So the start of my final day in India, had breakfast and then said goodbye to Rachel, Louise, Liz and Ange. Had a lovely day, Kathy, Nathan and I took a trip to Ghandi's house and walked round properly, what an amazing place. Although there were quite a few people about it still felt very quiet, serene and calming. A thought provoking couple of hours, what an amazing man, so glad we took the opportunity to return. Seems ironic that for all he stood for, opposite the house is a military base. Also, interesting that our first and last days in Delhi, seeing beggars in the poor areas day 1, and then less than a mile away, walking past 5 star hotels day 10, shows that the caste system is still prevalent in India, guess his dreams of a society where everyone is treated equally still has a long way to go.

After our last opportunity to haggle with a Tuk Tuk driver and then be taken to the wrong place (experience so far is that there is a lot of room for manoeuvre from the original price quoted, and I am yet to find a Tuk Tuk driver who knows where he is going!!) we went for lunch at a Mexican restaurant, which was hilarious, all of the staff were dressed in cowboy outfits, Fosters on tap (no Mexican larger or beer on menu) and ghostbusters playing in the background, very random, but quite funny!!!

Back at hotel, final shower and packing, before waving Kathy off for her overnight train adventure, to take her to Varanasi and Goa.

Very stressful journey on way to airport, as A) the traffic was a nightmare and B) I looked at my Orange phone bill to find Ive been charged £700 for data roaming!!!!! Now, not only have I NOT had my data roaming on, but I am the I one person who preaches to others to turn it off.... hopefully getting it sorted, if not, guess that's me not eating for a month to pay it (although prob could lose a few pounds so not the end of the world!!!)

Plane ride to Mumbai was fab, on arriving at my seat I was initially a bit peed off to find I would be sitting next to a small child, assumed the flight would be ruined by her crying and getting bored so crying some more, as most kids do on aeroplanes (I must stop with these sweeping generalisations). As it happens she was travelling with her Papa and Grandmother, and was the most adorable little girl. Her dad has just returned from the Netherlands, where he has been working for GE for the last 3 years. As a result, at nearly 2 years old (2 in 10 days) she understands both Hindi and English, counts to 10 and can point out eyes, ears, nose, lips, cheek and chin, amazing! She sat on my lap for much of the journey, amusing me, rather than the other way round!! Had a great chat with her dad about my trip and he informed me of all the great places to go on my return, think I will try and link in with him, so he can give me some travel tips for my next visit.

So, here I will leave my India adventure, although very different from Nepal, another great trip and group of people! Really good to meet everyone - Rachel, Louise, Claire, Cerie, Richard, Roxanna, Angie, David, Nathan, Liz and another fantastic room mate, Kathy. Must say we've had a few laughs, nice to find someone with my sarcastic sense of humour, who has basically abused me the whole trip, and vice versa. Don't forget the shoes Kathy!!! We were also lucky to have a great guide in Atik, helpful, knowledgeable and a good sense of humour (he needed it!!)

More amazing memories........Tigers, name that tune (80's edition), Kathy's balconies, local school children and their catalogue posing for photos, pimp my Tuk Tuk, brightly painted trucks, tinsel on tractors, 330 million Hindu gods, deer, more deer, Aqua, horses with curly ears, boxer dog, beautiful temples and palaces, Taj Mahal, 2 foot moustache, celebrity for a day at the IPL, Buddy bears, beeping, 70's style clothing, painted elephants, broken boats and Rachel's resulting bruised leg, sunsets (stunning), peacocks, peacocks with tails fanned, peacocks in trees, peacocks on the ground, smells (good and bad, very bad), Kingfisher beer, Jason Mraz, Ghandi, red kites (birds) and did I mention the tiger?

As my last entry for India, I wanted to say I DIDN'T get ill. NO sunstroke and no Delhi belly, and I say this smugly to all the people who assured me I would! Let's hope there's not such a thing as the Swaziland squits, Africa, here I come......