Well we've hit Goa safely after lots of travelling and it feels amazing to be on the beach finally! But I will back track a little as we have done lots before actually getting here.

We left Pokhara after the trek and headed to Chitwan national park which was about a 7 hour bus jounery away...a very beautiful journey as we passed lots of gorgeous vegetation and drove alongside an amazing river. The village we stayed in just outside the national park which was very different to Kathmandu and Pokhara as it was so rural. It was a tiny little village in the middle of nowhere. We spent our first day there just relaxing after the trek and getting to know the Nepali guys who ran our guesthouse...very friendly, however, like the rest of the men here it seems, maybe a little too friendly (one actually admitted he wanted a western girlfriend and asked hannah to take him back to england with her!). The next day was spent going on safarai...first by canoe along the croc infested river (some are very dangerous apparently!) where we saw a crocodile and lots of birds and then a 3 hour walk in the jungle. The jungle was crazy...Im sure he thought, 3 hardcore girls who have just done a trek with no poretrs, lets take tehm off the normal track and go wild! It certainly was...having to slash our way through wet grasses so much taller then us-I loved it! I stepped in a bog though and my foot was drenched and coated with mud for the rest of the walk-trust me! We didnt actually see many animals on the walk as apparantely it is really rare to see rhino and tigers when walking.But later on we got to go on an elephant safari which was amazing! There we saw rhino in the wild which was awesome! Our last two days in chitwan were spent going to the elephant breeding centre, bathing with the elephants in the river (such a highlight of the trip!), watching a cultural show which showed the traditonal village dancing, and eating out at the gorgeous restaurants by the river whilst watching sunset. One of the best nights was spent playing drums and singing with some nepali guys we met at one of the bars. We all really enjoyed our stay in chitwan, however, i think it was a good thing it was only for four days as the guys at our guest house were starting to get way to friendly.

We travelled back to India overland by getting a bus, then taxi, and then a sleeper train of 14 hours back to Delhi-a very long trip! But we did stay in a place overnight. Crossing the border was so bizarre as it was literally just a huge sign saying welcome to India so you could have one foot in india and one in nepal! The taxi ride was very amusing-we shared one with another guy who was also heading to delhi and were all squished in the back of a car with four guys in the boot and four people squished into front. when we opened the door hannah literally fell out! The train journey was a sleeper which meant we each had our own bed which folded out from the wall. we shared a carriage with an india couple. They were lovely, however, we kinda make the mistake of showing a bit too much interest as he spent the whole night telling us every single detail about this product he sells called 'transfer factor' which can apparently cure HIV, Cancer, diabetes, asthma and every other disease you can tink of in just three weeks! And somehow it had escaped media attention! Didnt get much sleep on the train as you can probably imagine but it was an awesome experience all the same!

We arrived in Delhi early morning and had one day there before flying to Mumbai. So we spent it shopping, reading, and eating as we were all pretty knackered. Hannah and Hellie did however do a little sightseeing of the mosque and red fort, however I had seen these on my trip here a couple of years ago. So the next day we got our flight to Mubai (actually managing to get ourselves to the right airport!). However, I am surprised that we actually made it on time seeing as our little Indian taxi driver seemed to think we had all the time in the world to get to the airport so insisted on driving the slowest possible speed, pointing out practically everything on route, and trying to rope us into going to his friends shop...'looking is free madam'!

Our flight from Delhi to Mumbai was delayed by about 2 hours which meant we arrived around 5ish. As soon as we wa;lked out the airport the heat hit us..it was so much hotter than delhi-it must have been at least 33 degrees. Mumbai is so different to Delhi...it is much wealthier however still apparently has some of the worlds poorest slums-you would have a really tall very impressive skyscraper built right next to a very run down block of government flats. Every other vehicle was either a yellow topped cab or a little black tuk tuk (3wheeled vehicle which bears a very close resemblamce to a bug) and there were no cycle rickshaws. As mumbai is very expensive we ended up staying in a rat infested place where the staff slept on the floor overnight. We tried to stay out as late as we could that night to avoid going back there! During our one say in Mumbai we got to see the bombay university, high court, cricket matches, sunset on beach and lots of nice places to eat (actually had a break from curry here and got fondue!). Chowpatty beach was a total hangout for the local couples as they all came here to watch the sunset...so we had our eyes peeled for three young handsome men to watch it with but no such luck.

We caught another sleeper train from mumbai to Goa which took 12 hours. The train station was hilarious....massive crowds of people! We got swpet up a massive queue of people at one point. we queued up under the sign we thought corresponded to our ticket...however, we wondered why there were so many people there...we feared being joined by about 80 indians in our carriage! However, we found out we were actually queuing in the 'luggage' queue and should be further up! We ended u sharing a carriage with a lovely english couple (he had lived in cheltenham for 10 years!) who we got chatting to till early hours of the morning. I slept slightly better this time despite having many random indians joining us in our carriage!

When we reached Goa we headed straight for the bus to go to Palolem beach (apparently Goas nicest beach). The bus journey was definately one to remember as they tried to squeeze as many people on the bus as possible-ended up being about 30 and it absolutley stank of BO! When we first saw the sand and sea and long line of palm trees it made it all wortth it though!Palolem beach is gorgeous!!! And it fels amazing to finally be here!

We have spent yesterday and today swimming in the sea (bath temperature!), sunbathing, drinking pineapple juice, watching the sunset, eating coconut (which the guy actually had to climb a tree for!), and eating lots of nice food! Will definately enjoy the next few days of doing this! And then its off to thailand for us so until then...NAMUSTE! (goodbye in Hindi).