India bombards your senses. Some say it is like being assaulted by a beautiful woman! There is definately nothing quite like it.

From the dry arid landscape awaiting monsoon, to the vibrant and elegantly dressed women in the sari's, to the spice that greets you on every corner, to the toilet that is every street; India's constant horn blowing millions make their presence felt.

Apart from the wildlife and the exquisite palaces the highlight for me was the people. While they drive you steadily crazy with their constant requests of 'Where you from?'; 'You see my shop?' and 'You give me 10 Rupees miss?!; they have a quiet determination and whole heartedness that, if you allow yourself to stop and enjoy, will bring a smile to the face of the most hardened traveller.

Here are just some of the people we met along the way.

It's just not cricket

I was thinking that India would be a good place to be during the Cricket World Cup. And then they unexpectedly got themselves knocked out in the first round and so it proved to be a very bad place to be, 1 billion mourners and all that. And then, it turned out to be a very good place to be after all because, not unexpectedly, England got themselves knocked out! And so, we mourned together.

I reckon I might be able to get a game at the next world cup and so I am preparing for it. It will be held here on the sub-continent and so I have been busily getting myself accustomed to the pitches and some unusual variables that I reckon are unique to India. For instance, where else in the world would your game be abandoned beacuse of a camel sitting on the wicket? And in full, magnificent, view of the Taj Mahal?

Compared to Varanassi, this was but a minor shower. Here, on the banks of the Ganges I have played two games late in the afternoon. The first I had to abort taking a quick single due to an onrushing large, Brahman cow that wasn't too keen to give way and which sent me periliouly close to the water's edge. During the second match, I went to take a catch only to be pecked at by a gaggle of geese, enraged at my having distubeed their sleep and then later, a goat headbutted my leg when fleeing from two foaming dogs.

Only in India.

Indiaaaaarrggghhhh!!!!

A "love/hate relationship" is a phrase I reckon we've all uttered once or twice but never, in our experience, has it more appropriate than for India. It would be very hard not to love the Taj Mahal, watching an Asiatic lion on a kill and coming very close to a beautiful Bengal tiger.

There are many other delights such as the palaces of Rajasthan and the occasional culinary delight. BUT, nowhere else that we have been to has been such a challenge. Our patience levels have become thinner than tracing paper! Sometimes, unfairly, it seems as though 1 billion people are conspiring together to part us from our cash. And this puts into the shade mere trivialities such as trains running 4 hours late; coping with 100 degree hot buses, with the promised air-con just that, a non-existent con! Still, neither of us has been sick in our 3 weeks here and that must be some kind of record!

Big Cat Safaris!

Greetings all. We've been inIndia for two weeks now, although at times it feels like much longer. Times such as spending 15 hours on a bus in 100 degree heat, 8 hours on a train with 9 million others and sitting in restaurants ordering with care usually reserved for dismantling a nuclear weapon for fear of sabotaging our intestines.

However, there have been some wonderful highlights, as good as anyting we have yet done.

Our first safari was in Gujurat, 9 hours north of Mumbai. The Asiatic lion was once spread across Asia. It is the lion of the Bible and the one the Christians were fed to. Now, it remains in just one park in Western India, at the Gir Forest. We got really close to this female.








She was busy feasting on a spotted deer kill and, amazingly, we were allowed out of the jeep to take a closer look. One snarl from her and we instantly knew our limits! However, curiousity got the better of this cat and she came towards us for a closer look, walking past our jeep no more than 5 metres away before settling down under the shade of a tree to relax.








Next up was Ranthambhore, a tiger reserve I had visited 6 years ago and where I was lucky to see many tigers. None quite as close as this stunning female. I don't think either of us have ever seen a more beautiful animal.








As with the lioness, she crossed the path in front of our jeep and gave us extraordinarily close views. Only 4 years old she is still growing, but already she is massive. The park is also home to much other wildlife including leopards, sloth bears, crocodiles, sambar & spotted deer, mongoose and over 300 birds. We took 4 safaris but were only lucky enough to see a tiger on one occasion.