India
10th January - 1st February 2006
We arrived in India and after hearing many horror stories we were ready for the worst. We arrived in Mumbai, alive, after our taxi driver very skillfully negogiated through 5 lanes of bumper to bumper traffic traveling at break neck speeds. After wandering through the Mumbai streets, we decided that it wasn't actually as hectic as expected. However, it was very busy and it was apparent that it takes at least four people to do the job of one. We visited a museum and found that if we stood still for longer than 30 seconds we were surrounded by about 5 young boys. There were many interesting artifacts in the museum but myself and Laura were definitely the main attraction. This is probably the only time I would wish for smaller breasts as they have never been stared at so much. This was to be a regular and irritating part of our stay in India. One which we would never get used to or tolerate.
This picture is an example of the interest we would get. I was taking Laura's picture and because we had stood still, we were surrounded by a group of random blokes. After a while more and more came an actually crowded Laura out of the picture.
Next stop was Goa, where we were going to have a week or so to chill out and relax. We got the train from Mumbai to Goa which was an experience in itself. Everything seems to happen on the train lines. People walk to work, live by the side of the tracks, do business on them and many people use them as a toilet. I lost count of the amount of people I saw poohing on the railway tracks! We got to see loads of sights on the train and the poverty was very prevalent, particularly on the outskirts of Mumbai, where the slums were really bad. At every station we stopped at, beggars, especially children would look up at us and ask us for money and we were never sure how to act. The food that you could buy through the windows of the train was great. People would come onto the train and we could buy food out of baskets. We were not to sure of what we were eating some of the time but we got stuck in and tried it anyway and luckily we didn't get deli belly, well not yet anyway!
Activity on the rail tracks We arrived in Goa and the beaches were beautiful, just what we had expected. We got talking to a local fisherman who's boat we were sitting beside. He asked us if we wanted some coconut and we agreed. He went off and about 30 minutes later appeared with a handfull of coconuts fresh from the tree. He opened them for us and we sat and tried to communicate the best we could, as the fisherman, Raphael, knew very little English. We drank the milk and had to endure eating the meat which neither myself or Laura like very much. The more we ate the more he opened and offered us. We felt that he may be offended if we declined so we kept eating. I kept distracting him so we could hide pieces of coconut in the sand. We were delighted to be sampling fresh coconut and chatting with a genuine local. However, after a while it became clear that Raphael had his eye on Laura for more than just friendship. He wanted to come and 'lookie at our roomie', to which we claimed that we did not understand. We also got the impression that he had not had much experience with women because he asked Laura if she had hairs on her chest like his. We both agreed that it was time to make our exit. We made our excuses and thanked Raphael for the coconut. He gave us a kiss on the cheek and nearly broke our necks to try and kiss us on the lips. He gave Laura two delightfully sloppy kisses, she stills feels Nauseous at the thought of it, but she's not sure if it was Raphael or the copious amounts of coconut we consumed.
Laura and Raphael enjoying the aforementioned coconuts! Although Goa was very beautiful there was not much to do and we were ready for our next adventure, so only ended up staying three days. We moved onto a place called Hampi which was a beautiful temple town inland.
From there, then down to Gokarna which was back on the coast and full of westerners who just lived on the beach in huts for weeks on end and thought they were staring in the film ' The Beach'. We walked for about one hour to paradise beach which promised 'near-total isolation' and when we got there we found about 5 restaurants and about 50 westerners who were staying in beach houses in a little community and appeared to be permanently stoned. We quickly got the boat back! Gokarna was not my cup of tea at all and my opinion wasn't helped by the fact that I got the dreaded sickness and diarrhea.
For me, India is a strange place, sometimes I loved it and other times I totally hated it. I always felt grubby and dusty and the men have a disgusting habit of constantly clearing their throats and spitting out the contents. We will never get used to the lack of respect women have in society and the level of inappropriate behavior by the men towards western women. However, our impressions of India were mostly positive ones and most people we met both locals and tourists were really friendly and the scenery was spectacular. We also managed to live on about 6 pounds a day each, which was good for the overall budget. The food was very very tasty especially in the cheap local places that the less you saw of the kitchen the better. We only saw a very small part of south West India and would certainly return.
Some other photos from India
Laura in action. She never goes anywhere without her camera and I am constanly walking down the road talking to myself as she darts into a bush somewhere to take another snap. Laura's obsession in India was photographing boats of every discription and small children.
Boat trip in Hampi in a 'Coracle boat' up the river.
We went on a boat trip and the tour guide pictures on our hands. picked some henna off a tree, mushed it up and mixed it with a bit of water and painter out hands. It was bright orange and lasted for about three weeks. 
I had the rare oppornity to photo wild monkeys pinching potato leaves out of a farmers field. I got really close. I'm not sure which was more rare, the fact that I got up close with wild monkeys or the fact that Laura let me use her camera!
A monkey pinching potato leaves who didn't seem bothered with my presence . It was very exciting.
