Blogs from Dwarka, New Delhi, National Capital Territory, India, Asia

Well then, in the coming blogs, Amelia and I will be visiting a few hospitals run by The Leprosy Mission, so I think it's only fair that we get a few things straight before you encounter that. We don't call them “lepers” any more, the correct term is person affected by/suffering from leprosy. This is not just for the sake of being PC, as I shall explain later. The disease is caused by Mycobacterium leprae, a member of the same family which causes Tuberculosis. The bacteria live environmentally in soil and it is NOT CONTAGIOUS. It can be spread from person to person, but only by blood to blood contact, so we will not be coming home with leprosy. Also, it has the longest doubling time of any human pathogen ie, it reproduces very slowly, so ... read more

I'm currently sitting in a very small internet cafe, it's owner slating someone over the phone, and below me there is a scene of utter chaos that I haven't quite got used to. I have not slept since thursday night, as both flights opted for sub-zero AC and the terminal in Saudi Arabia had the worst seats I have ever had the displeasure to try and while away 5 hours whilst sitting in. The result is a rather edgey Alex, which isn't reacting too well to the noise and sensory explosion outside. That said, I did have an hour-long gander around the streets and can't wait to go explore again tonight and tomorrow with Aneirin. I was hardly hassled atall; I like to think I have a 'man-of-the-world' swagger that repells the touts, but it could ... read more

Today we start our " Golden Triangle Tour' . We did this tour because we were strongly advised to by Lauren from STA travel. My God that was the best advice we had. Delhi is the Capital of India and has a 16million plus population. When we arrived in Delhi it was extremely hot 40C plus and really high humidity. So we appreciated the airconditioned Hotel and the Airconditioned bus that we toured in and our lovely bus driver Sanjeev. It was also very good not to have to think to much on this whirlwind tour that we were about to embark on. On this day we toured around Old and new Delhi. Delhi appear be a much more developed city than Kolkata with better roads, and some parts appeared clean and we actually did spy ... read more

I've finally reached my last destination in Asia before I return to the western world, India! This day has been long awaited and it's almost surreal that I am here now. I spent a month fretting over my visa to get here and only one week before my flight was I able to obtain it. It was such a relief because otherwise I'd be left with unusable flights. We flew from Singapore to New Delhi via Indigo airlines for only $130! Such a great value and the flight was very nice. There were only 4 western passengers on the flight and this was our first sign that things are going to be very different from here on out. It's nice going somewhere that won't be filled with other tourists like places in Southeast Asia are. Arriving ... read more

Hei alle sammen! Nå har vi snart vært borte i ein måned alt! Og det syns vi igrunn har gått veldig fort, selv om hjemlengselen av og til har vært der, og tankene har gått tilbake til Norge og brunost og kneip og alle andre godsaker. (Oooog selvfølgelig familie og venner. ) Men begynner faktisk å vende oss til maten her nede i India nå; Tikka masala, butter chicken, roti, naan, paneer og daal. Og smaksløkene våre har virkelig fått noe å bryne seg på! Men det er bare spennende! Og det er vel egentlig det som er stikkordet for dette landet; SPENNENDE! Alt er så annerledes, og i starten ble det veldig mange inntrykk på en gang. Men nå har vi vel lært at man må stenge noen av dem ute for å nyte ting ... read more