Day 32 - 36 Pottered around our guest house this week which has become more European by the minute, due to the influx of French students. En masse, they goad us with their beautiful Gallic bodies, soft accents, propensity to smoke, tactile tendencies and mild arrogance. We feel slightly marginalised and maturely sit a few feet away from them, b****ing. The monsoon has arrived which brings a couple of hours heavy rain a day, leaving the place cool afterwards....

Day 28 -31 So Delhi belly has struck me with frightening ferocity. I don't think I have felt so unwell since the hangover after my leaving do. This was truly shocking - fever, aching bones, vomiting, constant nausea, weakness, disorientation, and of course - diarrhoea which resembled nothing I have ever seen before. And even hallucinations - at one point I thought I was stuck in the desert in India with two small children! The first night was the worst, and d...

Day 13, 14 Pottered around most of the day until it was time to go on our camel safari trip. A 100km car journey out into the desert in an air con 4x4. Our driver, guide and friend 'Banti' stopped to buy chicken for our evening meal and asked if we wanted to help him 'get the chicken'. Fern and I realised this was not going to be two breast fillets in a blue polysterene tray and suggested we would remain in the car. Rufus and Clover, as always, were totally ...

Day 11, 12 India was closed yesterday. Literally, closed. The government got up and decided India needs to save some money, so they closed everything. People just accepted this and everything stopped. How does that save money? Surely spending money is the key. Then we experienced our first series of power cuts, which came regularly for several hours. The worst bit is the air con and fans switch off making the heat almost unbearable. I lay in bed most of t...

Day 9, 10 Temporarily gave up on hardcore backpacking and checked into the Ajit Bhawan 5 star palace hotel round the corner. Have died and gone to air con mini bar heaven. Rufus brought a little bit of Scottish culture to Rajasthan by binge drinking and dive bombing into the pool. Can only afford 2 days but am going to pretend I am my sister the whole time. We lied to the guesthouse owners that we were 'visiting friends' as I couldn't face cheating on them w...