Hello everyone,

I am afraid my first blog entry is slightly shorter than I hoped, I have been sitting in an internet cafe in Ahmedebad for several hours and I was nicely typing away at the old blog when suddenly the power went out. Knowing India, I had taken precautions to ensure that I wouldn't lose any of my work- I had saved my work on the desktop, however (also knowing India) some how the computer had managed to wipe the whole document anyway. Which sucks so I can't really be asked to type everything out again. It was probably just rubbish anyway.

Basically the abridged version is as follows...

Got visa on morning of flight.
Phew!
Got on plane.
Was very scared.
Got to India.

1) Mumbai- Shopping

Spent 2 nights in Mumbai.
It is a crazy place, very very big and noisy.
Met some nice people.

2) Mumbai- Slums and washing

Went to Ahmedabad.
It is a slightly smaller place but more polluted and nosier.
Went to Gandhi's ashram... was really cool (if you've seen the film it is the place he lives before going on the salt protests).
It was 45 degrees.
That is really really really really hot.

3) Gandhi's bedroom with his hand loom.

4) The great man himself.

Got another train.
South to Junnadjh- pilgrimage site.
No travelers just me and the pilgrims.
Nice small town.
Woke up at 5am.
Climbed up 10,000 steps. It was very very very very very tiring!
I was tired.
It was very nice- views, temples, a cool breeze.

5) Worth climbing 10,000 steps ad getting horrible sunburn?

I met a monk.
He was cool- he liked me because he hadn't spoken English in 16 years.
He showed me around and ignored all the other people who had trekked up 10,000 steps (I felt bad for them).
He told me that I was probably going to hell because I was drinking bottled water which kills lots of harmless things, like germs.
I didn't mind.

6) Islamic architecture.

In essence that was where I had go up to when the power cut out so I shall continue in proper paragraph form (although I do like the bullet points). In the afternoon after the adventure up the mountain and lunch with the monk I went to Diu. In southern Gujurat, Diu is located on the coast. It is slightly detached to the rest of India; it was a ex Portuguese colony and is the only place in the state where beer is sold. It sounded like my kind of place and I had been excited about going there. Put simple- I was not disappointed. Starved of (western) company for 3 days I was pleased to find a couple had just moved into the room next to mine.

7) My hotel- San tome retiero, in Diu
8) Sand dinosaurs on a deserted beach with Gabriel- a fisherman from Alaska and Lewis from London.

In the coming days I met some really nice people, ate some really nice food, rented a really nice moped, drank some really nice been and stayed in the most beautiful hotel (on the roof of a church!). Basically, it was perfect. It is what Goa isn't (possibly what Goa used to be like, but I’m not sure). Thinking back to it I believe it may have been heaven. Go there- need I say more?!
9) I got it because it matched my t shirt, also we had a biker gang called the ~Dewie dew's


I decided that 6 days in Diu was enough, although I could have stayed a month I have got places to go and new people to meet. I'm back in Ahmedebad, I getting on a train tonight for Udaipur, Rajisthan. It's going to be hot!

Be back soon, I thing my blood is about to hit boiling point!

P.s. the tan is coming along nicely!