India

India, what can I say, a place of extremes. There are many extremely rich people and even more extremely poor people. I landed in Mumbai and immediately had some bad experiences with people working in taxis, hotels etc. Nothing important, just little things that annoy. So lesson one, most people that work with tourists are likely to be trying to rip you off in some way or another. Some monument designed by the British and no doubt built by Indians

Check out the beach in Mumbai, fancy a swim? don't think so. I'm amazed they don't pay some homeless people to keep the place clean. Labor costs absolutely nothing in India

Hello sailors! Men hold hands in India. My theory is that it is because contact with women is pretty limited...until you're married

I'm a little ashamed by this, when I got to a hostel (the dirtiest I have stayed in on my whole trip) some guy handed me a phone with a woman asking if I wanted to be an extra in a bollywood movie. So I went. I earned 500 rupees though. I think it's cool to have westerners in the movies. It was actually a music video for a movie called Blue. There were some famous actors there but I woudn't know who they were even if it were a hollywood movie. There were actually quite a few foreigners that were extras for a living... Not a career choice I would take

If you copy this into your browser you can watch the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1yKSfknJEc I couldn't see myself

The Taj Mahal is big

And impressive

And costs 70 times more to visit if you aren't Indian

This attitude in India that as you are from the west means you can afford to spend more on everything is quite annoying. The fact that most museums and tourist attractions have two tear pricing really encourages everyone to treat tourists this way. Many Indians ask how much I earn, how many rupees to the pound and assume I am a millionaire or something. Trying to explain tax and the difference in costs doesn't seem to work

I felt bad paying this guy about 50p to cycle me to Agra fort. It was a really hot day. He had his revenge though as took me to some crap shop where he earns comission for taking tourists

Khajuraho, the most annoying place I've been. They have some nice temples that are famous as there are some explicit scenes on them. The town around the temples is full of con artists. I literally couldn't leave my hotel unless I wanted to hear sob stories from kids who can speak 4-5 different languages about how they can't afford school fees

Varanasi is a religious city on the banks of the Ganges river. This is a cow outside my hotel, they are everywhere and you can't eat them. What a tease, someone should have told me about the holy cow before I left for India

Beer is also a rarity in India, I think I've drunk 5 bottles of beer since arriving mid September which is impressive for when travelling

The river is where they burn Hindu bodies and is where many Hindus travel to for dying. Like Hastings in England but different

Delhi... is a dirty place although maybe this photo doesn't portray that (also quite a few con artists there). It is basically a giant building site due to the commonwealth games they are holding next year. They need a bit of good luck to finish the place before it starts. The guys below wanted a photo. I think the one on the left left a red sock in his white wash

Aaah, the mountains! Manali is nice, Himilayan mountains, trees, rivers and less stress. I stayed here a few days

This weed grows everywhere in Manali, some travellers come here especially for it. I prefer a cup of tea

Tough decision... to carry on into the mountains even though the season is turning to winter and the roads are bad. Well, I chose to keep on heading north. The journey to Ladakh is famous for the scenery

A place called Keylong

Leh in Ladakh is like another country, greater Buddhist presence and more relaxed than other parts of India

Buddhist Monastary in Tikse

Sweet girl in Lamayaru

Dangerous road to Kashmir

I wasn't sure whether going to Kashmir was a good idea as they have problems there. I spoke to a few locals and from what I understand, they do not consider themselves Indians and want to become a country of their own. There are thousands of Indian soldiers with machine guns everywhere due to these problems. Some guys actually suggested that India were behaving in the same way England did with India in the past. I didn't feel welcome in Kashmir anyway so left. The trip from Srinagar to Jammu was not so good. Our driver was so dangerous, the other traveller on the minibus and I refused to get back in the bus unless someone else drove. The bus below was not the one I was taking but just an example of how rubbish the drive was. All buses on this route were covered in vomit from the bumpy ride. Not sure If you can see the vomit well in the picture

Amritsar, the golden temple, an important place for Sikhs. I was uninspired by the temple. Outside the temple, I was caught off guard by a Indian/Canadian Sikh guy who propositioned me. His parents had sent him here to learn more of his culture. Not sure he was spending his time wisely. All a bit odd but I got free lunch out of it

Common rude questions I get in India:

How much money do you earn?

How many girlfriends do you have/women have you slept with? The common assumption seems to be Western women are easy but no good for a wife

Funny questions I have had:

Do you have elephants in England?

All the houses in England have air conditioning?!