Hey guys! Well, i arrived safely in Mumbai after a 17- hour train ride... it actually wasn't as bad as anticipated! I met a girl from Newcastle who happened to be sitting opposite me, which was quite nice! ... I contacted the sister of a friend i met in Delhi, and she met me at the train station and ushered me to the hotel. Thankfully she took the bags of material i had bought in Delhi also, so i haven't had to carry it around! I met my tour group in Mumbai on sunday, mostly girls- only one guy, but we're all having a laugh! ... There was practically constant rain in Mumbai- unusually bad apparently, so i'm not particularly looking forward to spending 6 weeks there to be honest! Although everyone is saying that it will calm down. It didn't stop some of us from exploring though... we visited Chowpatty beach in the rain- there were a surprising amount of people around- some just sitting on the sand in their raincoats, and some even in the sea! All the Indian people here are really happy that the monsoon has arrived- in fact, even when it rained earlier today (in Udaipur), the streets came alive and everyone seemed so much happier! It's actually quite fun, apart from when you fall down sewerage 'flows'. (I'll save that for a little while...) Anyway, we swiftly left Mumbai (at about 4am in the morning!! ...especially hard when you all visited the Sports bar the previous evening and had rather potent Shisha!), and headed north for Ahmedabad. This was just a stopping off point really, as our destination was Udaipur. We stayed in Ahmedabad for a night, and visted Gandhi's ashram (the place where he preached, taught and lived)... a very interesting and peaceful place. A haven from the heat and bustle of the city... i don't think i have ever sweated so much in my entire life!!) It's not a very touristic place, so everyone was amzed at seeing a gang of 14 westerners walking down the street! There were some really poor people here. Anyway, from here we took another 7 hour bus trip (public-so no aircon and a little squashed!), to Udaipur. It's like heaven here! Apparently it's the most romantic city in India, and i can totally believe it. We went to a restaurant last night that was recommended as one of the top spots to eat with romantic views, and it was beautiful! Although we had abit of a run- in with the restaurant owner... a German hippy- we were very scared! But got a free mea and drinks, so we were happy! ...The City palace is absolutely stunning- marble absolutely everywhere, and so many wonderful views of the Pochoa lake. We had a guided walk around the city this morning and then took a boat ride to Jaismer island- a beautiful floating temple/restaurant/wedding location. (It's about 62,800 pounds for a wedding for about 100 people, including food but not alcohol... you can see i've done my homework! haha!!!) ... Anyway, we stopped and had lunch on the island (3 pounds fifty- bargain!) ... it was so peaceful, we didn't want to leave! ...Although about 5 seconds after we left the heavens opened and we were absolutely dreched! In fact, we couldn't even see the island even though we were about 4 metres away from it!! All good fun- we couldn't stop laughing! ... We were drenched within about 2 minutes! The water was upto our knees when we finally got out of the boat! ... I was walking along with a Canadian friend (Sacha)... we decided to pause for a moment and rest under the shelter of a shop canopy. Sacha hopped onto the path of the shop, whilst i stepped, not realising that there was about a 3 foot drop... into the sewerage system!!!! So, i ended up thigh deep in running sewerage!!!! Not nice at all! Luckily the shop keeper came to my rescue and dragged me out! My leg was cut, bleeding and badly bruised- he gave me his dirty handkerchief and thankfully some antiseptic cream!!! ... We decided to get an autorickshaw home from there (even though it was only about a 3 minute walk! ...About 10 minutes in those conditions though!) ...So, i was totally drenched, and now my phone isn't working and my camera has steamed up a little, but luckily still working! ... I will update the pictures as soon as i can! We're onto Jodphur tomorrow...another long trip! Hope you are all well! Lots of love! Dxx (Apologies for any grammar/spelling mistakes... i'm in a rush!) x