Very impressed by Hari Marar, CEO of BLR Airport' pitch. 1. Excellent leader acknowledgeing team first. 2. 3K species of plants - more than Cubbon Park & Lal Park combined. 3. Runs on 100% renewable energy. 4. First airport in the #Metaverse & first in 🇮🇳 with 5G. #T2opening

Goodbye India for now. Thanks for an amazing 5 years, 4 months and 21 days. Memories & rich experiences abound for @vfleming & I and somehow we will be back because 🇮🇳 is in our blood. And the privilege to have worked with both the Gareth Wynn Owen & UK in Bengaluru 🇬🇧 🇮🇳 is amazing.

We met Hoang Tuan Long who makes models of world famous buildings & other designs out of bamboo tooth picks. Taj Mahal & Big Ben are both amazing examples - he also made a Ganesha presented to Gautam Adani by our friend Pham Sanh Chau during his tenure VietNam Embassy Delhi. #talent

More detail of the aforementioned Taj Mahal and Big Ben models - simply outstanding work. As an example the Taj took 2 people 5 months to make.

Day 34 Together with Van Fleming's family we embarked on an overnight trip into the mountains close to the China border. Absolutely no tourists but friendly locals and remarkable infrastructure for such a remote area. Limited internet is also nice - ultimate switch off so night!

Good morning from our tent in the mountains. cc. Shivya Nath Ajay Kamalakaran

Sunset last night. #BinhLieu #QuangNinh #Vietnam #travel #chinaborder #sunset #mountains

Border town vibes but a usually thriving place has been deserted since the pandemic - queues gone, streets, market & ubiquitous eateries, many very basic, near empty. #VietnamChinaBorder cc. Ajay Kamalakaran

Wishing all our followers a very happy 2023.

This is a total scandal. British kids denied precious STEM places at uni university because rich foreigners can buy them. My column;

My daughters are 10 and 12, and I don’t want the way vapes are marketed, promoted and sold to be attractive to them. That’s why I am launching a new crackdown today to protect children and go after the rogue companies and online crooks who are putting vapes into their hands.

Congratulations India ❤️ You are excellent 👍 👌 What a fantastic news ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

For the first time in a long while Mrs 007 innovated with baking in the kitchen and made a blackberry and mango tart. It was delicious - probably not very good for me but I hope the feedback she gets through this post inspires her to do some more ❤

After such a long time it is time for a Hyderabadi wedding but here in London where Umar, son of my friend Prof. Wasim Hanif, is marrying his beautiful bride Mariam. Mashallah - may this beautiful couple now be blessed for eternity. #HyderabadWedding

Welcome back to 🇮🇳 Dr Andrew Fleming 🇬🇧 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ! Fantastic to have you back in the UK in India🇬🇧🇮🇳 fold. I know you’ll be an energetic and passionate envoy for 🇬🇧 in fabulous West Bengal, Odisha, and NE 🇮🇳.

These ants taking the biscuit

We celebrated Bengali New Year at the wonderful Calcutta Rowing Club today where some of us dressed up for the occasion and all of us enjoyed the sumptuous spread - many new dishes for me along with quite a few I have become familiar with. Some went back thrice, not I though 😋

Known as Green Taxi this electric app based service has taken over the market in Halong City since our last visit in 2022. Fares start at just over £1 (100Rs) on multiple journeys it proved most reliable. In 21 years of visiting pollution has progressively diminished here 💚

As much as the limestone peaks that rise from the sea in Quảng Ninh draw tourists too do they rise from the land yet are far less celebrated. On this visit I can say I appreciated the latter as much as the former. Now it is time to head back to Kolkata where a busy week awaits.

I am praying for my father who is admitted under the care of Croydon Health Services NHS Trust - his private wonderful healthcare provider has just called to explain after 20 hours at University College Hospital he still has no pillow! He is 93. I’ll stop here are I have no more words 😢