Hello to the few who look at this, and apologies for the lack of updates and this skimpy one! Left pushkar, trained it back to Delhi, spent couple of days with Barry looking about, then got ill and spent three days in bed being decrepid. Deciding that i was useless to barry i flew down south to goa and i’m enjoying a proper room, sun, pool and hopefully sand tomorrow too! Going to stay till i recover, which naint going well, for starters i’ve now got a coughh and also mauled my toe so i’m hobbling now after doing a drunken cartwheel! Should mention i’m here with my parents, their friends graham chris and simon, and Annika! I’ll write more when i’m back in a big city where going to a cyber cafe is relaxing and ... read more

Hello from Pushkar, Pushkar lies in the middle of Rajasthan surrounded by mountains and upon a holy lake that I am rather lamely yet to have seen. It is home to the mighty camel festival - which I have missed by a week. Still, it does mean that its quiet here and accommodation is fantastically, wonderously bargainous two fiddy a night! Little sad, to leave Jodphur which was great for meeting people. Spent first night chatting with an American, Nick. Being from Washington DC originally, the conversation inevitably drifted towards the election and politics. This meant that although he was a nice guy - things gradually turned more and moer into smile and nod territory for me. Don’t think he noticed though and we may meet again in Kathmandu. Second night I spent was with a ... read more

Greetings from Jaisalmer! I have only been travelling for a brief time and have noticed that things seem to change very quickly whilst on the road. I left the relative comfort of Vinayek's guesthouse in Bikaner, with a slightly sad goodbye to Annett and Klaus and headed off on the lowest class of sleeper train to Jaisalmer! The train itself was a dusty beast and once again, I opted for the top of the 3 tiers so I could hide away in my own space. There is one vital problem with this that is exasperbated by various other factors - you never really have a clue when you arrive at your destination! There are no announcements for stations the trains are seemingly always late AND it's 5-6 in the fecking morning. Finally getting off the train ... read more

Things observed/noted so far in India… 1) It smells, open sewers are weak. 2) People sleep EVERYWHERE, 3) The centre of New Delhi is sorta modern, and you can relax in the park with only a little bit of hassle, 4) People really want to clean my ears and shoes, 5) Cat Moss is a great name for a clothes shop, 6) Squashing a mossie on the wall and seeing a big red blood splatter is horrific, 7) If you’re English, you must be recognised from sweating in the heat, and then greeted with ‘lovely jubbly’, 8) London the the only place in the uk, 9) Hostel towels are only to be used for one purpose, 10) The logic of a bidet is undeniable, but you are left with a wet bum, 11) Don’t just assume ... read more

Hello all from New Delhi - I have arrived. The flight over was mortifying and it got It’s fair to say that the flight over was fairly mortifying and it sorta got worse for the next 24 hours. If you ever come to Delhi, make sure you're awake enough at the airport so you don’t get a dodgy taxi, get taken to a fake tourist shop and scammed into paying for a flight out of delhi and a night in a ‘guesthouse’ because there was a 'terrorist attack' which led to all accommodation (obviously excluding the v v expensive places) being 'fully booked' and of course because my reservation had been 'cancelled'! I paid for a prepaid taxi within the airport building marketed as 'Official Government'. I remembered reading something about government taxis being upstairs, but ... read more