Walks, Local Culture and Music
Annual trips in Oct/Nov and April/May
Welcome to Jo’s new adventure exploring the breathtaking grandeur of the Lower Himalayas.
Jo has 4 trips coming in 2025/26. Each has a different itinerary. Kavisha Mazzella is the singing teacher for November 2026. Louise Baker is our yoga teacher in October 2026. Spring and the delights of the ‘Kingdom of Sikkim’ are the highlights in April 2026. See below for details.
Your 14 days will include some variants of these possibilities: stays in charming Raj era colonial hotels, a trip on the UNESCO listed Darjeeling Himalaya Railway, a visit to a tea plantation, 7-10 days of panoramic walks up close to the majesty of the Himalaya based in mountain lodges, homestays, monasteries, sojourns in the historic towns of Kurseong and Darjeeling exploring their alleyways and bazaars, the Himalayan zoological park and the world reknowned Himalayan Mountaineering Institute.
Jo’s grandfather was an Engineer and General Manager on the Darjeeling Himalaya Railway that winds from the plains of India up into the tea region of Darjeeling. We’ll meet many people along the way whose lives have been shaped by this railway. We’ll step back into a bygone era with its colonial charm, while also having meaningful contact with its current residents, most of them Nepali. We’ll explore the local traditional music and trek through verdant terraces, beautiful forest and traditional villages.
ITINERARIES
November 2025
A glorious adventure starting on the Darjeeling Himalaya Railway, a few days in the hill town of Kurseong, and a week exploring the Kingdom of Sikkim.
Trip itinerary is below under the link TRIP DETAILS.
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April 2026
Our Spring walking trip will start in the beautiful hill town of
Kalimpong and end in Darjeeling, considered the ‘Queen of the Hills’. The intervening 10 days are spent in the ‘Kingdom of Sikkim’ staying in small villages with spectacular walks to monasteries, forests and lakes.
October 2026 YOGA & WALKING TRIP
Our holiday combines 1-2 hours of yoga most days with walks and local culture. Our teacher is Louise Baker who will be teaching mat and chair yoga plus meditation. Our trip starts on the Darjeeling Himalaya railway, followed by a stay in a Colonial Hotel in the hill town of Kurseong, then continues out to the villages of Sikkim with spectacular walks to monasteries, forests and lakes.
Louise Baker – Yoga teacher
Louise’s yoga is about bringing people together in a joyful way to explore how their bodies move, whilst being guided on an inward journey through breath practices and meditation.
She builds her classes around flow sequences, focusing on the breath, mind and body connection. Some classes are designed to invigorate, enhancing strength and creating a beautiful feeling of energetic expansiveness; other classes are slow, nurturing and introspective. All classes aim to bring harmony to mind, body and spirit.
Louise has completed 500hrs registered Teacher Training, as well as accreditation in Chair Yoga, Trauma Aware Yoga Training and is currently completing Restorative Yoga Teacher Training. For 10 years she was a martial arts instructor in the martial art Aikido, where her passion for the relationship between energy, breath and movement was first ignited. Non-yoga partners are also welcome to join us.
November 2026 SINGING & WALKING TRIP
Our Singing & Walking experience will start with a trip on the Darjeeling Himalaya railway, a stay in Kurseong, a number of days out in little villages, then end in Darjeeling. Our Singing teacher is the beautiful Kavisha Mazzella.
Kavisha Mazella – Singing Teacher
Kavisha has founded several Italian choirs, released 8 albums, earned an Aria for best world music album ‘Fisherman’s Daughter’ and received an Order of Australia for her work telling the stories of refugee and migrant communities.
She loves teaching heart opening songs that promote peace and harmony within.
Her singing classes are fun and leave people full of the joy of life and singing. During our trip she’ll also present some concerts for us.
YOUR GUIDES
Jo Cresswell
Jo has been leading walks, ski and cycle tours since the 1980’s in Europe and Australia and is now very excited to be leading tours in the Himalayas. She is a musician on concertina and piano, a qualified X-C ski instructor and has for many years been an event manager for folk festivals and concert tours.
Bhusan Chettri joins her leading these trips. Bhusan has been for 25 years a high altitude trekking and tour guide. He’s worked for many companies with people of different nationalities. He’s guided trips in Nepal, Northern India, Sikkim, the Annapurna circuit, the Goecha la trek, Green Lake trek . . .
He brings a world of experience, knowledge and event management skills to our trips.
Oh and have I mentioned he’s funny, intelligent, and a total pain in the arse!!