It's time for the first blog update of our travels around India. We are currently in South Goa sunning ourselves on the beautiful white beaches, but we'll start at the very beginning as that is apparently a very good place to start. We got to Delhi and it was quite a shocker - talk about being thrown in at the deep end! There were people, cars, rickshaws and cows everywhere, not to mention people always begging for money or trying to sell stuff to us. Everywhere we went people stared and/ or took photos of us, very bizarre, felt like a celeb! We left Delhi after 3 days and headed to Varanasi, the holiest place in India. We took a boat trip up the Ganges at sunrise and it was one of the most beautiful and amazing things I have done. The Ganges is so integral to India way of life; we saw hundreds of people bathing, praying, washing clothes & buffalos in the river, we even got to see 2 dead bodies all wrapped up waiting to be cremated at one of the burning ghats - very surreal. After Varanasi we went to Khajuraho, birthplace of the Karma Sutra! The temples there were beautiful and were covered in rude sculptures which kept us all amused. We were taken around the old town of Khajuraho which is more like the 'real' India. We were immediately surrounded by children wanting to talk to us, their english is so good and they all speak about 6 languages which puts us to shame. Was really interesting to see how Indian families go about their everyday lives. In Khajuraho we also went on a Jeep safari around the jungle looking for tigers. Unfortunately we didn't see any but we did see monkeys, deer, buffalo and antelope. After a hellish 7 hour train journey on a rammed local train and then a 5 hour journey on a (thankfully) air conditioned train we arrived in Agra where the Taj Mahal is situated. We went to the Taj for sunrise and it was stunning, was very surreal actually seeing it in real life. We spent less than 24 hours in Agra before heading to Jaipur, also known as the Pink City as the buildings in the old part of the city are all painted pink. Another big city like Delhi, but a much nicer place. We were taken to a factory to see how all the silk and cotton fabric is made and printed, was really interesting. There were just 4 guys in a room block stamping saris and sewing on intricate patterns and beads. Some pieces take up to a month each to make! So, now we are in Goa. We spent a few days in north Goa which is more commercial than in the south. I went parasailing the other day which I have always wanted to do and have went swimming in the Arabian sea. The only issue we have is the constant harrassment from Indian people all wanting our photos and they don't listen when we tell them to stop. The other day we were all given a baby to hold and have photos with, very weird indeed. We are in Colva in South Goa at the moment. So much quieter than in the north and even more beautiful. The sand is white, the beach is lined with plam trees and there are fishing boats all around. Alas, there is a downside - jellyfish!!! I have never seen so many in all my life, gross! So that was our first 2 weeks in India, pretty busy! Off further down south now for a few weeks then off to Thailand. Stay tuned for the next installment. Stay classy everyone and thanks for dropping by. Lots of love, Lou & Shellie xx