An apology

Hmmm...considering I want to be a writer I feel I'm being most ill-disciplined about this blog.
This has been brought to my attention by 2 sources in the last couple of days.
The first, my mum asked why I hadn't written a blog on the Taj Mahal?
The second, my first reading of a blog of a fellow traveller we met in Udaipur. Drew's blog (much more successfully than mine) is a daily and detailed journal of his adventures.
But I conceed defeat. A couple of blogs a week is enough for me (I'm busy don't you know/asleep very early), I hope it's enough for you reader?
So why didn't the Taj make the cut? Well, perhaps because it was so exquisitely beautiful that you must go yourself. I could never do justice to the moment it seems to grow in front of you, gleaming white, perfectly balanced, stunningly romantic.
The other reason I never wrote about it is that apart from its own glorious self, it brought the same themes I've covered before: constant requests for photos of us with a multitude of families and tour groups. As if we were an attraction worthy of competing against the Taj (Ha)!
So that is your only glimpse into our stay in Agra. So what else did I miss?
A Goan Christmas: lobster dinner, Midnight's Children on the beach, swimming in the Arabian sea. Seems a trifle smug doesn't it?
Camel safari or horse riding: yes fun to go on but I would be afraid to bore you with descriptions of rolling hill or desert sunsets. I'll simply tell you I'm having a wonderful time.
I don't want to tell you the minutae of my day to day life. Look at my pictures (well..Kirsty's pictures. Much better photographer) and you'll see it all.
In the meantime, please excuse my lack of discipline and shortage of posts. With only two weeks left in India I'd better get my eyes in focus and pen in hand for the last chances I'll get to share a little piece of this lovely, sometimes broken, but always epic country with you.

Bollywood

I write this blog from a Goan beach. I will not, however be writing about this glorious place just yet. The only things worth mentioning are the golden sand, the colourful parachutes drifting over a blue sea and my straw hat which is possibly the best thing I've ever bought.
Boring, no? And might I add...haha!
No, I will not write about a place I was looking forward to going to, but about a place I was not: Mumbai.
It surprised us both how much we liked it. We were only there for a day and a half but we met some very kind people there: a couple of sea captains who we drank coffee with as they explained what to see in the city, and gave us a lift in swanky white car to the cinema; the boy who showed us the gateway to india; the Philosopher who imparted so many words of wisdom I forget them all. My favourite was the 2 things everyone gets free in this life: the air we breathe and a trip around the sun. We all know I'm a sucker for a free holiday...and it turns out my life is one long travel!
But anyway, the thing I want to talk about is the cinema. Of course! Mumbai is the capital of Bollywood so obviously our first Bollywood experience had to be there.
So we saw Dabangg 2 and understood no words but got the general gist of the story. You should definitely see it. Very funny...not least the inexplicable breaking into song and dance. It was like one of those old Busby Berkley films, you know, but with slow-mo fight scenes featuring bare-chested men that drew the whoops and whistles of the whole audience.
And the uncontrollable laughter of us.
But you can't deny it, they really know how to enjoy a movie here. I'm not entirely convinced all the characters were relevant though. One dance scene featured a never before or after shown woman as the main singer/dancer. I think they only brought her out because she was pretty (her appearance immediately drew more shouts of appreciation).
Which brings me onto another point that I liked about Bollywood. A hundred women dancing around in croptops and not a six-pack in sight. Basically a much more realist ideal body than we have in Hollywood, no?
Kirsty and I voiced our approval for a full day before planning our Goan beach yoga and sit up fitness regime.
What? We're dancers...it's ingrained!