Agra and Leh

I have made numerous promises to myself on this journey to wake up early and catch a sunrise, but as of yet I have failed to make any of them. Sunday was no exception. However, I spent a couple of hours in the daytime at the Taj Mahal; a striking building.

The rest of the day was spent strolling around Agra, while the following day I took a train back to Delhi and an early night in preparation for my early morning flight to Leh.

Despite waking up at three in the morning, I didn't feel too tired in the airport and on the incredible flight over the Himalayas. However, as the plane swooped down between the nearby mountains to land at Leh airport, it was a little nerve racking to say the least; the mountains to the right of the plane looked close enough to touch.

Leh is over 3500 metres high, and flying into a height of this magnitude means one thing; altitude sickness. As I settled into my guesthouse the headaches and nausea began to kick in, and I started to become glad that the small amount of sleep I had had the previous night would help me doze through the difficult first day in Leh. As it turned out, I've never slept so much in my life, but every time I woke up I was introduced to a thumping headache and horrible nausea. To make matters worse, I also seemed to have picked up a new bug in Delhi or Agra.

When I awoke on Wednesday the headache was much milder, but it wasn't until Friday that I felt fit enough to begin to explore outside my guesthouse. After a walk around the main town I ventured up the hilltop palace and yet further to a gompa. At such a high altitude, it's incredible how quickly a small hike gets you seriously out of breath.

That evening I met some fellow travellers in the guesthouse restaurant, and on Saturday I joined them in a visit to the large and complex monastery at Tikse. I also discovered that some of the group were planning a Jeep trip down to Manali on Tuesday, and as this was in my vague plan anyway, I climbed aboard. Sunday was therefore spent organising the trip and climbing up to another gompa, and tomorrow we leave.

The road to Manali is the second highest in the world, so hopefully the mountain bends don't terrify me and altitude sickness doesn't grab me for a second time!

Delhi and Arrival in Agra

On Sunday I went for a walk around New Delhi. This involved a tiring day in the heat to Connaught Place, Rajpath and The India Gate. In the evening I met Chris and Raj in a restaurant, and I decided to join them to a couple of sites in south Delhi the following day.

Firstly we visited the twelfth century ruins of Qutb Minar. They were quite interesting, but very surprisingly they were not the most extraordinary sight there. As we began to leave I suddenly noticed that there was a dog standing inside a hollowed out tree. It appeared to be gnawing at itself. As we stood about picturing the bizarre sight, things got stranger; it suddenly appeared to eat something large and black. Raj then clocked what was going on; the dog was giving birth in the tree, and had just eaten the placenta. As we carefully closed in we noticed that he was right, the dog was licking numerous tiny puppies. What I found even more bizarre though was that no-one else around us either noticed or seemed to care!

After our trip to Qutb Minar the three of us visited Humayun's Tomb before going for an evening meal. We chose to eat at Kake Da Hotel; apparently somewhat of a 'Delhi institution' according to my guidebook! The place looked extremely grubby, but almost all of India's restaurants do, and back in Burma I had eaten in similar establishments. Raj was flying the next day and decided to not risk the food (he already was feeling dodgy), but I chose a chicken curry and Chris, despite flying back to Poland the following day, also chose chicken. The curry was delicious; my first taste of India outside of my hotel tourist restaurant.

The following night I woke up in the early hours. I didn't feel good. All of Tuesday was spent in a semi delirious state within my hotel, and I remained close to my toilet all of Wednesday too. There is much to experience in India, and unfortunately Delhi Belly is one that few miss out on.

Despite not being completely better, I braved the great outdoors on Thursday and ventured into the hectic streets of Old Delhi. Firstly I took a ride to see The Red Fort, and I followed this by entering Jama Masjid - the largest mosque in India. The outside courtyard of the mosque was packed with brightly dressed people relaxing and chatting in the sun, and it looked particularly cheerful from the views at the top of the west tower. The views of Delhi from the tower were also impressive.

On Friday I began the difficult task of trying to work out where to go next. However, unlike in other countries, it was very hard booking a plane or train to somewhere with just one day's notice, especially with the weekend approaching. I therefore booked a flight to Leh for Tuesday with the intention of heading back towards Delhi overland (assuming the mountainous road from Leh to Manali did not close in the winter weather). As I waited for Tuesday to come, I decided to take the opportunity to travel to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.

I am now in Agra. Tomorrow I will attempt to wake up early and see one of the world's most famous buildings in the early hours.

Job-hunting in Sydney and Arrival in India

I arrived in Sydney on the Saturday and soon settled into Big Backpackers. The following number of days were strange. Finding a job was not an easy task, and the jobs available seemed far from ideal. From talking to others, many were commission based. It also became apparent that it would take a little while to start a job, by which time I would have wasted away a good proportion of time sitting idle in Sydney.

On Wednesday, however, things moved forward. I attended an interview for a job; albeit a job I knew almost nothing about. The interview went smoothly, and I was informed that training would start on Monday. However, I was still told little about the job, when it would start, or if I would be paid for the training period, and I had to ask questions to find out about the pay and the details of the commission side of things.

I spent the next couple of days wondering if it was all worth it, and finally, on Friday, I made up my mind; it wasn't. And so on Friday evening I made a phone call, and by Saturday afternoon I was in mid-air and heading north. At two in the morning local time I landed in Delhi, India, and the final section of my journey began.

Everything seemed to happen so quickly. In a flash I had replaced the Sydney Opera House for a dark, humid and daunting Delhi. I felt a little lost with no India guidebook, although I had done a small amount of research on the internet back in Sydney. Part of my research warned me about the problems of taxi driver scams for newcomers to Delhi, something I was particularly wary of in the early hours of the morning. As I expressed my desired destination to my taxi driver, I was over precautious. Taking on board every letter of my online advice, I stated firmly where I was going and even took down the number plate of the taxi. However, these overly precautionary measures only seemed to frustrate my taxi driver and his English speaking counterpart, but nevertheless I arrived at the backpacker location I desired with no problems. It was a dark and narrow alley with a few lights paving the way to the hotels.

Going to sleep that night seemed troublesome for some reason, despite it now being four in the morning. Maybe it was the heat and the jet-lag, or maybe just culture shock was hitting in. Naively I thought that culture-shock would be a thing of the past after nearly eight months on the road, but that night I felt unsure, and I wasn't even quite sure why.

In the morning, however, things changed. I walked out of my hotel at about midday to embrace what the dark empty narrow street would throw at me in daytime. What it threw I didn't expect; a bustling array of shops, vehicles, Indians and tourists rummaging through the streets. It's incredible what a difference eight hours and a bit of daylight can make. Although this was the moment where culture shock could have hit, I now felt much more comfortable. This is what I was travelling for; culture. While Australia and New Zealand had been fun, you can't beat the fascinating sights, sounds and smells that Asia brings around every corner. In Australia and New Zealand you have to spend lots of time and money transporting yourself to a place of interest. In Asia, all you need to do is open your eyes. India is certainly no exception. It feels good to be back travelling somewhere like this again - and if anything I think this is reflected in the increase of enthusiasm and passion in which I write this blog.

I haggled myself a copy of The Rough Guide To India (plus a copy of The Hobbit) yesterday, and now things are beginning to clear up. I think I shall spend today exploring the area known as New Delhi.

Denedin and Christchurch

My final few days in New Zealand have been spent in Dunedin and Christchurch, but unfortunately I have been suffering from a cold and have had a very low key week. Having said that, there was little to do other than walk around the towns anyway. I enjoyed watching the new Quentin Tarantino movie in Denedin though.

Tomorrow I fly back to Sydney where I will see if I can find a job for a few weeks. My time in New Zealand has been good; it's a great place to come for the scenery alone. Now though, I'm ready for a change.