India

If you ever feel your senses aren't getting stimulated enough, just head to India! Dylan and I spent about 2 weeks travelling around the north. We stayed briefly in Delhi, then went to Pushkar for the camel fair. We saw an amazing fort in Jodhpur and rode camels in Jaisalmer. Then we worked on a farm for a few days just outside of Jaipur. In Agra, we visited the Taj Mahal...spectacular! We walked around the ghats in Varanassi were people were bathing in the river and burning dead bodies...very powerful and intense!

The northern region of the country is less developed and the people are poorer than in the south. It's very chaotic just attempting to walk around the towns. People, cows, cow shit, cars, bicycles, rickshaws, goats, dogs....they're everywhere! The traffic in the streets is out of control, and people are constantly blowing the piercingly loud horns on their vehicles.

We moved south to Mumbai which is a lovely, modern city. We found a restaurant with Western food...Risotto, pizza, and Heineken for dinner...A nice change from curry and naan bread! Dylan played cricket with some Indian boys attending the university in Mumbai. We took the overnight train to Goa and were amazed that it was actually on time! We stayed in Palolem beach for a few days. It was gorgeous and relaxing, however I did spot some cows that had wandered onto the beach. I had yummy fresh fish for dinner....The first time in India that we were brave enough to eat any kind of meat. Surprisingly enough neither one of us got sick on this trip. :-) Then we spent a day in the fort area and backwaters of Kochi before heading to Colombo.

India is truely a beautiful country, but our nerves were shot after a month. We were ready for some hiking and relaxation in Sri Lanka. One interesting side note, whenever Dylan told people that he was from Australia (to which people echoed "AUSTRALIA!!), the very next topic of discussion was always cricket...I love it!!