Indian food is addictive. To start with it's like 'curry for breakfast,lunch and dinner' - hmmmm.... But Indian food isn't really about just eating for the need of it. It's an experience of taste bud adventure pretty much every meal. In fact the whole Indian experience is a bit like a macrocosm of the eating experience.

I am in the Gujarat capital Amdavad spending a few days relaxing here before continuing on towards Mumbai. It's a nice city to spend some time. I've been using couchsurfing here and my hosts have made the experience.

I've visited a friend at the architectural university wandered about the lovely campus, attended some his lecture, saw an exhibition of Krishna paintings.

Amdavad is a cool place. Its got areas of new development lines of global brand shops and such but it manages to maintain personality and a nice atmosphere. I went to the old city today which was rammed with the sunday market. Crazy, people everywhere in the street, a bit smelly and polluted, people interested in my bike. Lots of stalls selling sarees, clothes, coconuts, tat, belts, watches etc.  The market under the bridge is rammed. People walking into me and staring at me.   But I feel happy and people are friendly. Its a little confusing why I attract so much attention.

I can't write a long blog post now. I haven't had time to sit and write on the net. India has been great. A real jewel of a country. It's got bags of everything- personality, culture,architecture, contradictions and hypocrisy, poverty and wealth. I'm having fun here. It's also frustrating and confusing at times. The cultural difference is more stark. Dealing with attracting so much attention is a challenge. I'm starting to face it more calmly.  It's an exercise in tolerance. People are always friendly and generally just interested in me. The disk brakes attract a lot of attention on the bike.

Anyway must go now. My plans are unclear at the moment. Money constrictions will play their part in my decisions as will my relationship with my girlfriend. Things will become clear as I go along.

I have noticed quite clearly that since I entered Pakistan and India the significant drop in air quality in general.

In Pakistan if I blew my nose I would get similar coloured nasal mucus to if I had spent a day in Central London.

India and the Golden Temple...

I'm in India. I feel tired to be honest. It's a good job I have the opportunity to rest for a few days. I rewind my memory, jolting to yesterday, riding to the Pakistan-India border, getting caught up with a load of super-rich Dutch classic car enthusiasts, sitting having a beer, contorting to film the border ceremony around hoards of people.

Hindi is buzzing around the humid atmosphere of the internet cafe.

The way to Lahere

I'm in Lahore after gradually making my way up here from Quetta.

The mountains down from Quetta to Sibi were beautiful but in Sibi I ran into my police escort. They proceeded to ruin the process for the next few days. This meant that I couldn't do what I wanted, I had to stay in cockroach infested cheap hotels, I wasn't allowed to stay with locals or follow the usual routine of camping.