly to Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) then to Bhutan (Thimpu, Punakha and Paro) back to Darjeeling and then Kathmandu via Delhi.
A lot of moving around and living out of the suitcases but hopefully we'll see some special sights (especially in Bhutan). Had I appreciated how much closer Nepal was to Darjeeling than Delhi, I might have tried to arrange direct flights instead of "wasting" a night in a 5 Star Hotel in Delhi - but, once again, my geographical knowledge let me down. Actually it's more a case of booking the trip quickly once you get a deal on the airfares and a "yes" from Ian so research takes a bit of a backseat. We've had this issue with VJV before when they add an extension they tend to want everyone to go from the same hub - way back in 2006 we had to go 3 times to San Jose in Costa Rica - a lot of wasted time travelling in our opinion.
Once again we've arranged our own international flights for two reasons; cabin class/cost and also so we can arrive a day early and give ourselves a chance to acclimatise.