hello everyone. sorry for the delayed blog, but the quality of internet speed along with theregular powercuts whenever we have just finished an entry has made it hard. i think the last entry left us in iran. that was a beautiful country, full of excitement as we had constant armed guards and always told that we were in danger! this wasnt really the case, and people were over paranoid, which meant that we struggled to interact with the locals. but anyhow, the bazaars, very nice hotels and numerous beautiful mosques was quite a spectacle, and at this stage we didn't see many things rivaling iran. we still had the journey through the blekistan region however, which was about 20 hours long and some found it very hard. we have managed to get used to the long journeys though, and the bus has facilities to watch VHS which helps. We had jeeps infront and behind us most of the way armed with machine guns and AK47's, which was pretty intense.

The journey was fine and we entered into Pakistan. Quetta, Multan, Sukkur and Lahore were the main stops along the way. As soon as we entered the country we saw another huge leap of change. the first stop was a piss break, where we came out to find a snake charmer. the streets are full of colour, as every vehicle is taken pride of because of tradition, so even the tractors and coal trucks are streaming with colour and lights and exentric horns! beautiful country again though, and the food became more indian, which started to hit the stomachs of many on the bus, both ways, alec feeling the effects of it hard.

Lahore is right on the border of Pakistan and India, and i was able to watch the changing of the guards which was an amazing experience, unexplainable though. We then travelled across the border which was a pretty big ordeal, taking forever with confusion and bag checks etc etc. but we eventually got into india and found our hotel to be very close to the exquisite golden temple which we looked around on our own. free food and accomodation is offered so we will probably stay there tonight.

tomorrow we have a long drive to delhi, where i will stay for a few days while some, including alec to see the tiger reserve. we will update you again soon. biya