Hello from Goa! We spent the last two nights in Pune, another large city not far from Mumbai. We got our first real taste of Indian poverty over there. One little girl begging for money, literally gripped my arm and would not let go and another little boy, no older than four ran beside us singing 'You are my sunshine', which is just plain cruel and designed to make you cry and give away all your worldly goods. Luckily Dean is more hard-faced and makes us walk awa...

We made it to Matheran. We took a train to Neral; convinced Dean to go 1st class - an extra pound for some sponge on your seat and a rickety old fan that probably used to work. Once in Neral we took a cab to Matheran. Cabs only go up to a certain point in Matheran as the area is protected, meaning we had to make the last 2 miles on foot. As we set off Dean became surrounded by local men offering to carry our bags. Nobody bothered to approach me - they wrongly ass...

Hi all, in Mumbai now

We finally made it... though Dean drank far too much on the plane and I think he thought he'd contracted some rare disease. He's fine. Mumbai is much like any other city really - pollution, traffic congecstion and lots and lots of people...oh, and some random cows and mangy dogs. We haven't met many Westerners yet but unlike in China, people seem unphased by our presence- although some young lads wanted to have their picture with me this morning, superstar that I...