Hiya,

I'm sat here about to write & have a massive headache as engulfed in too- sweet- a jostick blurgghhh! Anyway.... this place India is so hard to get my head around it's crazy!

The people are just so amazing and friendly so far, in every place we have visited but I still have not yet had a decent conversation without being hounded for something. I want to sit & chat with locals, have discussions about stuff, learn about their culture etc but it comes at a price. I am constantly in two minds, one minute I feel such heartache & sorrow for everyone & I have so much respect as I see how they look after each other & even the poorest of the poor appear happy... everybody no matter whether they live in a house, shack or gutter literally, gets up & has a wash, sweeps the dirt from their dwelling, has laundry hung out to dry & food of some description cooking away & a smile on their face, then off to work albeit in an office, street-sweeper or beggar!! Poverty really is it seems 'just a state of mind'.

The rich mix with the poor and the area's we walk around in general are all dilapidated in one way or another. The facia of a place doesn't seem to matter, electric wires may hang dangerously out the walls and the other end wired to a plug socket, back home we have been conditioned to expect to see everything looking pretty, neat & tidy, but here if it works that's good enough, if it breaks then find a peice of rope or a peg or stick whatever & fix it yourself. It is a surreal place, I'm sure alot of people would have a fit if they saw how dodgy some things are set up here but living amongst everyone else we see that this is everyday life, for one & all.

I feel momentarily scared when we first arrive in a new place & paranoid which is natural but there is no need, people really are nice, gentle and laid-back and I have not seen one act of violence what-so-ever!! Now the other side of the coin, I was very polite and nice to begin with but am now constantly sick and tired of being asked for money & stuff, I know it's a bad thing to say but you just get fed-up after the first four hours or so... someone is always trying to sell you something you don't want or asking for stuff & it wears you down, you start thinking get lost & it's not my fault your poor, I can't help you blah blah but then you catch yourself & think these people rely alot on tourists, it's not costing you anything really to buy this peice of crap that you really don't want but it's too much sometimes arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

My geography is terrible & my ability to work out where someone is from just from their accent is limited, but man some people here have had myself & Matt in stitches, so far we have been asked whether we are from: Sweden/Norway/Ireland/Australia/Spain whick is ok but OUR ALL TIME FAVOURITE - JAMAICA haha lol are you serious... we have British accents & bright white skin!! yes I have been meaning to work on my tan, however the South of India is boiling & I loved getting up to have a cold shower, now in the North, it is freezing, occasional hot water or a freezing shower followed by hot porridge is now the norm & even though sunny, no way am I taking off my jumper for very long - Brrrr!

Ohhh Mattie big head has just been left in charge of the Internet Cafe whilst the manager goes for a 'spiritual walk', around the Lake - ok Matt lap it up for now, just you wait until someone who speaks no English needs your help haha!!

We are stared at alot but not so much here in Pushkar, Pushkar is the equivalent I'd say of Camden in London, but the spiritual side of things & some of the buildings are beautiful & unlike anywhere else yet in India that we have visited. I'll leave Matt to tell you the funny experiences of Pushkar e.g disco temples lol!!

Everyone thinks that if you are from England you are mega loaded, we wish!!! Everyone thinks we have our own Companies or are Lawyers/Doctor's etc etc... & to begin with we tried to explain we are quite poor ourselves but hmmmm you can't really say that can you compared to the way some people here live so now we just go along with it. Matt is my secretary and at present I am a lawyer, and seeing how some people think we're from any country I am today an Australian Lawyer, it's a good game! It's easier to go along with someone's expectations of you because we are asked 'hello my friend, how are you, where are you from, what do you do'? I'd say a good couple of hundred times a day...

Anyway I'm waffling loads so all there is left to say for now & to sum up is that I'm having a wicked time, it really is an experience to be out here meeting an amazing race, though I joke & get annoyed on occasion it really, really is a great place & I can't wait to see Udaipur, next on our list & we leave on a midnight sleeper bus tonight.

I wish there was something that could be done for these people to make their lives easier, as I said poverty is a state of mind, however I am sure that in this day & age every human & animal should not have to suffer or starve!! I wish I could help more & I have shed tears many a time & felt guilt for the way I can live back in England!!

Tim, alot of animals here are shackled and very scrawny from lack of food & water - I suppose they are last in ranking order for food and many animals we've seen eat old newspaper & rubbish only!! - Except the monkeys I HATE MONKEYS they are all evil & people feed them thinking they're cute, then they jump down off buildings expecting food from you & give you a heart attack!!!

Love to you all & will write soon!!

Caroline xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx