The last two weeks have been full on and this is the first day that we have totally free time and luckily I have wifi in my room, so I thought I'd catch up with friends in the forum.

We've been planning this trip since shortly after I was diagnosed back in May 2012 - at the time my husband and I said well if I'm going to end up crippled then we might as well enjoy ourselves now and do the trips while I am still able to, because who knows what the future holds and when!

We saw this all-in, organised tour with Riviera Holidays and we checked about vaccinations - it turns out that India just requires the usual typhoid, diptheria, tetanus, etc - in other words vaccines that are not "live", so I can have them, plus malaria tabs. It all seemed doable and we booked and started the long period of getting ready and organised - most of the organising involved getting a suitable wardrobe together and preparing the girls so they are safe to leave behind!!! It's just me and Andy going - our first full holiday just the two of us in the 10 years we've been together.

Finally the departure day crept nearer, and packing began in ernest, then we were off! Train to heathrow, plane to New Delhi, met the tour guide and were whisked off to the first of 7 hotels. Brief lay down, but too excited to sleep, and with a 5 hour time difference we were advised to try and stay awake till normal bedtime to get onto local time asap - then onto the air conditioned coach and a chance to be driven around the sites of Delhi.

THere's been so much to see and experience it's cultural overload - I've been keeping notes and taken over a thousand photos, so will edit and post them up when I get back back - suffice to say that everyday since then has been a massive adventure. Here's a taster

No, this isn't me - I'm taking a pic of my husband and another member of our group


Love and best wishes - Sylvia




Hope I've set the permissions so you can see this pic - if not I'm sure you'll tell me!

Hi Sylvia,

Thanks for sharing your holiday "tales," and the photo - enjoy every single minute, and bring back wonderful memories.

Kathleen x

Wow, how exciting. Have a fantastic time & enjoy every minute.
Great pic

Take care
Lou

Hi All - it's great to be back home in my own bed! I've booked a couple of extra days holiday so I can recover. My body clock is still all over the place and I'm having naps 3 or 4 times a day - my bowels still a bit unsettled, but RA is better than expected - I think it's been all the excitement that is keeping inflammation at bay, or maybe the RA had so many new bugs to play with that it left my joints well alone!!!! hahaha. Anyway, it really has been a wonderful experience and I feel very pleased that we took the plunge and went for it. Met some lovely people and found we had loads to chat about - learnt lots of stuff about life in India and Nepal, and it's really helped to put my health problems into context - I'm very glad I'm ill in the UK and not the third world!!!

- Sylvia waiting to board our flight over Everest
- Inside the 16 seater plane - note only single seat each side of gangway
- Awesome view of Everest




Sylvia xxx

Lovely photos and tales Sylvia. It can feel quite daunting to do a long haul trip with RA (as I know from visiting Taiwan recently) but it is so worth the effort in the end. I have some amazing memories from my trip and it helped me to see that RA is not the end of everything. I'm glad you had such a great time. I love the piture of your husband getting a good soak! xxxx