4 months or so later...

Hey to all of those who actually read this!

I have been hounded by several of you for not writing anything on here for so long, so here goes with the catch up!

Since we last spoke I have been to India, Malaysia, Indonesia and I am now engaged...

Firstly, India... When my exams were over a friend and I went to India for three weeks. Arrived in Mumbai and it is hard to explain my first impressions as I didn't really know what to expect, but it was very different to what I was used to. We arrived very early in the morning so I was glad to get some sleep at my friend's house. The next day we headed to Pune in preparation for the wedding I was going to. It was rather overwhelming when I got there as there were so many people... But they were all very welcoming and I could not have asked for more food!!! That evening I stayed at my friend's uncle's house which was really nice! The next day we went back to the previous house to board the sleeper bus! Very crowded - but I had a very nice spicy veggie burger! After a 5 hour journey through the night we arrived at the wedding venue. The wedding lasted for three days! I had never seen so many people with so many different outfits! I met so many people and ate so much food! It was an unforgettable experience for sure! Especially because I was forced to dance... and as many of you know that doesn't happen often! It was then sleeper bus back and I spent a few more days at my friend's uncle's house.

The next segment of my India trip was New Delhi and Agra. I got a two hour taxi from Pune to Mumbai airport to fly Kingfisher to Delhi. I was pretty impressed with Kingfisher - internal flight with a meal and full entertainment system - I could  not complain at the price I paid - and I got my emirates air miles  too! When I arrived I was met by my driver who took me to the hotel and I checked in etc. The room was very nice and was only about £25-30 a night! I am very grateful to my friend's dad who organised the car and the hotel for me - I would have had no clue otherwise! The first day I relaxed and had a rest, I also had a banana split in the Baskin Robbins next door :) The next day I was out of the hotel at 6am to head to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. It was great to see the sunrise over the dusty landscape during the drive! That's another thing - roads in India... pretty scary to say the least! Agra isn't exactly a friendly place for tourists, the car was surrounded by people banging on the windows and when I got out I was instantly surrounded by people trying to get me to ride their camel or rickshaw or whatever... I eventually paid about 20p to get this guy to take me to the gate! Inside it was amazing and is truely something everyone has to see in their lifetime! I was rather proud of some of the pictures I managed to take! After seeing inside I walked through some of the side streets and looked at the marble cutting shops and it was fascinating. After looking around a bit longer, due to the length of the drive and the time of day we had to head back to Delhi. I would love to visit the whole golden triangle one day, I was a little disappointed that I didn't get time to see Fatehpur Sikri. The rest of my days in Delhi were spent visiting the main sites such as Raj Ghat (memorial to Mahatma Gandhi), the India Gate, Red Fort, Qutab Minar etc. I also did some souvenir shopping obviously! I then flew back to Mumbai to meet back with my friend.

The next day we headed to Calcutta (Kolkata) by sleeper train - 33hrs!!! It wasn't that bad though - I did the obvious and SLEPT! The train stations were a little overwhelming - people everywhere, cases everywhere... but all seem to know where they are going... I obviously didn't! When we got to Calcutta we got a taxi to the house - I think it was very early morning so I slept as soon as we got to the house. I was amazed in both Mumbai and Calcutta by how many street dogs there are - they are everywhere. The next day I met with a few of my friend's friends and went for food etc. However, the  next day I fell ill, so most of my time in Calcutta was spent in bed... it wasn't a good week! However, I was well looked after by everyone and still met a lot of wonderful people! Christmas day was rather odd as I was still feeling rather off, but I did manage to go to an event at the boat club which was a nice family event and was a nice evening. I will remember something from Calcutta though - leaning on taxi doors is not a good idea... especially when going around corners... I nearly ended up on the road! On boxing day I headed to the airport to get my flight back to Mumbai so I could get my flight back to Singapore. The problem was I had a 7hr gap between landing and my flight to Singapore. I went to go to the waiting room and the guy wouldn't let me in as I was so early, unless I paid for a visitor's pass. However, by this point I had no money. I went to see if I could find an ATM, but all of them were INSIDE the airport... so I went back to the guy and eventually he let me in! After which I sat and fell asleep on and off for 7hrs whilst trying to look after all of my stuff! I then got my Quantas flight back to Singapore!

Arriving in Singapore is another story... Quantas lost my luggage... It ended up flying to Brisbane and Singapore Airlines had to fly it back the next day, but I guess it is better than it being lost forever, especially when it was all of the clothes I own in Singapore! Also Quantas gave me $100 so it is not all bad! I then went to my hotel by shuttle bus to get a bad night's sleep worrying about where my luaggage was. I also could not sleep as I was looking forward to Tess arriving in Singapore too much! She was to arrive the next day at 4pm.

Right I think that's enough for now, I will write about when Tess was here a bit later or another day. I think that's enough to read for now!

Thanks for reading!

Hope you are all well!

Graham