Roooadddd Tripppp!

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Typing this an hour in to a thirty-something hour train journey - i recommend sticking the kettle on - this is going to be long one. It reminds me of Trafalgar Square in our carriage and the tier sleep system - I'm squashed in the middle, Chutney's perched on the top, hardly allows for stretching the legs. On the positive, we've made new friends - four deranged Italian men also traveling to Goa who seem as baffled and bewildered by this experience as we are, a twenty-something year old local who looks about fifty, and a strange couple who insist on shoving every traditional Indian treat under the sun down our throats. Our faked expressions of joy as we rubbed our tummies and quietly choked on their latest offer led us to believe we would fool all but the most intelligent of eighty-five year old Indians. But anyway, much has happened since our first night here; after our disastrous experience with the Grande 'Island' Hotel, we understood things could only get better...

On Our first day in India we attempted to familiarise ourselves with the locals - sporting knee high socks and ridiculously big backpacks whilst taking photographs at most opportunities: Trees, Buildings, Animals - before we decided to arrange a tour of the city. Despite being moderately new tourists, we were a major novelty in this place and adored a kind of celebrity status - frequently being asked to pose for photographs and constantly being mobbed by school children. One kid even called Gina a 'Snowball' - the most polite racist insult I'd ever heard.

On wednesday, an early start led to a fairly average breakfast. we headed off toward Puskhar with 'Samir' - our driver for the next few days (who considered himself 'one of the lads' by the end of the week). Driving through India allows you to acknowledge the greatness of the region; Driving too Pushkar was a bit like driving Southampton to Scotland - and we had only travelled a small amount of the country.

Culturally, it differs to everything I have experienced. Camels and monkeys casually relax along the motorway, driving next to a motorbike with the whole family hanging off the back. There are ridiculous amounts of temples within the poverty of shanty towns; there are vast differences in arcitecture and the environment..

We entered Pushkar by a sign that displayed items prohibited from the place - meat and eggs were all outlawed within the city walls. Brilliant.

Corresponding with commonplace hypocrisy however, we'd been offered vodka, cannabis and opium within half hour of entering the place. We were then requested to take part in a 'divine' Hindu ritual with me deciding to put aside my problems with religion and take part. Not long later, we were 500 rupees lighter and, understanding that we'd been mugged, my atheism was redeemed.

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