Well, last night the inevitable happened; the curse, the scurge, the plague of tourists in India - I got the trots. Having camped on the toilet since four in the morning I awoke at 7:30 a dehydrated and shivering mess. As every ounce of fluid and dignity that my body possessed (all that separated me from Chelsea was a very flimsy plywood door) was swirling around in an Indian sewage system; Chelsea charitably agreed to a chill out day in our hotel room - I coul...

As being woefully misinformed seems to be traditional in India, when we were told that to get to Assi Ghat on the banks of the Ganges was a five/ten minute walk, we weren't altogether surprised to arrive there forty minutes later, covered in perspiration. If you were wondering, a ghat is a series of steps leading down to a waters' edge and Varanasi has hundreds of them all of which offer their own quirks and idiosyncrasies. Assi Ghat is the first of a long succ...

As it turns out, our weighty but graceful friend in the top bunk wasn't a snorer, he went soundly to sleep and I hoped to quickly follow suit. Every other Indian on the train had other ideas however - they all talked loudly, rustled their carrier bags and were more than happy to tap you awake to ask you a question or in one instance to just nod and smile at me. The pillows supplied by the train are more like flannels than pillows and I made the calamitous error o...

After a swift egg and vegetable pancake with chai tea we were all set for the dreaded return to Delhi. Following a quick hug from our hotel's other guests, we heaved our bags into the spacious boot and were off. Despite our driver purchasing us a bubble gum as we started our six hour drive back to India's capital, I couldn't help but get the usual pangs of uneasiness as I realise that we are completely at his mercy in this chaotic place. Every time he unexpecte...

Waking up at a leisurely half past 8 this morning was heavenly, it's the first semi-decent nights sleep I've had since arriving in India! We had to wolf down our breakfast of peanuts with rice and watermelon as our car to take us to our Neergarh Waterfall hike had arrived - I'll say this for India's taxi drivers, they're never late! After rounding up Sara, our new Scottish companion, we beeped our way out of the hotel's lane. The road to the bottom of the hike ...