We'll I didn't expect Chennai to be that great, it is afterall simply a working class Indian city with little to attract the tourist, but honestly it was a complete an utter cesspit. It was filthy and smelly and incredibly chaotic. I have never wanted to leave somewhere so much in my entire life. Thankfully we were only there for one night and that's enough said about the place.

The next day we caught the train to Kolkata (Calcutta) and shared our train cabin with an old guy who spent the entire journey bossing his meak wife around and a middle aged guy who constantly burped and belched, to such an extent that it soon became socially acceptable for everyone around us to do the same. Now I know I'm not the most tolerant of people but add this to a 9 hour delay making our train journey 35 hours in total and as you can imagine by now I'm not in the best of moods. Rich managed however to escape and enjoyed the sunshine on the train platform where he met a 10 year old Bengali boy who spoke excellent english and was keen to understand about the countries we had visited on our journey. In return he gave Rich lots of tips about what to do in the city (including an excellent ice cream parlour recommendation). Needless to say by the end of the journey they were the best of friends.

We arrived in Kolkata at around 10pm and caught an Ambassador taxi (bit like an old Rolls Royce) to the tourist/cheap hotel district of Sudder St. Thankfully we had just enough time to find somewhere to stay and grab some food before everything shut up at 11pm. Kolkata is much better than Chennai, and probably best described as a bit poorer/dirtier Mumbai in my opinion. We were there for 4 days in total, highlights included enjoying a traditional pot of tea in the grounds of Fairlawn hotel - a hotel owned by a British couple which has not changed since the days of the British Raj. Drinking cocktails in perhaps the coolest bar we've ever been too in a five star hotel along the trendy Park Street (exception maybe the Fashion Bar in Romania). Watching crowds queue to get into McDonalds with the same fever as shoppers hitting the January sales (OK not quite a highlight but fascinating all the same - it was the first one to open in the state and was only 2 days old). On the downside there was the naked beggar who just wandered the streets scavaging for food from bins and a market which whilst looking a bit like covent garden was so awful that we both wanted to leave the moment we'd walked in.

Nevertheless we decided to take the Sleeper train to Darjeeling having previously travelled 2AC and 3AC. The fare was a third of the price - what had we let ourselves in for!!!. Actually it was fine the beds were a bit thinner and there were no pillows or sheets but that was about it. We shared the 'foreigner cabin' with 3 spannish girls and had a policeman complete with guns sitting in the carriage next door! - so as the Indian guys wandered by to stare at us Western women showing flesh (ie ankles and shoulders) they were promptly moved on, as were the transvestites that came to say hello - but hey no belching!!!.

We decided against travelling the Darjeeling Toy train (9 hours) and got a jeep instead (3 hours). Darjeeling is about 2100 metres above sea level and should provide amazing views of the Himalayas but sadly its been too foggy. Its a built up city on a steep hill with lots of steps - but this is OK as its our first taste of exercise before Nepal. Accomodation here is cheap so we've upgraded to a nicer hotel room complete with duvets - the weather here is much the same as back home a mere 13 degrees during the day. On our second day here we went to visit the zoo and Himalayan mountain institute, a few hours later it started to rain, so we sought shelter, but it continued to rain and got heavier and heavier, then came the thunder and lightning and hale. About an hour later we've accepted our fate and know that we'll have to walk the 2.5km back to our hotel and get drenched. Which we did - soaked to the core we were (our shoes are still damp) and whats more the roads were completely flooded with sewage as well as rain water!. We dried off but a power cut mean't no hot water for the rest of the day. The rain didn't stop until well into the evening and so we spent the day cocooned in our hotel room.

Yesterday we went for a joyride on the steam train which was fun, we also learned that if you stand too close you'll get covered in coal and steam - as Rich is demonstrating. We also enjoyed

a very British afternoon tea (complete with cakes), visited a tea plantation and learnt all about the different qualities of tea. Naturally we have bought some for our tea loving families to enjoy when we get back home. Our favourite was the complimentary cup of white tea we were given - it was really nice so we thought we'd get some, the price though was about seven pounds for 50g.

Today we joined the Tea Planters club and are honary members for the day (once the preserve only of aristocrats) and here's a picture of Rich enjoying a cup of Darjeeling. Tomorrow we will head off to Nepal.