Hi troops. This is the first time I have posted anything (Louise has been doing all of the blog updates and I have been doing the pictures up until now.............but we need to update a few places at the one time today, so I'm up!!) So, India................. Frustrating is probably the best single word to describe our experience in this country. I'll give a quick rundown of where we got to. We flew into Mumbai, spent just under a week there, and then, because the trains were all booked up (waiting lists for every kind of ticket!!!), we flew to Delhi for about a week or so (we did our Taj Mahal trip etc from Delhi.) Check out the pictures for the sights etc. (word of advice for anyone travelling to the Taj Mahal.........it has a "less well known" South entrance.......don't listen to any of the conmen who tell you they can get you past the queues for a fee by taking you to a "secret" entrance........we're wise to this stuff by now!!!)
So lets start with the positives:

Some of the sights were stunning (the Taj Mahal just blew me away.....and I'm generally someone who gets "underwhelmed" with a lot of these kind of things), the people who we chatted to were very friendly and helpful.......and of course the food was magic!!!

Now for the negatives:

We were well aware of the poverty before we arrived, but it's still a shock no matter how prepared you are (watching babies crawling in the street with no clothes on, next to toddlers and young children who are flocking round you asking for money and water, while their parents and grandparents look on from the pavement is more than a bit distressing!!!!)
Added to this there is the noise............the cities in India are without a doubt the noisiest we have ever seen on our trip (and we've now been to a few places!!!!) Indian drivers use their car horns all the time.........if they are changing lane they use it to tell other drivers they are changing lanes!.....If they think some other driver is going to change lanes, they use it to tell that driver that they are in the next lane!.......If they think a pedestrian is thinking about crossing the road in front of them, they use it to tell that pedestrian they are nearby!!!!! (I think you get the picture!!!!!) So when you consider that every single driver is doing this, it just adds up to bedlam!!
Then there was the most aggrivating part. For some reason (perhaps it's the fact that they don't see too many tourists???) Indians stare!! And I mean really stare!!!! (and not in a pleasant way....if there is such a thing!) Not only were they staring.......they would actually go out of their way to get a right good look! (we frequently witnessed people who were walking in a different direction from us, on the other side of the road from us, changing direction and walking straight across for a good look!!!) Well, on day one, this was strange......but by about day 10 this was getting right on my nerves!!!! (especially since most of the staring was directed at Louise - even although she was wearing so many clothes that she might as well have been wearing a burka - and people would even stop and point, which was just making me challenge them!!!! which isn't good in someone elses country!!!) At one point I even saw one guy walk into a lampost while staring at Louise and not looking where he was going!!!! (Gillian, did you wear a "cloak of invisibility" when you visited this place!!!!)

Maybe it was because we were staying in some of the poorer, less touristy, parts of town (check out the pictures to see our hotels etc.) but when you combine it with the poverty, noise, dodgy hotels and curries for breakfast, lunch and dinner.....it started to wear us down a bit. The last straw was when Louise got hassled by 4 young Indian guys while she was sitting in an internet place (I was away for about 10 minutes taking pictures of the area in Delhi that we were staying in) and no one in the room even stepped in to tell them that it wasn't acceptable!!!

So, we decided that it was time to leave. When we first got to India we fully intended to go down to Goa and Kerla.......but after this nonsense we decided we would go somewhere else for our "beach-time." Phuket was the choice, as we needed to get into that general area for our next flight out anyway. To sum up, it was definitely an experience we'll never forget.........but unfortunately I think the negatives spoiled the positives for us. Onwards, and hopefully upwards!!