and so it begins....

---

My first day in India and taking some time to relax (and to try to shake off my cold) so felt the impulse to write my first diary entry. If it sounds a bit of an incoherent mish mash , well, that;s just the way it is i'm afraid!

To start from the very beginning, the plane journey was not as bad as i had expected...I got put in a window seat right next to the giant boeing 747 wing (you don't want to look at what that thing does to itself when it lands.....metal was not meant to bend like that surely....?). Anyway, evidently, I survived the flight. The only eventful things to occur were for the plane's kitchen to fill with smoke at one point (disconcerting to say the least) and then for the Indian man sitting next to me let out a giant burp (equally disconcerting).

After a very smooth and prompt landing, we were taken by bus to this YMCA and it's all been just a little as i say, overwhelming since then. Everything people describe about India applies. I've seen loads of blokes relieving themselves on the pavement, kids running around with no shoes, cows roaming the pavements and roads, female roadworkers with giant pickaxes, wearing beatuful (and remarkably unstained) saris, and i have also had my first taste of the Indian highway code (i.e. there isn't one)....

After settling into our basic room, Sophie and I were told we had to vacate it and each share a room with another pair of gappers because not enough rooms had been booked. Hmmm...difficult as the rooms we had to share only had 2 beds and already 2 people staying in them...so, the YMCA's simple solution .....wack a great big camp bed in the small space between the current twin beds!
I have a feeling we're going to have to get used to this kind of 'go with the flo' way of life. I can see that having a sense of humour is DEFINITELY going to be important !

Tomorrow we are left to our own devices i think, so we're thinking we will all go out and explore, but tonight i plan to collapse on my comfortable-ish looking camp bed and fall asleep.....

Abs x

---