I thought fantastic, I halfway there, but before jumping back on the Piccadilly line, I got on the phone and called Alitalia reservations to advise I needed to be put onto another flight ASAP.  Certainly said the lady on the other end "the next available flight is 2 Sep".  I thought she was joking as my course started on 22 August.  I weakly pleaded with her, but she assured me there was nothing she could do.  Of course I didn't believe her, rung off and on cue, burst into tears.  Thank god, mum was there, and kept me sane.  About the only clever thing I had done that day was store my backpack at Heathrow, which was a blessing, because I had to go back out to the airport to collect it.  Mum reassured me the flight desk at the airport will be able to do something; she said it'll be different if I am there in person. 

The trip out to Heathrow was long, and I sat in disbelief.  What if I don't get on a flight, what will I do?  I've just quit my job, and I will miss the course I have been planning for, for the last 10 months.  With one stupid error, I have probably changed the course of my life.  The one time I actually made a plan and within a few hours, it failed.  Mum kept positive for me, she said it's futile to think like that, we'll deal with it if it happens.  So interestingly, I spent the next hour, thinking about the positive things I could do if I didn't go to India.

 

We stood at the flight desk waiting our turn.  When it came to me I explained how I had missed my flight at 6am because I had no visa.  The man at the desk tapped away for a few min.'s and came back and said, sorry there are no flights till 2 Sep, but if you ring reservations they might be able to help you!  Ahhh, I knew this already!!  That's when mum jumped in and said "she needs to start her course on Monday which she has paid thousands for!”  The man genuinely looked concerned that I was going for a purpose rather then backpacking.  He said wait one moment please.  Within 15 min.'s I was on the 5.35pm flight with one night stopover in Milan.  Just like that.  So I was now back on course of my new life.  By the time mum and I sat down to have a coffee and bite to eat, it was 1pm and it felt like I had already traveled half the world.  Mum sat with me till my check in time, and we said our good byes.  Mum was going back to NZ on the 22nd, so it was going to be the last time I would see mum for a long time, and even though it was manic it was a good day to spend with mum.  I wondered if she hadn't been with me, if I would have been on this flight.  I wish she was coming with me, she would love India and we're good traveling together.  Thanks mum, I'll miss you loads.

I arrived in Milan at 8.30pm, but my bag didn't come out for an hour.  God knows why, the airport was extremely quiet, or Gate Gourmet were doing the catering.  I didn't know what I was going to do once I got out of arrivals at that time of the night, but it turned out to be really simple.  There was a desk specially set up for hotel reservations, near the airport, and within 20 min.'s I was booked into a gorgeous B&B in a nearby medieval village.  I had shuttle service to and from the airport and breakfast included.  My room was beautiful, clean, large and modern with my own ensuite and balcony. 

My flight was at 10.20am, so I could sleep in, potter around, and have breakfast.  Nando, owner of the B&B took me on a scenic route back to the airport via some beautiful lakes and rivers.  He said I must come back, with my friends, or if I did come back on my own, then even better(!)  I started to get a little uncomfortable at this stage (in fact I started to panic) because I didn't particularly like going a different route to the airport.  The roads were quiet, deserted and looked very remote from any main road.  Then he said how lovely I was and how he went to bed happy and dreamt of me(!)  He then went on to say he was unhappy and he and his wife hadn't slept together for a long time (why would I want to know that!).  At one stage he laid his arm across the back of my seat while driving along these quiet country roads (panic!).  Again, I thought, god I wonder if I'll get to India.  I quickly said that he must work at his relationship and talk with his wife, tell her he was unhappy so she is given a chance to do something about it.  Then I rambled on about how busy they both were, with running a thriving business while trying to raise a 3 year old daughter.  He must have got the message, because his arm went back to the wheel, and not long after we hit a highway - I was so relieved!  When we pulled up outside the airport, he didn't say much when he handed over my pack, and was back in the car and gone with no mention of hoping to see me again.  So, again I was back on track with my itinerary.

To me it was the classic symptoms of relationships not being worked on because they were both to busy with running a business or raising young children.  This was the second case of an unhappy and lonely male, in a relationship that hit on me in 2 months.  Like I can solve their problems!  In fact, it's not even about me; it's them wanting to escape an unhappy situation.  I don't even think I'm flattered, but more annoyed.  I certainly know I'm not attracted to them, and why on earth would they think I would be up for it anyway!  Am I giving off some signal?  Or they are very confident that I would.  How dear they really.  Which reminds me of an incident when he was showing me my room the night before.  I was shown all the facilities and how to operate the cable channels.  While flicking through them, he said "You can find everything on here, even Porn" as he flicked it to channel 73.  While a young couple were going at it on the screen, I had my first uncomfortable situation with him .  I'd only met the guy 15 min.'s ago.  Of course I screwed up my face in disapproval and the subject (and channel) was changed immediately.

Though describing him as I have, which makes him sound like a rat, he wasn't really, just rather sad.  He talked about other things, like how he loves the country and nature and I felt he really was genuine when showing me the surrounding area with its lakes and river close to his village.  He was friendly (obviously sometimes too much) but it wasn't always uncomfortable.  I'd go back there (hopefully with a friend), or at least recommend it to others.  I think he was just passionate, and I believe that's what a lot of Mediterranean's are like, now that I've experienced quite a few of them from my various other travels.

Anyway, it's about 4 hours till landing in India, at 10pm local time.  So far the trip hasn't been straight forward, I wonder what India will hold?

20/08/05 Room 203 Hotel Rangoli, New Delhi:

It's almost 4pm and I've just had a late lunch and I ordered way too much (Mutter Paneer, Yellow Dahl, Green Salad and Roti).  I tried eating as much as possible so I didn't feel guilty and look like a rich westerner who loves to waste her food.  I had to leave half the Dahl, and a third of the salad.  I wondered whether to tell them to pack it up and give to some child on the street.  I imagine they would think me a fool, or a westerner who wants to save the worlds starving and that I should get real.

I was picked up at the airport, after I confused the man looking for me by wearing my glasses.  I'd sent them a recent pic of me (without glasses) and omitted in the email that I could possibly be wearing some.  We both stood around at the waiting area for about 20 min.'s before I decided I had better go and look at all the placards I had rushed by in haste to get to the cafe shop I was told to stand by.  Again, I didn't use my head, and assumed something else.  The poor guy had been waiting for an hour and a half by the time I asked to read his placard.  So after pleasantry's we then drove to the hotel I am staying at.  It's clean, tidy and very adequate.  I have no need for a 5 star.  I was given a welcome pack of 1000 rupees, a guide on what to do next, train tickets to Shimla, and the man that picked me up at the airport said that I will be picked up at 8.30am for another introduction at the center, to receive a mobile phone then I would be free to spend a day in Delhi before catching my train 6am Sunday morning.  I was very impressed with the organisation.  I settled in and tried to sleep, but couldn't. 

I was rudely awaken by my alarm at 7.45, and could only drag myself out about 10 min.'s later.  I was a little worried about having no water, but thought I could handle it until I spoke with the Koenig office.  At 8.30 there was a cab waiting to take me away.  It was no bigger then a ford fiesta, but most cars here are anyway.  We nipped across the road and stopped at some entrance, and I thought, "What? Is this where I need to go?  Man they ARE cautious about our safety".  So I started getting out, but then 3 huge white men, started getting in, then I realised it was another pickup.  And these men were huge, fat huge.  I felt like I was in a scene from the keystone cops.  The man in the front was in his 50's and from the States, the guy next to me was German or Austrian, and the one on the far side was from London.  The American and German kept laughing at each others jokes which were as funny as me forgetting my visa.  I decided they weren't funny enough to play along with so just kept quiet and stared out the window.  I think the guy from London thought the same.  I thought great, is this what I've got to look forward to?

We arrived at the offices, and I was told that the lady who would normally deal with my introduction doesn't work on Saturdays.  So I could've stayed in bed!  Never mind, I was offered a sweet cup of coffee, and a big bottle of water and would soon be taken back to my hotel.  I sat and chatted with the guy from London.  I realised that these guys were all training here in Delhi, so I wouldn't be with this lot after all.  He said a Spanish girl from London came last week and has gone up to Shimla, and what seemed like disappointment, he asked why we all went there.  I didn't know either, but it had something to do with the mountains and it sounding very pretty.  He said he chose Delhi so as not to be distracted by that, which is the reason I didn't chose Delhi.  We both agreed that Goa wouldn't have been a good option with the beach and nightlife there.  He was from Kingston-In-Surrey, and I said I knew it quite well, with my former boss living there and my sister only up the road.  Lots more people came in while I sat in the foyer talking, and most were men.  It's good to see women are doing this course, and it looks like we all choose the same region.  I hope there are some men for some balance.

I was taken back to my hotel, where I got some breakfast.  I had some parantha bread with yogurt and chutney.  To be honest I didn't really know what I was ordering.  I had some fresh squeezed juice which I poured into my yogurt, and it made a tasty breakfast.  I then went back to my room and decided to have a nap, as I was still tired.  About an hour later, my usher who had picked me up from the airport came with a mobile phone for local use.  Excellent.  I've just ordered my food to take away with me for my train journey tomorrow, for which I will be picked up at 5am.  So, so far India has been what I expected and relatively easy, unlike my false start in the UK.   So then I went back to sleep.  I dreamt about starving children and me throwing away food while they were begging me for my scraps.

21/08/05 Delhi to Shimla:

Got a wake up call at 4.30am, which I didn't order, but luckily I was awake already.  I was actually in the shower, and had to bound out sopping wet to answer it.  Nice of them actually.  I went down about 4.45am to check out and collect my food, and my driver arrived just after 5am.  He drove me to the train station which at that time of the morning was heaving with cars, auto rickshaws and people.  My driver said it was a 24 hour station and was always like this.  We pulled up at the drop off point, which was a bit like Charing Cross concourse, and almost every inch was taken up by people sleeping.  I wondered if they were all waiting for their trains.  He said no, they're homeless.  I was taken back.  He took me to my platform, and we bumped into one of the trainers from Koenig.  He was an instructor for the MCSE course.  We had to wait about half an hour.  Considering how dated the station, platform and facilities were it looked pretty tidy.  The only off putting thing was the sewer smells.  I was guessing this was coming off the track from the waste of the trains. 

My train arrived on time, with the sun rising quickly, which gave a nice colour to everything.  I was helped onto my carriage, which was the only air conditioned coach, with large reclining chairs.  It reminded me a bit like the Road Services buses we use to travel on in the early eighties.  Dated, but comfortable enough.  I opened up my breakfast of fresh chopped fruit, which didn't really go down to well with the passing scenery.  We pulled away, and I was immediately presented with scenes of the slums.  They flowed over right onto the railway sidings.  The slums were quite a colourful mishmash of makeshift shelters, made with whatever could be found.  The rubbish mounds were the permanent fixture, just piles and piles of it.  Largely made up of plastic bottles, and whatever else that isn't biodegradable.  There were mongrel dogs, and of course the sacred cow wandering over these sites, and the odd pig munching away on whatever it could nuzzle into.  From what I remember Wendy telling me about the pigs in the latrines of China, it can only be truffles of another kind.  To prove my theory, not long after, I was treated to every man and boy performing his morning ablutions.  These weren't men relieving themselves against a wall; it was trousers down, with bollocks swaying squatting over little steaming mounds.  I found this rather amusing.  There seemed to be plenty of small bushes around, but they seemed to choose full view (unless the bushes were full up already).  It reminded me of a story back in England when a Mainline train of commuters happened upon a man in a field having sex with a goat. 

This scene carried on till I left Delhi, by which time it didn't seem strange at all.  Then it occurred to me this scene reminded me of camping at a music festival (without the men defecating), so it seems we're not that different after all.

The journey to Kalka (where I was to change trains) was pretty uneventful.  So I snoozed a lot.  Just on 11.30am we arrived at Kalka and I had to get my things off and go to another platform.  Then I had to get on to what I could only describe to be a toy train.  The carriage was very small; in fact, it was more like a caboose from the wild west.  We waited for about half and hour and then about 14 large Germans got on.  There didn't seem to be anywhere to put everybody.  As we pulled away, there was mass confusion.  Large rucksacks filling every available space, large Germans not knowing where to sit, it was chaos for the next half hour.  After they got all their bags down to the end of the carriage, all stacked from floor to ceiling, 3 squeezed onto my small bench seat, and that's where I stayed for the next five and half hours.  By the end of the trip, I was stiff, achy and I had almost developed bedsores. 

Kalka is at the foothills of the Himalayas, so the journey was a slow climb to 2500m to reach Shimla.  The scenery of course was spectacular, and the weather was warm and sunny.  Finally at Shimla, I waited with the instructor for our pick up.  Once in the van, it was a winding trip through crowded narrow streets.  It was bustling with cars, people and dogs.  One little dog, who must've been someone's pet, as he was very clean and white, with a collar, stopped and did a poo on a pile of rubbish right next to our van. But the amusing part was he then dropped his hind legs parallel to the ground, and with his front legs dragged his bum along the road as if to wipe it.  So my day started with shit, and ended with shit.
 
I was taken up to my hotel, called Eve Hotel.  It has a steep climb, around some hairpin curves and then up a long flight of steps to reception.  I received a warm welcome and said I would be shown two rooms, and I could make my choice.  The first room was bright and sunny, with a fantastic view down the awesome mountain range.  The next room was not a front on room, but still with large windows, and part of the same view.  I chose this one because I thought it might be a little bit quieter, as the other faced the road.  As I was settling in, a desk was brought into my room and two brand new pillows, and a guest next door came and introduced himself.  His name is Louie and he is a Dutchman living in London.  He was over doing a MCSE course.  We talked over coffee and he gave me a rundown on how things here work.  He's been here 3 weeks so has got to know things pretty well.  He said I made a wise choice for my room as the noise and distraction from the streets are really getting to him.  His course has been pretty tough, and he's had to do lots of study.  This freaked me out.  But he explained that he's been in IT 10 years and he learnt from on job training.  Now he has to do a certified course which is hard for someone that already knows the process.  He said there is another guy here who has entered the program like I have, with no or little knowledge at all, and he seems to be doing really well with it, as he is learning, as opposed to getting qualified.  So it seems I maybe here with the right background, which is not much.

29 September 2005:

FINISHED!!  For the first time in my life, I am professionally qualified at something.  The course was intense and part of the reason I attempted it was to see if I was capable of it, and I surprised myself with the amount of work and effort and dedication I put into it.  I didn't go to university, but most of the other students here have, and they said they have never worked so hard in their lives, university was easier. 

This is what my last six weeks have consisted of:

- Work a six day week, with one day off, but not for rest, to be used as a study day.
- Start class at 9.30am finish around 5pm with about an hour for lunch.
- Go back to my hotel, revise the days labs, and prepare for the next days module. 
- Close my books at midnight (I could've kept going, but I knew I needed to sleep).
- Wake at 5.30am and study for 3 hours, then leave hotel and walk to class.
- Start class at 9.30am.

My paper this morning said there has been one death in Delhi, so I've been lucky.  Its very sad news, and it means more since I am here already.

The day after I arrived in Delhi, myself, Dominique and Marti went on a day trip to the Taj Mahal.  Its a long way away, but it was great to see the country side.  There are people and animals just everywhere, and they spill out onto the roads where ever you drive.  I saw a lot of dead animals on the road too, which was very unpleasant.  Not like our road kill which seem to lie whole on the verges of our roads.  These were mainly dogs, and one small cow, and they seemed pretty butchered.  I think we may have come across these accidents immediately after as they looked pretty fresh, but I imagined with the amount of traffic passing through these roads, that the bodies wont be there for much longer.  No one around seemed to be too bothered about these bloody carcasses lying around, I assume this is pretty common and I guess they have other things to worry about.

The Taj Mahal was pretty spectacular, but the trip was spoiled with being dragged around shops which we hadn't planned for, only to be aggressively sold gems, carpets, textiles and marble wares.  At first it looks like we are to be shown the main industry around Agra that is a program run by the govt. which gives back to the local people to provide and save the region from industry that could destroy the area, and I think to an extent that was true, but it got frustrating because we were suppose to be seeing the Agra Fort and the Siehkom Temple and we didn't get there.  We just kept being dropped off at shop after shop, and then to a pretty lackluster restaurant that reminded me of any one you can find down Brick Lane.  I did end up buying some beautiful materials which I hope to have made into something gorgeous, but I have since found the same stuff at a fraction of the price.  Up until that point, I was thinking I will always be paying western prices, because I am western, and the only other people coming in and out of these shops were also westerners.  I couldn't quite get across to the salesman that I didn't have a job, and I didn't have a flat either, so I had no need for carpets and marble coffee tables.  Its a lesson to learn and I know what to do next time, so its not always lost.  I plan to come back to India, and next time I will recognize these shops, and steer clear of them.  They have nothing I need, and if they did I may as well buy it back home because that's the price of it there too.

I met a few of the students studying here in Delhi, as I've had a few things to do in the office down here.  I was invited out for a Saturday evening as they normally get together to have a meal and go onto some other bar.  One student, a small Zimbabwean (who looked like Gary Coleman) from London, of about 24 gave me a call on the Friday, at my hotel and said there was a bar around the corner from here and asked if I wanted to have a drink.  I assumed it would be with other students, but it wasn't. He was pleasant enough, and didn't try anything on with me.  I made out I was seeing someone back in the UK just incase he got the wrong idea.  As it happened, it was the right thing to say. 

When I met with a few of the other students the next evening, apparently he told them all he was out with his ex-girlfriend the night before and that I would be joining them all for dinner (me).  If one is going to lie, one should do their homework first, because a) Id met all these students before Id met him, so they knew who I was and b) anyone would see we weren't much of a match.  Over our dinner, he got a bit of stick from the other students about being his ex (which embarrassed me more I think).  Somewhere towards the end of our meal, he turned to me and pointed out that Id been away from the UK for a while now, my partner would never know (wink wink, nudge nudge)

Great, I wonder who he thought I would be interested in  I made it clear I would never do that to my partner, and said its a crap thing to do.  Of course, I was lying as he had to his fellow students, but I've had to start doing it, and I wish Id thought of this much earlier, as I get a tad bored explaining how I've been on my own the last eight years.  So, its much easier to lie.  Since I left the UK to embark on this trip, I've had an Italian hotel owner show me porn and take me on a ride to nowhere, which panicked me, especially when he told me of his dream.  The twenty four year old, Gary Coleman look-a-like suggesting a bit of fun, Marti the Australian following me back to my hotel room (and amazingly I hadn't realised till he was standing behind me while I was unlocking my door), two separate incidences of strange men walking straight into my room without knocking.  And not forgetting the amount of times I've been asked by Indians if I am married?  I’m off to Goa tomorrow, and I cant wait!

13 October 2005:

Still in Goa, and have moved to Calingute (bigger then Vagator/Chapora, but so tacky.  It reminds me of Blackpool in the sun).

Jill and I (my new traveling companion) walked around a lot, Jill started talking to two sisters (Pauline and Ingrid, and daughter Olivia).  They invited us around for tea.  They are in the process of moving to Goa and renovating an 80 year old Portuguese home.  It has a lot of work to do, and Pauline took us around to show us, and it was like buying a piece of history.  It was gorgeous.  They paid £16k for it, but they have lots of work to do.

We sat and had chats, they were really friendly and so lovely.  They told us a few stories about getting their luggage here (over 100kg) which included everything, even the kitchen sink, without paying excess.  They’d given themselves a 5 hour check in and were still running for the closing doors, carrying half their luggage on to plane stuffed into old duty free bags, so as not to highlight to the airline they were pushing it to the limit.  While at check in, they’d asked 3 men in front of them if they would kindly take some of their baggage.  The men obliged as they were only taking daypacks with them to Goa (which is pretty incredible in itself).  So the girls managed to drag 100kgs on one flight to India, There is some irony however, the airline lost the men’s 3 daypacks.

They also recalled the story of the security guard at the airport, who sat next to Ingrid and started stroking her knee with his finger, she turned to look at him and he was masturbating through his trousers.  She didn't know what to do, as she was trapped.  After a few minutes, he departed the bus complete with wet patch down the front of his trousers.  She said when he realised this, he whipped his hat off, and looked like he was about to burst into a cabaret tune.

Anyway, I've not really found Goa to exciting, and am thinking of returning to the UK earlier.  I've been trying to secure a seat on any flight, but my airlines are not being very flexible.  So I’m booking a flight back to Delhi, in the hope that I can change it there.   But this is just a wee rundown of what I have done in Goa.

My first stop was in an expensive 5 star hotel, which was extremely lonely.  This only accommodated rich Indian families with fat kids, who stared at me all the time.  This of course was because I was a single white female traveling alone.  Its a long story how I ended up in a 5 star, which I wont go into, but it was to do with a miss understanding by the organisers of the training center who assumed us westerners only want to stay in resorts, and not backpacking accommodation.  So I had to stay there for 3 days, and like I said was extremely lonely.  I couldn't get out there fast enough.  By the time Id got to Goa, Id managed to accumulate extra baggage, so wanted to send some stuff back home.  I had to make a special trip to the nearest village Post Office in a taxi, as the stuff to send back was now all packaged up in a fairly large and awkward box.  There was no way I would get it onto a bus with the overcrowding and to be honest I hadn't been game enough to try the local buses, even without the box.  It was a wasted trip, as the PO was closed, for a Post Office holiday.  Everything else was open, except the Post Office.  Even the locals didn't know.  So I had to return to my lonely hotel, with this stupid box.  On the day I left the resort, I tried again, but this time, the Post Office wouldn’t accept credit card, so I had to drag the box with me, to my next destination, Vagator.

Vagator is a sleepy little village, quite remote from anywhere, on a beach that is famous for its dance scene.  The time of year I was there was not the peak season, so it was just that, a sleepy little village, quite remote from anywhere.  It mostly attracts Israelis and British backpackers looking for a hedonistic scene.  Apparently the village grows from about 400 to 40,000 over Xmas.  I’m so glad I’m not going to be here during this time.

I went and visited a Hindi temple and while wondering around, I was approached by a holy man who wanted to take me on a tour around the temple.  I said no thank you (as its always for a price) and I managed to shake him off.  He did however, find me again and dived into all sorts of information about the temple.  I didn't want to be rude so I listened to him.  To be honest I cant remember anything about the temple.  Then he suddenly told me that in November this year, I will accept a fantastic job, and meet my future partner in December (he actually said I will marry this person) and will return in one year and introduce this person to him.  Great, I can stop lying about being single.  He then expected a small fee for his divine knowledge.  Somehow I think all the lone female travelers are offered the same prediction.

Everyday I read the local paper over a coffee and there were a few articles that I found amusing because of the use of the English language.  They are:

A man was being held by police for outraging the modesty of a woman.

A resident of Manora, Raia committed suicide by hanging to a ceiling at his home on Monday.

And a robbery article; after being robbed the couple immediately raised an alarm and on hearing their cries, the people immediately rushed to their rescue and nabbed the two persons after a hot chase.  The police are on the look out for the other two accused who are reported to be absconding.


18 October 2005:

Still dragging this damn box around with me, both the Post office and courier do not take credit card.  There is no ATM in Vagator and I am running out of cash.  I've met two lovely girls after only being here 5 mins.  Wendy from Melbourne and Jill from Hampshire.  Wendy is off to Mumbai tomorrow, and Jill and I are going to hang out for a couple of days.  Though it is lovely to have some new friends to hang with, this place is very much back water and this holiday isn't turning out to be that interesting.  I'm questioning why I decided to come to Goa now.  I didn't really know much about it before now except it's a British holiday destination.  I just want to return to London now, as I’m sick of hanging around and not getting the things that I was hoping to experience. 

Met a local called Chopal.  I was moving accommodation and he saw I was still struggling with this stupid box.  He was very chatty, perhaps a little to friendly.  I introduced him to Jill and he told us to meet him for a drink later, so we're going to go to one of the small bars here in the evening.  Sometime during the night, I realised he was completely unreasonable.  He first seemed just a little to assertive for me, but then as the conversations went on I realised he liked to have strong debate (or rather he had strong opinions) about anything somebody would start discussing.  I then just decided it wasn't worth to be included in any of the discussion, and I just kept out of it.  So he then questioned this, and wanted to then argue why people don't get involved with debate.  He was wanting to draw me in, and I wouldn't.  I just didn't see the point, and he got me so uptight, that it did the opposite to what he was hoping - to get me talking.  Also, I didn't like a lot of the subjects he was trying to start up, most had sexual undertones.  Also, I was bored!  Jill obviously was too, said she was tired and would meet me back at the room.  I was horrified that she thought I wanted to stay with this vile man.  I announced I was off too.

The next day, Jill and I were flicking through the Lonely planet and we happened across a good tip for female travelers on how to avoid Assault and Rape:

"Getting involved in inane conversations with local men is considered a turn-on.  Keep discussions down to a necessary minimum."

At one point creepy Chopal wanted to argue with me about belching and flatulence, and that we can stop our bodies from performing these bodily functions - like, a) no we can't and b) who cares!.  He was like an annoying pubescent who liked to poke a stick at a caged animal just to get a reaction.  I saw him do that (not the poking of a stick) but get reaction from others and he loved it!

Jill and I avoided him from then on, but this proved hard to do, as Vagator was only a one (dirt) street town and he took morning yoga classes at the house right in front of our hotel.

19 October 2005:

Sitting in Delhi, 10.20pm in the scariest room.  Sheet looks dodgy and found some short and curly still attached (retch).  It looks clean enough, but doesn't make me feel comfortable.  I don’t want to touch anything, sit on anything, walk on anything, but guess I have to get over it. A bit of noise outside, sounds like the back of a kitchen, and someone chopping wood.  Also really pissed off as I paid for my cab at the airport and handed over Rs 500 for a Rs 167 fare and walked away forgetting the change.  To be honest, I cant remember handing over any money, but I know I did cause I know how much money I have left.  Then I had to battle with every Sanjeep, Niwa and Ranjiv for a taxi, only for me to get pushed around and rip my voucher in two.  Then all the cab drivers wouldn’t take me cause they believed they wouldn’t be able to redeem my voucher.  So I had to do something, but didn't know what.  I couldn't get back in the airport, as they wont let you, so I felt stranded.  Then someone said they would take me, so I finally got in a cab.  The cab driver kept asking about my husband ahhh!  So I lied, specially after hearing the story the two sisters from Goa told me about the masturbating security guard from the Delhi airport.  Because, I’m not so sure now they are genuinely wondering why I’m on my own.  I think they're looking for an opportunity.  Also, after reading in the Lonely Planet about the stares, and getting in inane conversations and arguments with the native men.  I've got to lie.

Just killed a mozzi and squashed it on the wall and it was full of blood.  Looks like a slaughter house in here.  I just feel like I've got lots of creepy crawlies moving all over my body now.

20 October 2005:

OK, change of plans and its because someone else made it for me.  Well that someone didn't know she did, but a young British girl approached me tonight in the Janpath Market.  She had seen me in Cafe 100 where I had lunch, and saw me again tonight.  She has been in India a week with her father, who will be returning to home on Saturday.  She's freaking out a bit, and was regretting coming here.  She just wanted to know what it was like for a lone woman traveling around India.  I reassured her it was fine.  She's not very happy with her accommodation, she should see mine!  I tried telling her that's the way it is in India unless she goes 5 star.  I think she will get used to it.  Anyway, she asked me where I was going next, so I told her how I don’t really know what to do and that I had been hoping to return to the UK, but now had to reconsider as they wouldn't let me on an earlier flight.

She said she's not sure where to go when her dad leaves, but was thinking about Rajasthan.  I said I had thought about Rajasthan a few weeks back, and had in fact, this afternoon thought about it again, due to not being able to get back to London.  So almost in the same breath, we both said, lets go.  So, she's taken my email and will tell me her plans.  So looks like I could be off to Rajasthan this Saturday.  Damn, I wish she had spotted me about 5 hours earlier, because I've just gone out and spent Rs 3000 on gifts!  That could've gone toward this new adventure. AND I've now got extra luggage.

Aside from my new plans, this is what else happened to me today.

Hassled by men, who would walk alongside of me for miles and pretend to be helpful regarding information.  One told me the shops wont be open today because its a holiday (India always seems to be on holiday) and started steering me towards some shopping center, that happened to be open when nothing else is!  Another popped out of nowhere, when I thought I had lost him miles back.  To this one, I just kept saying "speak no English".  The whole time he was with me, I ignored him and repeated the no English line.  He kept saying I don’t believe you.  So I stopped and shouted at him in Maori (counted to ten).  The look on his face was priceless, and he looked very puzzled.  I’m sure he wasn’t convinced, but he wasn’t able to come back with anything, so with a smarmy look on his face he disappeared.  He did pop up again, somewhere else about 40 min.'s later.  This time I just picked up my pace and lost him.

I eventually found a café.  Since it was only 9am, they'd hardly set up, but were able to give me some (crap) coffee from a machine, and I purchased and some measly puri bharji.  There was a Western couple sitting at a table, and when I passed them, we spoke.  They too, had been wondering around looking for somewhere to sit and have coffee.  They were in their 50s, and from Napier NZ.  In fact, she grew up in Waipawa, and she knew Porongahau (where I was born).  Not sure she knew any Ropiha, but she was familiar with the name.  They were here for about 4 or 5 weeks.  Unfortunately they couldn't stay and chat any longer as they had plans.  When I asked the man how his trip was so far, he said really good, but lets put it this way, I will be pleased to get home.  At that moment I couldn't think of anything better. 

Before finding this cafe, I was fuming, and it takes a lot to get me wound up.  I was thinking how much I hated this place, and how I couldn't wait to leave this half built, stinking (it constantly smells of urine) dump.  The constant harassing the local men had got to me, and for the first time in my life I really think I could've killed someone.  Thank god, I’m fine with it now, but this morning, was a different story.  I’m not so angry now, as I just gave myself a telling off, and told myself to get over it.  For days I have been on the phone with my airline trying to get on a flight everyday and because I couldn't, I didn't really know what else to do.

28/10/05 Back in Delhi:

Have now returned from a wonderful time in Rajasthan, and all the blues I was feeling about India before has gone way out the window.  I loved it, and cant wait to come back.  I went traveling with Melissa, and spent the week out there.  We went to Jaipur and Pushka.  I enjoyed it much better then Goa.  It was mainly desert which I've always loved and everyday was warm and dry.  In Jaipur we hired a auto rickshaw driver, who for the measly sum of Rs500 took us to every sight of this Pink City.  We met lots of local people and children, and loads of animals in particular elephants, camels, donkeys and the usual sacred cow. 

It was here that we met a couple of travelers who arrived on the morning we left, a girl from Germany and a guy from Switzerland.  They'd both caught the same night bus and decided to come to the hostel we were at.  They didn't actually meet till they disembarked the bus.  The girl showed me her face and it was full of small red bites, which I at first thought was bad acne, but she explained it was bed bugs which had been in the pillow on the bus.  I thought, god why are you using the pillows they provide, but most disturbing was she had been constantly harassed by some local men on the bus.  The harassments to be a mix of sexual advances and pick pocketing with intimidation.  She said she felt hands running over her feet after she had removed her shoes, and someone going through her back pockets while she was dozing, and some unnerving comments and sucking noises were directed at her.  When she felt the hands over her feet, she had cried out for them to leave her alone but it didn't seem to work, some of them actually got more aggressive towards her. 

The guy she arrived with at the hostel had been on the same bus, but at that time of traveling they didn't know each other.  He said he heard a woman shout out something in English during the night, but it didn't occur to him that there was trouble brewing.  I don't think he understood what was going on.  When I had to leave Melissa in Pushka to travel back to Delhi on the night bus, I scanned everyone that came onto the bus.  There weren't to many backpackers, but I did make a mental note to approach two guys I knew were catching the same bus.  I put my pack on my top bunk, and went and sat outside until the bus was ready to depart.  Lots of locals were already on their pits on either side of me and they looked at me suspiciously when I put my stuff on (but that's not usual anywhere in India).  I went and sat outside as I wanted to wait till the last minute before boarding, also the two guys I had wanted to approach were nowhere to be seen.  Just before we departed they jumped on.  I was extremely relieved to see they had the double top bunk directly across from me.  I immediately introduced myself and explained why I wanted the rest of the "locals" on board to think we were all traveling together, and they were very glad to "help" me out if anything should happen during the trip.  We ended up actually having a great trip back to Delhi, as they were from Israel and when they knew I'd lived there for 5 months we instantly became best friends.  I had a great sleep knowing I was pretty safe when we finally stopped talking. 

We arrived in Delhi at about 5.30am at a bustling stop, so we sat, talked and drank strong Chai in the dingiest roadside cafe with a few locals still sleeping under the stars surrounding us until the sun rose.  They then jumped onto a auto rickshaw and we went our separate ways, but as I still had one whole day in Delhi, they arranged to come and meet me for lunch, and we go and do some sightseeing for the afternoon.