Currently here on the sunny beach of Palolem, life is pretty easy. And considerably cheaper than up north in Mumbai. This is my third day here, having spent the first sleeping again thanks to the overnight sleeper coach that took around 12 hours into Margao. That was one of the most uncomfortable nights of my life, lying on an 18 inch wide matress driectly next to another 18 inch wide matress that was occupied by a large, balding Indian chap. Suspension would have been nice but they didn't seem to mind too much.

Having spent around a week in India by now I have observed and realised these few things among many..

- When a horn is sounded in India it means "coming through! This is where I am!" as opposed to "get a move on."

- Indian men are obsessed with white women, and the staring is practically non-stop. Maybe its their frequent tendency to get their kit off...

- Getting around India is an absolute nightmare. Trains are booked weeks in advance, as are inter-city coaches. I think I have a coach booked for Mangalore tomorrow, but you can never be sure. My plan to just turn up and head along my route whenever I feel the need was hopelessly positive to say the least.

- By far the most determined street sellers are the drum sellers. Following you litteraly hundreds of yards down the road doing nothing but playing their drums and saying, occasionally "you buy, sir".

- Hindi is a very strange language. You can often listen into a conversation that is completely foreign to you and then hear the words 'magazine' or 'train station'. Apparently this is called Hinglish!

- Oh, and also, any boy over the age of 13 can grow a dynamite full mustache here.

Anyway, on to where I am now - Palolem. If I were to review this place I'd say it was fantastic just as long as you have a travel partner with you. As you tend to stay in beach huts here, it's not as easy to meet other travellers as you would in a Hostel. Other than that is a tad touristy, reminding me of the many beach resorts there are in Europe. The beach is fanastic and beautiful, never lacking some Indian tourists playing cricket on it. Other than that there isn't too much to do here other than sun-bathe, swim or drink.As previosly stated I intent to leave soon, onto Kerala via Mangalore!