Clifton College Website

Archive...

Ian Nuttall's India Adventure

Following his retirement from Clifton in the summer of 2010 former Pre teacher Ian Nuttall has been keeping himself busy with a recent cycling trip in India. Ian has kindly sent us his write up and photos of the trip –

"The first half of our trip was with a group of 40 cycling across the Rajasthan Desert from the Taj Mahal to the Pushkar Camel Fair....greatest concentration of humanity I've ever witnessed (yes, even more than at Grimsby Town's last match........think a merger between the Notting Hill Carnival and a Wembley Cup Final....then double it....awesome, huge religious gathering with camels and entertainers as far as the eye could see.) I stayed on with my mate Richard to see NW India and head up into the Himalayas until the snow stopped us.....'Old Gits Backpacking'......we'd booked nothing in advance so flew by the seat of our pants, but enjoyed wonderful experiences staying in iconic places ranging from Amritsar and its Golden Temple (superior to the Taj in my humble opinion...), the 'Pythonesque' closing of the border ceremony at Waggah, the Dalai Lama's refuge at MaLeod Ganj, the wacky village of Vashisht with its thermal springs, hashish growing wild and brilliant mountain views before sampling the delights of the old colonial hill station of Shimla and its wonderful World Heritage railway. The snow scenes in the pictures are from when we reached the top of the Rohtang La Pass (it was blocked beyond here...) at 3978m and then mountain biked downhill for 30 miles dropping 2000m in the process (...and from brass monkey numbing temperatures to sunbathing conditions in the Manali Valley)....what an experience. The one place I wouldn't recommend is Delhi where filth and squalor Rule OK."

Enjoy the gallery

Best wishes to all,

Ian Nuttall

11 January 2011

© 2006-12 Clifton College