Laura Jeffrey:
Like anyone visiting India or indeed anywhere in Asia, I was as much terrified as I was excited when I eventually left the UK for Kerala on my gap year some ten years ago. I instantly fell in love with the sights, the smells, the people and most of all the magic of the place, something indefinable. Many years and many, many visits to India and most of South and South-East Asia later, including one year living in Thailand, and I find my enthusiasm not just unabated but intensified.
For almost five years now I have been using this passion to encourage c+l clients to experience the Asia which has enthused me so. Only by having travelled to these destinations and tried things myself – both the good and the bad – can we advise with authority. Exploration of not only regions and hotels but also the little things – restaurants, a local temple, a particular guide, the room with the best view – means we can make trips just that extra bit more special and the sense of satisfaction when a client raves about certain experiences makes all the hard work worthwhile.
Every trip has been memorable in its own special way. From morning call to prayer at Thikse Monastery in Ladakh to the incredible calm of Bhutan; from the ultimate in luxury to thrill of discovery, no two trips are ever exactly the same.
