India - OMG, not sure where to start.....Indi-ah! is on our bus, but its more like INDI-AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!?? for me. Best start at the beginning though - flight went well but when I arrived in Delhi, no driver as arranged - surprised myself by not feeling remotely panicy, but that could have been because it was 1130am so nothing is ever as bad in the daytime. I called the emergency number and the driver duly arrived and we took a 30 minute drive into central Delhi - thought to myself where on earth are we going - this looks like a pretty rough area - my hotel was called Grand Central Plaza, so I had high hopes! These were were and truly dashed when he got out and said this is your hotel - couldnt believe it but got out anyway. It wasnt so bad inside but I literally sat on my bed frozen to the spot for 15 minutes not knowing that to do as I didnt meet the rest of the tour for another 6 hours. Was just about pulling myself together to see if I could get internet access or something when my beautiful, smiling and friendly Mexican roomy appeared - felt like kissing her - it was so good to have someone in the same boat! Anyway, we decided to go for a walk, but the heat, masses of people and generally weird astmosphere took us back to our hotel pretty quickly. Headed for the rooftop bar to have a beer and we met some of our other group, who were equally delighted to meet us! The group is around 13 - mostly single women this time. We have one couple and one 19 year old boy, but various nationalities so thats good. We met for a meal and the next day did some sightseeing around Delhi before heading off on the bus to Agra. The guide warned us that staring isnt considered rude here, but they really like to stare and its a bit offputting at times. The Chinese stare, but here there are so many men around and they dont smile, they just stare and its a really uncomfortable feeling. Our bus is often stuck in traffic and they literally climb onto anything to get close to see inside our bus. There was around 30 men surrounding our bus for around 5 minutes, when they just stare and stare without smiling......weird! Im pleased I am not here on my own and we are all really careful in sticking together. Agra and Delhi are not pleasant - really dirty and just generally not nice. However, that said I had expected the worst as everyone I have met on this trip has said that you either love or hate India - I dont think I have seen enough yet to judge but defintely dont like Agra or Delhi. We woke up at 430 next morning for our sunrise trip to the Taj Mahal - it was everything I dreamed it would be - absolutely beautiful and made even nicer that it was built for the king's wife who died in childbirth after having 14 children - (phew no wonder she was exhausted!!). We visited the Baby Taj and the Red Fort afterwards which was interesting. Back on the bus again to visit some more forts as we headed South into Rajasthan. We had an absolutely beautiful hotel in the middle of no-where last night and had an optional excursion to a bird sanctuary which we all turned down in favour of an afternoon of swimming! The hotel was built in the old colonial style and I managed to convince everyone that we should go for afternoon tea in a posh hotel here in Jaipur to continue on the old colonial feeling we got there (even though they are all under 25 and dont even know what afternoon tea is!) I have found the history interesting and know a bit more now about the Hindu religion and the caste system that operated here, so it has been good talking to Heman our guide. He was showing his wedding photographs and telling us all about his wedding which was really beautiful and lasted for 7 days. He says he spent the whole 7 days just smiling and not having a clue what was going on around him :) So, we have arrived in Jaipur and have a totally weird hotel, but at least it has internet access! Hope all is well at home with your all - speak soon - need to go as my time is up.....;)xxxxx