29th Nov: Arrived really early after my sleeper train journey and had a shower and went straight out, heading for the Ganges, which is a holy river. Lots of Hindu people come from all over India to die here, because they believe if you die here, you will go straight to heaven.  I walked all along and there are burning bodies going 24 hour a day at 4 different ghats (the steps leading down to the holy river). I saw a couple of bodies and its a bit like when Luke Skywalker burnt Darth Vader's body in Star Wars.  There are lots of people bathing in the Ganges, although it was not as bad as I was led to belive. I had been told you see dead bodies floating along, but I haven't seen this.  The only people who don't get burned are dead babies, pregnant ladies, people who die of a snake bite (snakes are holy and they believe the water will cure them) and lepers. That night, we took a boat ride down the river and watched all the praying that goes on from the river. Then we lit candles and placed them on the water and made a wish if you get to do this 10 times!  Then back along and for my evening curry!

30th Nov: Went along to the market and had a good look around, buying the soundtrack to Dhoom:2!  Then I went and got a tuk tuk to where Buddah gave his 1st talk. The tuk tuk broke down on the way, due to brake failure - then he ran out of gas on the way back!  I rushed back and went to see another Bollywood film. However, this was not so good, as it was a comedy and hard to understand (being in Hindi) so only watched half!  Had a chilled night, staying up on a roof top restaurant.

2nd December: India's train service has the motto "Saftey Security and Punctuality". However, these words do not always apply! I was due to arrive in Kolkata at around 8am on the morning of the 2nd, after an overnight train journey. However, I got in at around 2 in the afternoon and then the cab driver taking me to my hotel got lost! As I had to be at the airport at 5pm for my flight to Vietnam, this left me with a minimal amout of sight- seeing time. I didn't bother! I saw enough from the cab, so I just had a shower, had a bowl of rice, said my good-byes and made my way to the airport!!

All in all I've had a great time in India (apart from losing my boots!). The place is dirty, smelly, chaotic dusty, loud and poor, but it has some great character about it, along with amazing history. The religion is fascinating and some of the sights are breathtaking. I'll leave with some great memories. I'm at Singapore airport at the moment, waiting for my connecting flight and it's free Internet! Off to Vietnam now....