The train was the worst yet. I HATED IT. It was packed again; I had I think 9 or 10 people in my compartment that seats/sleeps 8. Great. Little kids screaming, old men snoring, people walking past shouting "CHAI" (Indian for "TEA") every 5 minutes, the train was jumping more than ever. I was on top bunk again so couldn't move and the bed this time was only about 1.5 feet wide and my toes were bent because the bed wasn't long enough, I basically just couldn't wait to get off. I only got a maximum of 2 hours sleep. Also, no stations are signed and there is no indication on the train of your whereabouts so I had to keep guessing and asking where I was not having a clue how long it would take. It ended up being 17-18 hours. When I finally arrived I walked to the cheapest accommodation area to find somewhere to stay. It was 6am and not that many places were open. I ended up walking for an hour and a half before I gave up and settled for this place (which is pretty gross) as I could no longer feel my shoulders from the weight of my bag.

Set out to the hotel I originally stayed at when I first arrived to pick up a parcel posted by my parents from the UK... to find it hadn't arrived. Bummer. Also, I can't get into my bag as the lock's jammed. Hence I can't access anything, including my flight ticket for tomorrow :-s After that I went to the Red Fort which wasn't as great as it's made out to be, just the same as all the others really. One fort really stood out for me and that was Fort Meherangarh in Jodhpur, the one with the blue city view. That had interesting exhibits inside too. Then I went to the Jama Masjid, the largest Mosque in India. That was good and I climbed one of the minarets for a good view over the whole of Delhi.

I got a rickshaw to Connault Place which is so much different from the Delhi I am used to. Spent the rest of the day there; it's big wide streets not alleyways with big shops and proper brands and restaurants not dodgy side shops etc. Less beggars, not dirty, just a lot nicer. Ended up spending loads of money though. Bought 5 PS2 games, 12 movies, 3 t-shirts, lots of food... and other money seemed to disappear. Oh and I've decided to read a book (hopefully I won't give up, haven't read a book since childhood books before secondary school) so I bought that too. Only English Fiction book I recognised (from a good review by Tom) was Vernon God Little so that's what I went for.

Tomorrow is my last day in India, I'm planning on going to the "Qutb Minar" a sight-seeing monument then probably just spending the day shopping around Connault Place again.

Final random notes on India/Indian's as I leave:

- to ask what your name is they say "What's your good name?"
- loads of people die their hair/beards orange which just looks odd
- everyone goes to the toilet in the street so narry alleyways stink
- everyone just puts rubbish on the floor so theres massive piles of rubbish everywhere
- dogs, cows and humans scavenge through these piles
- they all hold hands all the time
- many have one main word they use in every sentence. My driver would always say "for" eg: "You for the walking for?" One rickshaw driver started every sentence with the word "me" and for 10 minutes not stop just went "Me mother. Me brother. Me sister. Me other sister. Me teacher. Me father. Me wife. Me China wife." etc etc etc I don't know what he was going on about!

India has been really great and an overwhelming experience but I think I'll be kind of glad to leave... to a cleaner, nicer smelling more commercial place. Hoping also not to get asked the exact same questions numerous times daily as it gets a bit tiresome. "What's your good name?" "From which country?" "Oh England very nice country!" "First time India?" "How long India?" In that exact order too. See you there...!

I got dropped at the train station after my last post despite the fact the train wasn't leaving for another 5 hours. My driver had these rose flowers on his dashboard, I assumed it was for a religious reason. He left them there until they died and dried up, and then... ate them! I asked him why and he said it improves his sex life. Some people will believe anything! Anyway, I needed to kill time... I saw there was a golf course so decided to give it a go and got an auto-rickshaw there. As we approached, the 2 men driving me said it was closed. I was a bit suprised and asked how they could tell as we only drove past and they just kept saying it was closed and "we go see our friend first, he tell you it's closed." Only about 100m down the road we pulled up outside their friends house. "He very rich man" they said. They had obviously planned to take me here all along. They introduced me to this guy outside his house/shop and he invited me in for chai and a chat. I refused to go inside and his offer of a drink as a precaution so he pulled up some chairs out the front and we sat down. The 2 drivers were waiting in the auto-rickshaw at this point so it was just me and this guy.

We chatted about India, England and general stuff for about 10 minutes and then it started to get dodgy. He told me I could make a lot of money from my Indian visa. I thought he was just going to say by getting a refund for the time of it I don't use, but no. He told me his business was importing gems to European countries, including England, and a main problem he faces is the import taxes he has to pay. He said if I were to take some gems back for him on my visa he would give me a 50% cut of their worth. He would meet me in England when I got back and for now all he needed was my credit card details as an insurance method for himself. I wasn't having any of it and straight away got up and started to walk away. It's even actually mentioned in the Lonely Planet as the 'Gem Import Scam' where in the past people have had thousands of pounds stolen and been set up with drugs.

I got back in the auto-rickshaw and told them to take me straight back to the station. The gem guy tried once more to convince me it was a safe and easy way for me to make money but I quickly dismissed him. We started to drive back and the guys were asking if I wanted to go anywhere else first, not accepting that I wanted to go direct to the station, so I told them to stop, got out and refused to go any further with them. They weren't too impressed and an arguement began and they agreed to take me straight to the station but it just wasn't safe to. They then tried to get some money from me, so I made sure we were somewhere where there were a lot of people around and eventually they left and everything turned out ok. Don't worry mum etc, it's all part of the travel experience. It happens to many people, it wasn't my fault, I got out of the situation etc, it's all fine!

I actually saw one of them again later when waiting for my train. I turned around and he was just stood staring at me. I stared back at him and obviously my look was more worrying to him as he walked away and nothing was said. My train journey was the worst yet. It turned up half an hour late and was packed. Made me realise how lucky I had been before as there were 6 other people in my booth out of a maximum 7. I was on the top bunk and had to stay there the whole journey. My 'bed' was 6 feet long, 2 feet wide, rock solid and I had about 2 feet between it and the ceiling. The other people (all Indian) talked really loudly and played their stupid ringtones for hours. The men selling stuff walked past every 10 minutes shouting out what they were selling. And somehow, the journey took 4 hours longer than it was supposed to, so 16 hours in stead of 12. I didn't enjoy it one bit. Plus I have something wrong with my shoulder and the only thing I can think is that it was from resting on it funny in my lack of space. Just to top it all off, the man supposed to be picking me up from the station was an hour late, during which time I was hassled no end.

I settled into the hotel then went for a walk outside and around. There isn't that much directly surrounding the hotel so I ended up walking for a while and came to this park where a couple of games of cricket were going on. I got called over and joined in, they wanted me to bat. Luckily I was on good form so wowed them all with my skills! After several sixes I retired and had a go at bowling. When we'd finished playing I sat down and had a chat with the group, there were two brothers who were really nice and spoke good English so mostly talked to them and sometimes they'd translate. Some old guys from their neighbourhood came over for a while too. They told me it wasn't a good area to be in after dark and the sun was setting so I started to make my way back. I went via a car shop where they had some pioneer speakers which were only a fiver but would have cost around 16 pounds to post so I didn't bother with that idea. Just a quiet evening, Charlies Angels Full Throttle was on so watched a bit of that, had my dinner then went to bed early at about 10.30.

The next morning I was up at 5 readying myself for my morning excursion. Met with the guide and the other few guests at 5.30 and by 5.45 we were all down at the river Ganges (or Ganga as it's known here) and boarding our boat. I bought a candle in a tray for Rs 5 and left it afloat in the river for good luck. We watched the sunrise which was really nice and were rowed down past all the 'Ghats' (steps down to bathing areas at the river). The water is reeeeeally dangerously dirty (sewage waste is emptied into it) but everyone still baths in it, swims in it and does their laundry in it. Saw a dolphin too, I found it really weird that there were dolphins in there. The other thing I found weird was the 2 Cremation Ghats we saw, where bodies are publically cremated. After the boat ride we were taken to Benares University, which is the third biggest in the world and like a city inside a city. We also went to some important temples, including the only temple in Asia that is used by all religions (I think that's what it was :-s).

There isn't really anything else to see or do here so I spent the day at the hotel. It has a swimming pool, but the swimming pool situation is never straight forward... this time I had to pay to use my own hotels pool! So I spent the main part of the day in the pool, relaxing and listening to music (I wish I had more as I only have about 100 songs so have heard them all too many times now!) In the evening I decided to go back to the ghats to see it at sunset so got a bike rickshaw. I always seem to get the slowest riders so I ended up missing sunset but it was still good - much busier at night-time. Got back and had dinner at the hotel restaurant where the waiters drive me to despair. It's overpriced, the service is ridiculously slow (eg: 15 minutes for a bottle of water), they don't understand any English and hence bring me the wrong food half the time (eg: a full Indian breakfast when I asked for the bill).

So it's Thursday morning now and I'm catching the train to Delhi in 2 hours, glad it's to be my last one. Delhi is ultra-hectic though and I arrive at some ridiculous time in the morning which won't be much fun. Only 1 or 2 days there though and then I leave for Singapore!

On Thursday night I didn't sleep very well as I had a really high temperature (it's hot enough as it is already) and still felt generally crap. But when I did wake up the next morning, I felt well enough to continue as planned and head to Ranthambhore about 4 hours away. The journey was okay if not a little slow, bu when I arrived I did find a swimming pool with water in which was a relief! Shame it was really dirty though :-s I checked in and chilled out in my room/by the pool, gradually feeling a little better throughout the day.

Ranthambhore has the 'Ranthambhore National Park' which is home to 26 tigers, and the whole town is centred around this. You can explore the park either by canter (20 people) or gypsy (4 people, 3 times the price). Gypsy's are more cmfortable, more flexible as to where they can drive and stand a slightly higher chance of spotting a tiger, so this is how I wanted to go. I was told there were no spaces left on gypsy's (only 15 are allowed into the park for two sessions each day) but I didn't really believe it. It turned out they were very highly demanded but as I was alone I was able to get a place and even got a decent price (only twice the price) which was good. I also made a couple of new Indian friends and got a free lift on one of their motorbikes into the market 10 minutes away!

It was a really hot day, about 35 degrees, so I didn't have a t-shirt on. Walking through the market, I have never been stared at so much in all my life - EVERY single person was watching me walk past and half said hi or shook my hand - crazy! Once I had walked round the market I went back to the shop where my friend was waiting for me and one of his friends had a shirt on that I wanted. He showed me where he had bought it from, so I bought one the same, then he got a print done on it the same as his for me. They loved me in that shop (more than usual) so i got a photo or 2 then got a lift back to the hotel.

I went into the shop nextdoor to use the internet which was UNBELIEVABLY slow. After about 10 minutes and one loaded page I gave up and refused to pay, obviously. I did get chatting to a group of Scottish people though, 3 girls and a guy. They also couldn't hack the internet any longer so we left and they invited me back to their hotel. We woke up the hotel worker to get us a couple of beers, pulled round some chairs, killed all the wasps in the area and talked for a couple of hours. We also got some texas holdem poker with fox mint chips going which was fun! On the way back I was stalked by a pack of dogs down an unlit road which was a bit worrying. When I got back I had to wake the security guard to let me in, he was asleep balanced somehow between two chairs and when he woke up he fell off. By this time it was about 3am which was a bummer as I had to be up the next morning at 6 for the tiger safari!

So 6.25 comes and there's a guy knocking on my door "SAFARI SAFARI!" I put on some clothes, grabbed my bag and was in the gypsy by 6.30. We picked up 3 other people from the hotel I had been drinking beer in just hours before and set off down the road, hitting speed bumps at high speeds in this supposedly all terrain vehicle. We were the third group to arrive in the park out of 45 which was good. We saw some bright coloured birds, eagles, woodpeckers, kingfishers, spotted deer, different varieties of antelope, mongoose and then stopped for a break. A canter came past while we were stopped and they had just seen a tiger. They explained where and we drove there relaly fast! Some of the slopes and roads were really steep and bumpy so it was much fun! We got there but couldn't see it and before long there were 3 canters waiting too. One of the canters which was full of Indian's saw it and all started shouting so it went again straight away. We were really annoyed; they had already seen a tiger and then ruined this opporunity for us. It didn't come back again for ages, so luckily for us the canters gave up and left us alone. We were really quiet and patient and eventually we got to see the tiger! It was quite far and in the bushes but walked around a bit and watched us the whole time, I still managed to get a good picture by taking it through a binocular lens and was just relieved to have seen a tiger. I won't lie to you, I would have been disappointed if I hadn't! Many people don't get to see any, but some that morning had seen 4 tigers and one group the next morning got to see a tiger chase and catch a deer, take it down to the riverside then eat it with its cub. That would have been amazing to see.

The rest of the day I caught up on sleep, chilled out by the pool and ordered food. In the evening my driver knocked on my door and invited me to have a couple of beers with him and a friend. Fortunately his friend spoke better English than he does so I was able to have conversation. Little did I know that the beer we were drinking was Kingfisher Strong as opposed to normal Kingfisher, meaning it's about 10% and not about 4%. I slept well that night, haha!

In the morning we left at 10 for Agra, home of the Taj Mahal. On the way some people had set up a road block with a line of rocks to try and stop the cars and take money. My driver wasn't having any of it and drove up over this bank to avoid it! Also at one point there was a bicycle, a lorry, a motorbike and a car all overtaking each other at the same time coming towards us! This time we had to go down in a bank and all the abuse the car has taken has given it a small puncture so we have to stop every now and then for air. We stopped for (rip off) lunch on the way and also in a nearby town called Fatehpur Sikri. We stopped here to see the highest gate in Asia and I got a guide for an hour as I managed to get him down to about 10p. Inside the gate is a replica area of Mecca and a mosque, inside which I tied 3 strings for 3 wishes. Outside the mosque was a tranny who was having... their... picture taken by a professional photographer. They wanted me in the picture, so somewhere in India sometime soon I'm probably gonna be in some weird magazine which is a bit worrying!

On the final stretch to the hotel I spotted another Pizza Hut so stopped off to take advantage of the bargains again! On my receipt my waitress wrote "Dear Guest. Thank you for your lovely visit. It was really nice pleasure to serving Good Looking Guy" - hehe. Then it was up early at 5.30am to go and see the Taj at sunrise. It's expensive to get in at a tenner, especially as it's only 25p for Indians! Plus they all seem to skip the queue. It was really amazing, got some nice photos. Also bought the photo and negative from the professional photographer as it wasn't much and was a great photo with the reflection and everything. I stayed for about an hour and a half taking it all in.

Afterwards I used the internet but the computer crashed loosing my type up on here so I quickly left after a bit of an arguement. I was harrassed for ages by rickshaw drivers wanting to take me to the 'Baby Taj.' Being a bit annoyed at the internet incident after they had been following me saying "Baby Taj" for about 10 minutes I turned to them and said "I've just seen the real Taj why the hell would I want to see the Baby Taj!" and I think they got the message! I've also picked up a good way of getting rid of people trying to sell me things, example: "You want these bracelets?" "Eugh, they're ugly." "You want chess?" "I hate chess" etc etc! I went to Agra Fort this afternoon which was good but I'm all forted out now. Think there's still one left to see which I can handle.

About to head to the train station now where I'll have to wait for 5 hours before my train leaves. Then the train itself takes 12 hours so I'm not much looking forward to it! Varanassi is my next and one but last stay in India; I need to be wary and careful there as there were bombings recently and it's generally meant to be a bit dodgy. Here goes...!

The next day in Pushkar I walked for miles! Or kilometers as it is here. I woke myself up by diving in the re-filled pool which was bloody freezing! Then I set out for the day. I walked to the other side of town to a restuarant recommended by the Lonely Planet (I mostly go to places recommended in it) for breakfast, which was average. Then I went to go to the Vishnu Temple but as I got near I saw everyone was throwing colours again. I tried to slyly get past but they saw me so i legged it! I managed to escape and went out of town to climb a mountain/hill to a different temple. I stopped at the little place at the bottom to get some water and chatted to the guys there for a bit. It's meant to take 1-2 hours to get up depending on your fitness and i bet them i could get up and down in half an hour! They were convinced I couldn't... it took me 13 minutes up and 8 minutes down but they didn't believe I had been to the top, despite my photos for proof. I also rested at the top for about 5 minutes so take in the view which was really good, although the temple wasn't up to much. When I got back to the bottom I spent the next 2 or 3 hours in the little shop, mainly to avoid getting covered in paint etc! We watched the cricket, which England won that day :-D we also listened to some music and I bought the CD off him, I tried some of his masala chai and we talked a lot. His friend who was also there is one of the pains in the asses who rings up people in the UK trying to sell phone deals! He gets 300 Rs, 4 pounds, per sale, an average of 2 days in an 8 hour day. He said American's and Australian's are nice but the British are really rude to him! He was cool though and works in Jaipur where I am now so I might meet up with him.

Once we felt it was safe to leave I went back into the town the visited the temples and ghats around the lake. I encountered a really rude fake priest who tried to make me leave when I wouldn't pay him to give me a flower. Everyone tried to give you flowers to throw in the lake so I kept my hands in my pockets, though people still kept grabbing my wrists. I also got rammed by a bull when walking the street so had a dead arm for ages!

When I got back to the hotel I saw some more English people (2 guys) were in the room opposite me so I said hi and started talking to them. We decided to all go out for something to eat. We went to the sunset cafe and watched the sunset over the lake then ate our food. When we were about to leave this Israeli came over and sat at our table. He told us about a party he was organising that night and wanted to sell us tickets. We weren't sure how real it was, as it was a party on a farm, we weren't allowed to tell anybody about it, we had to meet at a hotel to get a lift to the location and there were cars to drive us back all night for free... so we were a bit suspicious. To convince us, he gave us his expensive sunglasses as a 'deposit' so we knew it was real and would give them back at the party.

We went back to the restaurant where we had met him at about 9.30 and got a lift on a motorbike to a hotel. When we arrived we saw a group of touristy looking people so asked what they were doing at they all said "partaaay!" so we stuck with them. Within a few minutes a jeep pulled up on the roadside and the 2 Indians inside told us to get in. We all assumed they meant about 5 of us to get in until another jeep arrived, but no, they meant all of us. All 16 of us, to get in one jeep with them. Out here there are no limits! We were the first people to arrive at the party, it wasn't really up to much even later on in the night so I only stayed until about 2am. 90% of the people there (and I think also in Pushkar in general) were Israeli; we ended up talking to an Israeli girl most of the night. She got the same jeep back as me and I ended up going back to her hotel with her and some of her friends. The drive back was crazy. Less of us in the jeep, 10-15 people but the driver didn't want to take the main roads so was taking the backstreets in the main town. These gave us about 2 inches, literally, of space either side of the jeep and he was going... fast! Skidding to stops all the time, to miss (I think we missed them) dogs and cows. The Israeli's were saying "I wanna see tomorrow man" "Let me live" etc, but in a (kind of) joking way! When I got back to my hotel at about 5am my friends were there so I stayed up talking to them until about 6 or 7, kinda lost time by then though... the insects were really bad in Pushkar, we killed a massive 'thing' about 2 inches long and I got bitten by mozzies 5 times on my right arm alone that night.

The next morning was the drive to Jaipur which was an interesting one, for the following reasons: We crossed a really dodgy looking bridge that had elephant statues either side with their trunks in the air which I had earlier been told means "Good Luck." I think you understand! There's speed bumps placed really randomly sometimes and we hit one at about 80 kph and got a nice bit of air (even more than you got driving back from Justin's dad!) We saw a group of monkeys so we stopped to take photos and they ran at the car. They tried to jump in the windows but we shut them just in time. About 10 of them then climbed on the roof and windscreen until we drove off (see pic of monkey at my window!) Before I had seen 4 people on a motorbike, but this journey I saw 5 on a moped! We saw about 10 dead dogs and a dead cow in the middle of the road :-s Also, my driver indicates right every time a car passes in the other direction which gets quite annoying.

I arrived to find another swimming pool with no water. I was really tired so slept for about 3 hours before walking into town. I didn't realise how big Jaipur is compared to everywhere else (it's the capital of Rajasthan) so it took me an hour and a half by walking/bike taxi just to get somewhere central. And then, before my eyes, I couldn't believe it... a Pizza Hut! Absolute bargain too, I had the meal for 2 deal which was a garlic bread, 2 cokes, 2 pizzas and 2 ice creams for exactly 2 pounds. How good is that? Afterwards I went into this mans shop to use the internet and ended up talking to him for half an hour first.

The next day I stared the sight-seeing. Went to Nahargarh Fort (bit of a let down, maybe I've seen too many forts?), saw the Jal Mahal - a take off of the Taj Mahal in the middle of a lake, Amber Fort and Amber Palace which were both good. I went to a warehouse place too that has fair and fixed prices on all kinds of things so bought something there. After that I went to a carpet and textile factory. I only went to see how the carpets etc were made but the people were intent on selling me a 400 pound carpet. Why they thought I was interested I don't know, that took to long to escape! On the way back to the hotel I saw elephants on the side of the road, so we stoppde to take photos and I had a quick ride as well fo the experience! Kind of similar to a camel actually... though I enjoyed the camel ride more. An eephant ride in the desert or somehwre might be as good; this was jus on the road side.

That evening I headed back into the centre and decided to splash out in an expensive restaurant. By Indian standards that is, my total bill was about 4 pounds. It was a revolving restaurant which was a first for me, was really cool to look out over the whole city. I went back to my friends shop which is where I uploaded the photos and also bought a nice pair of cheap shoes! I got back quite late again, about 1am this time and fell straight asleep.

However, around an hour later I woke up, feeling really ill. I got out of bed and went to the bathroom and was sick. I then proceeded to be sick, pass out etc for the next 3 or 4 hours before I was able to (very slowly) work my way out of the hotel and onto the street in search of a doctor. I found one, who wasn't able to help me, but gave me the name of a public hospital instead. I was there by about 7am and spent the rest of the morning on several drips, think I was fed about 3 litres of fluid... all very confusing. I was taken back to the hotel where I continued to be sick and wasn't able to move for the rest of the day. I also had the needle and end of the drip still stuck in my arm. Later on I fell over trying to get to the toilet and the drip/needle thing kinda snapped out of my arm, which A - really hurt, and B - I'm not sure where the needle went which is worrying! That was Thursday... one of the worst days of my life...

You'd better all appreciate these photo's as they've taken ages and been such a pain to upload!

Firstly to respond to some comments as I've just found them!

Tom - Glad you liked photos, thought/knew you would! Have u been taking too? Email me some good ones if yes!
Liv - So why laos? Not sure why but I hadn't considered it, though I did see some photos on the net the other day and it looked nice. Where did you actually go on your travels?
Bonney - No snow yet though I hear there was some in UK? Maybe in NZ if i go skiing!
Emma - Always going home before everyone else! How did the play go?
Merlin - Aw, I miss you guys too! What opinions or ideas have you voiced so far? I suggested to Mike but maybe I'm better off telling you that I think my blog should get posted on the FRV noticeboard!
Sam - Haha, thanks for towel etc. I haven't read the book The Beach; as you well know I don't read.
Dad - It didn't help that I went to the beach resorts first as I threw myself straight on the sun beds! I like to see it as brown anyway. I copied my pictures onto a CD then uploaded from there.


After I last posted a written update I went to these gardens in Udaipur which were nice but nothing overly special. In the evening I was taken to this restaurant on the edge of the lake which was amazing. It's tipped to be the most romantic restaurant in India and one of the most in the world so shame I was dining alone! Still enjoyed it though, it had a great view of the City Palace which I had visited earlier in the day and of the Lake Palace Hotel which is a 5 star hotel on an island in the middle of the lake. Half way through my meal (curry, also nice) was a fireworks display so it was really good.

As I had said I was meant to have another day in Udaipur even though I had finished the sight-seeing so I complained and after a while it was agreed we would leave in the morning, a day early, and the extra day I will spend in Jaipur in a couple of days. on the way to Jodhpur we stopped off at the Jain Temple which I wasn't allowed inside but the structure outside was pretty cool. I arrived at the hotel late afternoon so it was too late to do anything so I started to take advantage of the hotels free internet! There was also a free big snooker table so I got some practice in! After a couple of hours I headed round the corner to the Chicken Corner to get a curry. It was nice, despite the fact it had bones and was a boneless curry :-s

The next day, my full day in Jodhpur, was a good one. Although when it came to my food I didn't have much luck. At breakfast I was brought "bred and buter" and "gem on tost" (as it was written on the menu) when I had asked for simply "toast." At lunch I was brought a desert I hadn't ordered and at dinner (chicken corner again - not much choice there) I was brought an extra rice I didn't ask for; I couldn't even finish the first there was so much! Never mind, all worked out ok.

In the morning I went to 'Meherangarh Fort' which was pretty incredible. You're in the city and you can't see it at all then all of a sudden it appears high up on the top of the hill. It's massive and almost blends in with the hill. I toured all round there (audio tour included in entry fee, which I blagged at the student price) and it took about 3 and a half hours. There's galleries within the fort, some with swords, armour, guns etc used in the battles there, some with pictures of people, some with paintings etc etc. The paintings gallery was good as it's miniature painting so all the objects are tiny and the precision of the painting and the fine lines is amazing. took photos but not sure if they'll do it justice. You gradually work your way through a few courtyards and up to the top of the fort where there's two temples and tens of cannons all along the walls. When you're stood just behind the wall all you can hear is the people around you but when you lean over the edge, only 2 feet infront, you can hear the hustle and bustle of the city below; children playing, bells ringing, people praying and of course horns beeping! I thought it was really good. The views into the city were my other favourite part - 'The Blue City.' People paint their houses blue to create a sea of blue houses and from some points it's difficult to spot a house that isn't blue. Really is something you've gotta see!

Afterwards I went to the Jaswant Thada, a temple at the foot of the fort just outside and then over to the Umaid Bhawan Palace, partly a 5 star hotel, partly residence of some important people! You're not allowed in the hotel but in the gallery which was quite interesting. Then I went into the main centre, went to the clock tower which is surrounded by a market with loads of beggars. Didn't stay there long as it was pretty dirty and tacky. Got another belt from just outside though. After that is when I was able to upload all the photos. That evening I just had my dinner and played snooker again, also watch some boxing in my room and had a bath which was relaxing and the first bath I've seen in India!

The next morning it was time to head to Pushkar where I'm now writing from! We got here at about 2.30 having left at 10.30 and I spent the first hour settling into the hotel and being annoyed that the swimming pool had no water in! Then I went down the road to book my sunset camel safari for that afternoon/evening. A lot of various trips and prices were thrown around until I finally settled to a 3 hour camel ride. Back to the hotel and half an hour later my camel arrived to pick me up! You climb on and sit in the saddle then the camel throws itself up, back legs up first followed by front legs then a bit of a wobble so you have to keep your balance! We went along some sandy paths through the mountains and some small villages until and hour and a half later we stopped on some sand dunes next to an oasis to watch the sunset. It was a really beautiful setting, with quite a lot of birds flying around the oasis. I took loads of photos and watched the sun as it came down, really nice. Then back onto the camel for the journey home, this time through the city centre to be watched by everyone and have loads of little kids waved and say hi which was cute! Then out of nowhere came a bull which decided it didn't like my camel and gave chase. The camel legged it really fast, my bum already hurting by this point, throwing me up and down in my seat! The bull didn't chase much luckily, though the camel wasn't impressed and started having some kind of fit trying to throw me off! I really enoyed it though, even the last bit - it all adds to the experience!

When I got back I went for dinner and then came here to write! So again, you're completely up to date! I've just tried to upload more photos but the internet here is SO SLOW that it's not gonna happen. Will keep trying, but maybe won't succeed until Delhi on 31st...

YES! I have finally figured out the comments, they were all stored away for my approval which is why they didn't show. Now they're all up and I know what to do in the future so you can all comment away now!

So I've finally managed to upload some photos below! They are my favourites from the day I arrived up to my first day in Bombay, but are in the opposite order in terms of time as that's the way they uploaded. If you've been reading my updates you should understand most/all of the photos; where they're from, who and what they're of etc. Enjoy and email me to let me know what you think!