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For all you fans crying out for more photos, I'm afraid this is proving harder than we thought! Internet cafes appear on very rare occasions in places like this, and even rarer is it that you might find one with a functioning keyboard, let alone a fast enough connection or the right software to upload photos - SO GET OFF MY CASE! They will come eventually, give me time!!! Just know we are alive, and we look pretty.
Anyway, our time here is being well spent. Yesterday after lunch we traveled about 5km out of town to visit the Ashram that Gandhi lived in for part of his life. (For those of you who don't know what an Ashram is, it's kind of like a spiritual Butlins. People live there and think about life, the universe and everything in little huts.) I was pretty ignorant to his life beforehand, thinking that he was just a little Indian fella with funny classes who liked to sit. I was wrong. His life was pretty fascinating, and I learnt alot.
See Mum, it's not just about fun - it's educational too.
The most amazing thing so far about being here, are the number of people who just want to touch me. Not inappropriately either - although that might be a way to make some extra cash eventually - but just a hand shake. If I was a chimney sweep, everyone here would be really lucky! They seem fascinated by the colour of my hair and become even more interested when we tell them we are English.
And they aren't even trying to sell us anything. It's been a refreshing change.
Today we spent most of the morning trying to find a new book for Dan to read. Surprisingly (or not), book shops are pretty scarce, and the one we found out about was out of town. We got in a rickshaw, and the driver assured us he knew where he was going.
He didn't.
This seems to be a regular occurrence. So desperate are these drivers that they will just agree to where you say, and drive, with no regard to direction or we we end up. Eventually they have to ask directions. We could do that! It's just annoying. Imagine if you got in a taxi at home and they didn't have a clue where to go. You might go a little mental, especially after a beer or two. But here we have just accepted it, and even feel a little bit sorry for them. But ultimately, if they can't do their job properly, don't do it at all. There are plenty of shoes to be shined.
We have now booked all our remaining train tickets, and so our last 10 days in India should run relatively smoothly. We have a brief stop in Mumbai, before we go to Aurangabad, and then we return to Mumbai to fly out.
If all goes according to plan, we should have no difficulties - but a lot can happen when I'm around!
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