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For some reason I thought New Delhi would be a small place with nice roads and it would be no trouble at all for me and Nat to find our way around. HOW WRONG WAS?!

We had both been up for well over 24 hours having not got much sleep on the plane thanks to two lanky blokes behind us and the inconsiderate woman in front who put her seat back on full tilt as soon as the seatbelt signs were off (it was made worse by the fact she was 5Ft nothing and had plenty of room without moving her seat!!). But we weren't going to let that piss us off. Especially as she had paid about £600 for her ticket and we got ours completely free!! (At this point I wish to thank my boss PM Ridings for the tickets). Apart from that our flight was great. We had our own TV screens and computer game thingy, the meals were nice and we had free drinks all the way.

We arrived in Delhi and as soon as we were through the arrivals gate we had 100 people asking us to use their taxi and hotels. Ahhhhh!! We got in a taxi and said where we wanted to go. The road in to Delhi was like a normal western road. But as we travelled in we began to see the reasons why India is a third world country – people living in tents on the side of the road, young kids in rags, etc, etc. It was a shock but just what we had expected. What we had NOT expected was the free for all when we got to the main bazaar (street). I had never seen so many people in all my life. Market stalls selling stuff, beggars, mutilated people and cars bumper to bumper – it was mayhem.

Then came the first trick from the taxi driver that we had seen in every guide book. He didn't know where our hostel was but knew somewhere cheaper we could stay. I told him no and showed him where we wanted to be dropped. Unfortunately where the hostel was he couldn't get his car so we had to walk. We knew it was on the right hand side as you walk down the main bazaar from New Delhi train station. But it was such a mess with so many signs we didn't know where the hell our hostel was. Lucky for us a hawker trying to show us other hotels brought us there. He was obviously expecting commission. Little did he know we had the place booked already!

We checked in and went to our room. Not bad we thought for £1.20 a night. It had a TV, shower and (of course) a bed. Ideal Natalie then looked at me and we both were thinking the same thing. What had we let ourselves in for? We were both shocked. And for one of the few times in my life I was scared, very scared.

We had a shower and a sleep. After waking up sometime in the evening refreshed, we decided to go for a walk. The streets of Delhi were crazy. We stayed out for about an hour before coming in. In that time we had seen an elephant, crazy traffic and people selling everything and smells that made us wretch severely. To make matters worse we also nearly got pick pocketed. When we got back to the hostel we both just thought ‘Phew’. We could see this would take a little getting used to, Delhi that is. We had high hopes for Goa and were not to be disappointed.

The next stage of our holiday involved catching the train to Goa. We caught an Auto Rickshaw. The guy kept asking us to go to his shop somewhere. Eventually we got to the station. It was a good laugh with the guy though. We had already bought our tickets and had our coach and berth numbers. All we had to find was the Platform. This was a mission in itself. First being told there was no room on the train and others bits of crap. In the end it was just a breakdown in languages. Never mind. On the platform we were hounded by guys trying to sell chains! Every minute it would be "Chain", "No thanks", "Chain", "No thanks". We bought one eventually.

The train was excellent. Despite what stories you here (I'm sure some have happened) we had no problems at all. We shared with an Italian man who had been going to India for 30 years. He also had false teeth and dribbled when he ate which was very funny indeed. Over the next 24 hours we managed to eat 6 meals, and good food at that. Our air conditioned carriage was very cool, the beds were comfy and all in all we had a great trip down.

Arriving in Goa, the first thing we noticed was how green and lush it was compared to Delhi. We got a rickshaw to the hotel, which was La Ben in Colva. We went straight to our rooms, had a shower and a hug. The place looked great and we hadn't even looked around. After a quick rest we headed to the beach.

On the way we passed many shops, all of which were extremely nice. We were also asked us loads of questions such as our name, where were we from and the like. Then came the big question – ‘Would you like to see my shop?’ ‘Eh, later maybe’, we replied. This lasted for about 4 shops and then we hit the beach. WOW! The main entrance to the beach was nothing special and there were lots of people and boats and dogs. We walked for a few hundred yards either side and it was amazing. The beach just seemed endless, and Colva Beach is not the best beach. There are others which are a lot better, so we were told.

We spent all of our days at a beach shack called the Sucorina. It was just a few hundred yards down the beach and has been there for 14 years, but surprisingly has never been mentioned in Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide. The place was excellent. It had great food, very friendly staff while there were a few Europeans there and there was a great atmosphere. They had music playing all day and into the evening whilst we watched the sunsets. I would highly recommend this place.

We had lots of Indians on the beach asking us for photos and autographs (hold on, we're not famous?!). It was quite amazing. The men would come by the bus load to stare at the western women.

We had an amazing time in Goa. 2 weeks was just not enough! We were so sad to be leaving. Colva as it was a right little village. It had everything you needed – ATM, bank and more. Everything to ensure you would have no trouble living there for a few months. We could even have had opened a restaurant for £2,000.!

Our train trip back was much the same. We played Camel Hunter on the way back. I won 31 camels to 30. Yesss!!

We stayed in a new hotel when we got back to Delhi – the Shelton Hotel in the main bazaar. We had a new air of confidence about us this time in Delhi. I guess we knew what to expect. This meant our last day in Delhi was great. We paid a rickshaw driver 500RP to drive us about for the day. We saw loads this time – the Red Fort, Temples, Raj Gardens (which were especially lovely) and India Gate area. This left us with a far better memory of Delhi than before.

We had a wicked trip and would love to go back and experience more of India for longer.