Putting foot into Rajasthan

Driving in India is like playing a game of chicken - gas - check. Horn - check. Side mirror tucked in to avoid rear view - check. Drive. Truck, car, camel, dog, elephant, cow in full frontal view - drive. At the very last second, sharp left to avoid oncoming object. I don't like playing chicken - nor do I like driving in India. This being the best and most practical way to get around, I really had no choice other than to hold tight and prey that we get to our next destination - so far, so good.

Alcohol not being readily available and expensive, Karen and I decided to book an aryuvedic massage to assist with unwinding from the above mentioned stress. Instructed to strip (onderbroek included - yikes!), we then had hot oil drizzled on our svelte (let's just pretend here) bodies, which was then rubbed in - head to toe (as in ALL over). Getting back on the road suddenly had its appeal.

Highlights to date:

Visiting the Taj Mahal at sunrise (sadly it was a gloomy day, but a spectacular sight nevertheless - sans sunshine).

Our hotel room in Udaipur - imagine panaramic views of this ancient city, lakes, palaces etc (not sure how we scored this one but do you see me complaining?) If you're into Bond, this is where Octopusssy was shot in the 80's - if you're not, hire the movie anyway to get a glimpse of our surrounds.

Camel trekking - we hooked this up in Pushka - a one horse hippy town that has banned all public displays of affection, alcohol, eggs and meat - if you want to smoke pot however, look no further. Pushka for me will always be remembered for its cows - one of which I got into an altercation with - it tackled me, I tackled it back. It won. Not exactly sure why we chose to go to Pushka - think it was for the yoga.

Our Indian cooking course in Udaipur definitely goes down as the best evening yet - we did this on Christmas eve and had the most fantastic feast - cannot wait to show off my new culinary skills at home. Talking about food - in general it's really good and if you avoid the tourist hot spots, you're likely to find it for a steal. The restaurants are generelly not the cleanest looking places and I have no idea as to what exactly goes on behind the closed doors of the kitchen but the food is great (even if I don't always know exactly what it is that I'm eating). The veg curry bomb in Jaipur and the masala dosa being firm favourites at the moment.

What's a trip to India without a bit of Bollywood? Going to the movies is really popular here - getting quite involved in a 3 hour flik, I found myself leering and jeering with the masses as the hero (THE Shah Kahn - think India's answer to Brad Pitt, George Clooney) finally found love - bearing in mind this was all in Hindi with no sub-titles - I'm gathering this is why we all stood up and clapped in the end....

Getting around in India, is not particularly easy - especially when you have a limitted amount of time, there are also a lot of unscrupolous "travel agents" waiting to pounce on unsuspecting tourists. Thanks to the good old trusted Lonely Planet, we knew this before hand and made sure our Mr Feroz wasn't going to pocket our cash minus a holiday. If you ever are planning a trip into this mammoth country, I would recommend him as your right hand man - Feroz Baktoo: indiantravelconsultant@yahoo.com, www.indiantravelconsultants.com.

If your trip has already been planned and you're looking for a driver to get you from A to Z - clean-cut Lalit is your man - a bit of a card, Lalit plays chicken really well - a neccessity when driving in India. He'll offer his services at a great rate - everything in India is negotiable! (Mobile: (0091) 098 6894 4503)

We're off to Bangalore in the South today - not too sure where we'll be going or how we'll be getting there but a trip up into the mountains, a river boat on the backwaters in Kerala and a bit of beach are on our agenda.