Man! What a few days i have had!

We got to Delhi and spent two day holed up in a shit-hole hotel that was not completely built with no booze cigarettes or drugs but more importantly no recordings to do and then today we got to the airport at 8 am for a 12:30pm flight to Kathmandu and it was delayed.

We spent about 8 hours at the airport and then finally boarded and taxied in the plain for 1.5 hours. Then the flight was cancelled and we got put back into que a of jets docking back to the arrivals section!

We then had to go back through customs (luckily i had a multiple entry visa for India) and then got shufffled around for an hour or two waiting for a bus to some unknown destination.

The 5 star Ramada in Delhi is very nice! all expenses paid (via airline) and 24hour room service and some really interesting, angry, happy and druggy people to mingle with.

Hopefully i will make it back to Nepal by the 23rd so i can make my return to Sydney! Delhi has a way of making you hate it because it is so hard to get anywhere let alone actually leave.

They call it fog but it is definitely SMOG! Dirty dirty dirty! (and i smoke allot of cigarets)

Cant wait to be home.

Sorry about not uploading pics to the blog, simply have not had time,.... no, have not had access to time. It is independent and meaningless in India. you will all eventually see some pics in the future. But then again if i'm here then there is no sense of future, just moment by moment. I will try to never complain about a ten minute late train again.

Not sure if i wrote about the 7 hours at Chennai train station, that was life changing!

Blake.

About the pics

The pictures i have posted below were at one point all in order or sequence and my blog has re-arranged them. So they are a not chronological.
One is of me paragliding and one is of the guitar i bought, it's called a Mohan Vina. It is a slide guitar that has resonating strings like a sitar, very cool.

Others are from some of the performances we recorded in the Chittwan National Park region. This is where we got charged by a massive male rhino (the one with the huge horn). That was exhilarating as i ran for my life and then found my self stranded in the jungle hoping there were no other rhino's about or possible hungry Leopards.

Others are from the trek and some of my accommodation in the villages. Like walking through the clouds at 2500m and spotting eagles (which is not hard they are every where and massive)

I am in Chennai right now and will be or one more night before another 30 hour train ride up to Agra.

I was extremely sic on the last train ride (43hours from Varranasi to Chennai) chronic diarrhea and vomiting! It was not nice having silly Indians starring at me for that whole period and being awaken each hour by some one trying to sell me crap. Was an experience to be had but will never do it again.

Any how i am having fun in this city and am well and fit again.
Blake.

Pics update....talk later

Varanasi

I am in Varanassi and just had some eggs on toast.

We arrived last night at about 10pm and got some nice rooms with hot water!

Spent new years eve in a border town in Nepal and had fun with some dodgy fireworks. Woke up at 4am and crossed the border o get on a bus for 6 hours and then a really cool boat ride down the Ganges for another 6 hours or so. Basically slept a lot and recharged my batteries.

I cant resize any photos at the moment and will try to do that later today.

We are in Varanasi for two more nights and will then get onto our 30 hour train ride to Madras.

Also when in the Chitwan national park we were making some recordings of these local musicians and a rhino appeared and slowly wandered closer (they have bad eye sight and this one was apparently deaf) so we kept going. Just as we finished a recording the rhino noticed us and decided to charge! Fuck man that was scary!....

Anyhow, we had fun and no one got hurt.

Will post photos when i can and happy new years to you all.

Blake

(sorry for the spelling, couldn't be bothered)