Road Kill

Near death experience No.8: Our travelling colleagues Korma Charmeleon hit a dog on the motorway last night sending it flying behind them, conveniently into our path as we follwed closely behind. If it wasn't already dead, it sure is now.

Land of Freddie Mercury's

Every guy looks like Freddie Mercury. And there seems to be a lot of hand holding between men...

The Bombay Connection

Day 3: 7th September 2009: Bombay Took tea at the Taj Mahal hotel, you know, the one that got attacked last November by Pakistani rebels. Then followed by a buffet of currys - fish, lamb, chicken and some breaded prawn. Was very tasty. Luckily no Gandhi's Revenge yet.

Day 4: 8th September 2009: Bombay Got a taxi tour of the city. Visted numerous temples and churches, saw beaches, slums and museums. Experienced sending a parcel via the Indian Post Office. Don't know how, but they do manage to sort and distribute millions of letters each day. Also walked around the Bombay laundry - 5km of washing hanging from ropes and thousands of workers smacking clothes over wet stones. Eventually finished at the Bombay train station, ready to catch our 2nd class sleeper train to Goa, but it was the wrong one. After eventually arriving at the correct station, we found our seats and were relieved to be seated in the same cabin as an Irish couple. A good laugh and a few rounds of cards later, we settled into our beds.

Welcome to India

Guys and Dolls.

So we made it safely to Delhi onboard Virgin flight VS300 arriving at 10:20am local time. Temp was 27'C. These first few days have been a big culture shock to us, and even after masses of tips and advise before we went, we honestly were not prepared for this. Here is a quick run down of events so far;

Day 1: Saturday 05th September 2009: Delhi Having had nowhere to stay the night of arrival, and after seeking advise from the airport tourist office, we found ourselves hurled into a cab and driven to their recommended hotel - which turned out to be fairly average, but the staff were constantly trying to con you out of all your cash.

A walk around the town after a cold shower really opend our eyes to the extreme poverty some people live in. The smell was putrid, and the midday sun was meant only for mad dogs. We spent the day not eating through fear of Gandhi's Revenge (Delhi Belly).

Got a Rickshaw to the India Gate - a memorial for the fallen Indian soldiers of WW1. Here we saw the first Westerners since landing. A kind of relief, we must say. Then took a stroll to the Taj Mahal Hotel. Saw some bats - they were f**king huge! Arrriving at the hotel, we indulged into some Tanqueray and Tonics and some Long Island Ice Teas, and finally ate lamb skewers, curried chicken and cheese poppers. Spicey of course.

Day 2: Sunday 06th September 2009: Delhi

We had this plan to visit the Red Fort, beignning with getting picked up by our supposedly helpful Indian Rickshaw driver from the day before. Sundenly we were plunged into some kind of pre-organised plan to con us out of as much money as possible. Sure, we got to the Red Fort no hassle, but on the way back we were made to go shopping, just so the cab driver could receive a petrol coupon. By this time we were running a little late as we had a train to catch at 16:30. So after browsing for 10minutes and pretending to have no money, we jumped back in the cab and headed back to our hotel. But that wasn't the end! He made us do the same again! We started to loose our temper, but kept a stiff upper lip. We made it to the station on time. TIP: Dont trust cab drivers.

We booked a first class, air conditioned train cabin onboard the Rajdhani Express from Delhi to Bombay. Onboard we were greeted by servants, offered complimentary drinks, were given lunch, a four course dinner including dessert, tea, breakfast, and had a bed for the night. For 1384km, thats 17hours, we were treated like Kings. It was incredible! We even had our ipod playing on our portable speakers whilst playing cards and knocking back some sneaky gin and tonics. Kings!

Day 3: Monday 07th September 2009: Bombay

So now we are here in Bombay, sitting in an internet cafe, writing this blog, still wearing the same clothes from Friday. Will have to throw these socks away soon.

Speak soon!

The Last Crusaders