Archive for the ‘My life & thoughts’ Category


Holiday in India & Bhutan (6): Ghoom and Darjeeling

October 7th, 2024 by Roger Darlington

On Monday, hardy members of the GRJ group were out at the incredibly early hour of 4 am to travel to a location called Tiger Hill to view the sunrise, but Jenny and I did not make it.  Travel was at a minimum today.  First, we returned to the ‘toy train’, this time reversing our […]

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Holiday in India & Bhutan (5): journey to Darjeeling

October 6th, 2024 by Roger Darlington

Next day (Sunday) was essentially about transferring from our hotel in Siliguri (where we spent just one night) to our hotel in Darjeeling (where we will spend three nights). Part of the journey was by road when we were transported by a convoy of six cars. Part of the journey was by a very special […]

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Holiday in India & Bhutan (4): journey to Shiliguri

October 6th, 2024 by Roger Darlington

There is an early start and then there is an EARLY start. On Saturday, my plan was an alarm at 3 am, bags out at 3.45 am, gather in hotel reception at 4 am, and bus to leave for the railway station at 4.15 am. That was the plan. The phone in my hotel room […]

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Holiday in India & Bhutan (3): Kolkata

October 5th, 2024 by Roger Darlington

It must be admitted that our arrival in Kolkata had been somewhat underwhelming: dazed with jet lag, no sightseeing, and a huge thunderstorm. But the next day (Friday) was utterly different and totally magical.  We left the hotel at 9 am and were not back until 5.45 am, so a day of almost nine hours, […]

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Holiday in India & Bhutan (2): getting there

October 3rd, 2024 by Roger Darlington

On Wednesday, we flew to India with Emirates. The flight from London Heathrow to Dubai was in a double-decker Airbus A380 and took six hours. We left over an hour late because of – as the pilot put it –  “the situation worldwide” (an oblique reference to the conflict between Israel and Iran). Our second […]

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Holiday in India & Bhutan (1): introduction

October 2nd, 2024 by Roger Darlington

I am about to go on a holiday to India and Bhutan with the company Great Rail Journeys. This is the first time that I’ve travelled with GRJ and it is a rarity for me to have a tour manager from beginning to end, rather than just when one is in the countries concerned. She […]

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The latest review of my memoir “Roger And (Not) Out”

August 27th, 2024 by Roger Darlington

The publication of my new book of interviews “Rennie & River” has stimulated some new interest in my previous publication, my memoir “Roger And (Not) Out”. A Facebook contact – whom I’ve never met – has posted a review of the memoir to Amazon as follows:

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Do you have a branch of Gail’s in your neighbourhood?

August 23rd, 2024 by Roger Darlington

I’m fascinated by the sudden debate about the desirability or otherwise of having a branch of Gail’s in your neighbourhood. Since the end of the first Covid lockdown, we’ve had a Gail’s at the corner of my street in London’s South Bank, so close that I can see it from my flat window. I use […]

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An account of my visit to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia

August 12th, 2024 by Roger Darlington

I’ve been catching up with the pacing on my website of accounts of my recent ravels overseas. Last year, I had a fascinating trip to the Caucasus: Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. These three nations have a common 20th century history as parts of the former Soviet Union and are all modestly-sized countries with small populations […]

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An account of my tour of Namibia

August 8th, 2024 by Roger Darlington

Last year, I had a fascinating trip to spectacular Namibia, but I’ve only just got around to pulling all my blog postings on the journey into a single narrative. You can access my story here.

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