India. What a place!!!! The people have no concept of personal space here, and you would think by the stares that the men have never seen a woman before. On the road each man is for himself as nobody looks where they are going. Before each maneuver cars and pedestrians alike ensure their salvation by putting their faith in the God of car horns and go, (most probably one of the 330 million deities they worship here – I’m not exaggerating) blind spots apparently don’t exist in India. Cows are the only safe creatures as they appear to have right of way EVERYWHERE especially down incredibly tight alleyways, and as they all have very big horns you don’t want to mess with them. My favorite observation of this country has been that I’m apparently a walking rupee sign begging to be ripped off, to which I can say that so far many have done a splendid job. Having said all that though I can safely say this has been two of the best months of my life so far and I love this place!

My first few days in Delhi weren’t as bad I expected them to be. I had prepared myself for a massive culture shock but was pleasantly surprised to find that it was totally bearable as long as you were prepared to haggle for 10 minutes, walk away, and then be chased by the resigned wallah before you can do anything. I kept myself busy the first couple of days visiting as many sites as possible in the sweltering heat (40’ +) but was relieved when on my second day at the Red Fort I met a lovely couple from Bournemouth, Lou and Al, who turned out to be my good luck charm. They invited me to have dinner with them and a businessman that they’d met on their flight and we were taken to the Intercontinental Hotel. It was a fantastic dinner and Ansari, our host, even insisted on paying for it. Not a bad second night in India! They were also kind enough to let me tag along with them on a 14 day tour of Rajasthan, the area I had already planed to be my next move, as it worked out more economical both money and time wise for all of us if we hired a driver. It also meant that I didn’t have to brave the local transport, which I didn’t think I was ready for yet and gave me some company which I was already missing.

The Bahai Temple, Delhi. My favourite temple there

Humayan's Tomb, Delhi. The design was later refined to build the Taj Mahal

My first 'free' elephant experience!

The lovely Lou and Al.

Rajasthan is hot. Very hot. The type of heat that turns freezing bottled mineral water to bath water temperature in a matter of hours, something that we had to endure daily. I also now understand the concept of ‘off season’. We hardly saw any other western tourists in this desert state and were constantly stared at in disbelief by the locals and asked “why are you here in this heat? Are you mad”? It turned out to be a whistle stop tour which was all we could bear, and although an expensive option I was pleased to be doing it with our driver Manu who was a fantastic guy who believed everything we wanted to do was ‘his duty’ to fulfill However he did have the worst taste in western music and I was desperate to make his 'Best of Kylie' (SAW period only) and 'Love Songs' tape meet with a very nasty accident.

Despite the heat we had a fantastic time in Rajasthan and managed to cram eight cities into our 14 day tour. In a very big nutshell we visited a rat temple in Bikaner where they worship rats (very smelly), watched the sun set while bats swoop over head at the huge sandcastle fort of Jaisalmer, taken a camel safari and slept through a sandstorm in the aptly named Sam sand dunes, gazed at the spectacular view of the 'Blue City' of Jodhpur, watched monkeys play on the roof of our guest house at Ranakpur, visited the floating palace feature in Octopussy in Udaipur (which is no longer floating as there has been no rain for years - a very sorry sight), had awful Delhi Belly in Pushkar, rode an elephant and shopped till we dropped in Jaipur. During all this I also learnt that Lou was actually from Tenby in south Wales where I had spent a lot of time a few years back and was the best friend of one of my ex boyfriend’s sister. How mad is that!!!!

Me in Jaisalmer, land of the giant sandcastle!

My camel Disco and his owner.

Noisy neighbours in Ranakpur

My most standout moment of this period though will be my frustration and Jubilation of the FA cup final. I was in a remote area of Ranakpur where we had no TV or electricity for part of the evening and I was relying on updates from Rosie via text message. Typically the law of sod kicked in just when the penalties finished and my battery ran out just after receiving the message ‘Can I call you?’ WHAT DID THAT MEAN!!!!!!! I was tearing my hair out. I had no idea, no electricity, and no access to a phone, it was hell. I had to wait half a day for the result, until our arrival in Udaipur where by chance I managed to catch the second half, extra time and the penalties on a repeat in the comfort of my own room. The mosquitoes on the walls would have been very entertained by my rantings, profanities, and my howling of laughter at Scholes and his penalty miss. We didn’t deserve to win, but that made it even better. Come on you Reds! This was the first and only time I had a slight wish to be back at home. Home, where I would have joined the gathering masses in the celebrations outside Highbury.

Second elephant experience in Udaipur. Sorry, I like elephants!

The last city I visited with Lou and Al before we went our separate ways was Agra where we watched the sun set over the Taj Mahal, something I've dreamed off since I was a little girl and the reason I came to India. It was all I’d hoped it to be and more, even though the experience was still threatened by the remnants of Delhi Belly. It was very sad to say goodbye to the guys and although I put on a brave face I was very nervous at first to be on my own again, but the feeling soon passed and I emerged quite the confident traveler. Since then I've spent 3 days in the holy city of Varanasi and watched the sunset and rise over the river Ganges. I've also met and had my fortune told by a Sarah Jessica Parker's and Michael Jackson’s 'Guru' and following the result of the latter's recent court case I'm hoping that some of his good fortune will rub off on me. While in Varanasi I also visited Sarnarth where Buddha is said to have given his most important teaching and where the 3rd generation Bodhi tree is planted - the tree which Buddha sat under when he achieved enlightenment.

Me at the Taj.

Dawn on the Ganges.

Buddha statue, Sarnarth, underneath the Bodhi tree.

I then moved on to Khajuraho to see the famous Karma Sutra temples and was interviewed by a local TV station on the decline of western tourism during the summer months. After a brief shopping stop in Delhi I headed up north to escape the heat and meet my friend Becky in Srinigar, Kashmir. Here we stayed on a house boat for a week and went hill trekking in the mountains, where I surprised myself by discovering how much I actually liked walking, how uncomfortable my new boots where, and how cold India can be with no electricity. (Su - not a patch on Sapa, Vietnam!)

Detail of the Karma Sutra temples, Khajuraho, NOT FOR YOUNG EYES, I have a photo of worse, but I didn't want cause offence.

Becky, Dal Lake, Srinigar Kashmir.

The road to Aru, Kashmir.

The coldest night of my life!

Our local shop.

Al Fayed, eat your heart out!

I then spent two and a half weeks in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala - home to the Dali Lama, where I was lucky enough to catch him while he gave a ten day teaching on a very complex form of meditation. It was all way out of mine and most of the westerners reach (though some of the more pretentious ones would beg to differ), and more for the monks who had traveled from all over the country to hear. Because of that I just dipped in and out of the teachings but was glad to have had the opportunity to be in the Dali Lama’s presence. He really is an amazing role model for contentment and peace.

McLeod Ganj was quite a culture shock to begin with, everywhere else I’d been in India previously was so alien, but this was so Western with a slice of Tibetan. Not Indian in the slightest, which I felt defeated the reason why I had come here. It is also full of dreadlocked hippies, which I loathe, smoking chillums and believing that they now understand cultural oppression because they listen to Bob Marley. However, I was quickly seduced by the range of food (I was already sick of the sight of vegetarian curry by this point), entertainment (4 cinemas to choose from all showing v. interesting Tibetan history films and hilariously badly subtitled pirate western Blockbusters – The Cheddar Council, instead of the Jedi Council caused quite a roar in the screening), and the company of some fantastic new friends. I've now taken a 7 day course in Tibetan massage - oh you lucky friends of mine, taught half of Israel’s youth who appear to have moved on mass here how to knit, been entranced by a 25 year old Swedish bearded Justin Timberlake lookalike called Gustav, and between him and my good Israeli friends Maya and Sela learnt more about world politics in half a month than I have in 33 years – much to my embarrassment and ignorance. I've also met a wonderful retired woman from New Mexico who introduced me to my first English student Gongphel, a fantastic Tibetan Buddhist monk whose laugh and smile are infectious.

The massage crew. From top left clockwise, Me, Alex, Caroline, Johanna, Chris and our teacher Dhondup.

My good chums Chris and his wife Da eun.

Gustav the Swede, and Mike from Oakland, CA.

Teahing the girls to knit. Maya - how's the scarf coming along?

Itay, Maya and the remnants of the amazing spinach and Mushroom sizzler. My favourite dish in Bagsu, alongside Hello to the Queen, and the infamous Bagsu cake. Yum!

Gongphel, my wonderful first student.

And then the rain came. Oh my god did it rain. It is unbelievable how much a country can change over a few days. I've never seen lightening storms like it and people started to leave the town in droves. As I’d already spent much longer in Mcleod Ganj than intended I tried to out run the rain by moving with my new pal Eddie to Manali with some of his friends. We set up a new home in Vashist, a beautiful mountain region, with the aim of squeezing in a trip back up north again to Leh or an exploration of the Pavarti or Spiti region before my onward trip to Thailand in 10 days but the weather had its own plans. Three days of constant torrential rain closed all the roads in the area and we were pretty much stuck. But it wasn’t that bad, I read some fab books, watched more great films - most badly subtitled, and my new friends became great friends – I found myself a fellow Gooner Andrew and talked football whenever possible.

Andrew. Fellow Gooner and good chum.

When the weather brightened our plans where scuppered again as something called Jarderia (?excuse spelling) decided to take up residence in my body, a not so friendly parasite causing me to become very weak and sleepy. Eddie’s back had been playing him up since leaving McLeod Ganj, and the tonsillitis that my new friend Cathy had became severe so we had to take a trip to the local hospital. It wasn’t as bad as we had feared as we all got seen by newly qualified volunteer western doctors, however poor Cathy got the worst of it as it turned out she had an abscess on her tonsils and had to have it drained by injection. Not good news as the poor cow is terrified of needles. To make matters worse she also had to have an IV inserted in her arm and go back each day for a strong dose of antibiotics injected directly into her blood stream. She was in bits. When half the hospital turned up to look at the westerner having a tonsils poked at with a needle I became extremely protective and scary, frightening half of the hospital staff into submission. Apparently it was very amusing to watch and softened the pain somewhat for Cathy. Mum – sound familiar? Like mother like daughter eh!

My chums in Vashist, starting from me going clockwise Andrew, Eddie, Cathy, Aileen, and Mark.

By this point my 10 days were up and Bangkok was calling. After a 16 hour sleepless bus trip back to Delhi which I bought half of and am now lugging around in an impossibly heavy rucksack and another sleepless night flying to Thailand that is where you find me now. It’s my birthday today and I couldn’t be happier. Besides the new tenant who hasn’t seemed to evacuate my body yet I’m feeling on top of the world, literally. I’m currently sitting in my friend Sophie’s gorgeous flat on the 14th floor of a huge modern tower block with the stunning Bangkok skyline all around me. I haven’t had much time to take in this town yet but from what I’ve seen so far I like it very much, vastly different from India and a welcome change from the mayhem. I’m also looking forward to being able to wear something with some shape and show off my much slimmer new body without being stared at like I’ve just walked out of a girly magazine called ‘Western Whores Weekly’.

I’m off now to the 7th floor where there is a pool, a waterfall and pond full of coy to do a spot of reading and work out my next move after Sophie, Mark (her boyfriend) and I go to Cambodia next weekend. It’s such a hard life, but it is my birthday so please endure me this decadence.

Love to you all.

Please check this site again soon as I will update as regularly as possible. Sorry it’s taken so long to get it off the ground.

xxxxx