London? What am I doing in London? Wasn't I supposed to go to the Andaman Islands, Nepal, and the Middle East? But before I explain the reasons behind this supposedly unexpected decision I'd like to give a brief summary of my last month in India. After recovering from a sick stomach I continued my journey through Kerala by joining my friends in Allepey, the main entry point for the backwaters. The backwaters are bascially canals and lakes that extend for many kilometres and you can cruise them for hours or days, depending on your time, interest and financial resources. We chose to do a 4 hours cruise, which was good enough for me. The view was nice but not amazing. The water wasn't that clean but I would be a fool if after three months in ... read more

I had nearly given up on the blog, couldn't be arsed to write anymore, but since I have an hour to kill I might as well make use of it and update you on my recent movements. So let's see if I can pick up where I left off. After Diu I went to Mumbai, where I hung out with a lot of couchsurfers, all of them very nice. They made me forget about my bad experiences in Rajhastan and restored my faith in the site. Mumbai is my favourite among the big India cities. I don't know if it's the presence of the sea or the fact that is more Westernised but unlike Delhi I could see myself spending some time there. It was very hot there and I fancied being on the beach again, ... read more

I'm in Ahmedabad now. I don't know if it's the fact that I finally left the state of Rajhastan, or the fact that I am hanging out with my London friend Fernando, or the effort I made to stay positive to attract more positivity - I firmly believe in this - but finally things seem to have turned for the better. Yesterday I had a great day hanging around the city with Fernando. The highlight was visiting a fort, whose name I don't even remember, and sharing tea and a laugh with the government officers who were working there. They hardly spoke any English but were ever so friendly. Then at night we went to a CS meeting and finally saw CS as it should be - friendly people wanting to socialise and do things as ... read more

If the other night was the worst night so far then yesterday was certainly the best. The Spanish girl at my guesthouse told me about a concert down the lake. Since it was five minutes away and I wasn't particularly tired I decided to go, expecting to find hippy travellers playing "Across the Universe" on guitar. And how big was my surprise when I found that this was actually an all Indian event. At first I was suspicious but I could sense the good vibe so I timidly walked in. The people welcomed me and make me feel at home. And for once they didn't want anything in return. There was a blind guy playing a small keyboard and three guys on jembes. In between music the blind guy would recite prayers in Sanscrit. There was ... read more

My worst evening so far. We were invited by some couchsurfers we had met the previous night to go to their city farm the following day to have some food together. We accepted on condition that we'd be home by 11 pm as we had to catch an early bus in the morning. By 12 am food was not even ready yet. In the meantime they had drunk two bottles of whiskey between the four of them and had started to become annoying and made us feel really uncomfortable. They wanted us to be cheerful, laugh at their stupid jokes and join in the drinking but at that time of the night we were too tired for any of that. One of them in particular was really unbearable and I had to restrain myself in order ... read more