Delhi - one week in...

Hello there,

Well I've been on my travels for seven days now and I'm pleased to say I've not been shot, stabbed, mugged or bum-raped yet - so far so good.

I've spent a whole week in Delhi and it is an incredible place. I've never seen somewhere so chaotic and noisy and so utterly congested with people, cars and animals. Cows roam the streets, while pedestrians run the gauntlet of rickshaws and a million-and-one buses packed to the rafters with people.

Believe what you read - the city is over-run with dust and pollution, and everywhere you look it is crowded to an insane degree. But it is a very beautiful place at the same time, and often I find myself just standing and staring in awe at everything around me.

Soon I'll try to post some pictures (this computer has no visible USB orifice for me to insert my camera, so no pics today I'm afraid) - and to tell the full story of what I've been getting up to! So far I haven't had a moment to spare.

To quickly sum up my week, after I arrived I spent three days in a hotel (reasonably clean but a bit of a rip-off) and visited the Taj Mahal (amazing). Now I'm working for two weeks on an international volunteer project teaching street children, with some people from Holland, America, Korea and India.

The kids are lovable little scamps and I've been playing guitar for them. They loved Catherine Wheel! We've helped them to write the alphabet and taught them to brush their teeth. Also we've been teaching them some simple children's songs in English. It's going well, and we've been seeing plenty of the sights Delhi has to offer too (such as the Red Fort and Connaught Place).

This weekend my group and I are visiting Dharamsala in northern India, home of the Dalai Lama, and the exiled Tibetan government!

The weather is nice - sunshine and warm temperatures (mid-20s) nearly every day, but the city is constantly blanketed in smog and mist. The nights are quite cold, though nothing like the British winter. I'm having fun but I miss home, and it's crazy to think I won't see any of my friends or family for another 11 months or so. But I've been having great fun so far.

I hope everyone in the UK is well and good - until next week, auf wiedersehn!