Well we've now arrived in Bikaner, another desert town like Jaisalmer (although with less charm!) and it's baking hot, hence why we're sitting in another internet cafe, whiling away the time until it gets a bit cooler this evening. Just to give you a bit of an idea about what it's like in India, Amy thought she'd give you a few of her observations about the country, from a woman's perspective...

OK so as a woman in India it's universally accepted that it's not as good as being a man. Great for Simon, not so great for me! For example, whilst chatting to a friendly internet cafe owner, he asked me about my family, parents, brothers...when I answered that I had no brothers, only a sister, he replied totally sincerely and seriously "Oh I'm so sorry". I kind of laughed and said "oh it's OK!" because I'd never had that reaction before!

Yesterday, a nice, well-dressed Indian guy about our age started chatting to Simon, completely ignoring me, apart from to tell us in an approving way (as I had been silent much of the time) that in civilized society, women shouldn't speak too much. Charming!

Finally, the men are all pretty lecherous, and it doesn't matter how badly dressed you are, how unwell you're feeling, as soon as they see your white skin they immediately want a photo of you to show their friends, try to put their arm around you, shout out their best chat up lines in their best American accents, and stare at you as if you are half-naked (even when you're wearing Indian clothes!). Apparently, in India the only women who look men in the eye are prostitutes and westerners. I've now adapted a head down, eyes averted stance whenever we're out in public, and just try to feel flattered when people want my picture.

On a different note, today we visited a temple entirely devoted to rats in a town called Deshnok. You walk through the temple barefoot, crushing discarded food and rat poo under your feet, whilst hundreds of rats scurry around the floor, completely unperterbed by the stream of tourists and pilgrims walking through. There were also an alarming amount of dead rats about...nice. Ah well, another bizarre day in India!

I think the most shocking things though are being saved until last, at Varanasi...