India's 58th birthday was yesterday

At the moment I am in the deserty area of India, in the North west, where the heat seems to have affected the speed of the internet connection. I struggled for 2.5 hours the other day to get some photos up for you, but crashes and slow download speeds left really wore me down and I a broken man. I'll try in Delhi.

It is very dry here, save for the pool of sweat that forms around you when you leave the hotel room, but also very pretty. I went on a camel safari for a few days. Camels and crocodiles were my favourite animals when I was little, and I still find them very exciting, but they are painful to ride (though I imagine crocodiles are worse). It didn't help that I got put on the mad camel that tried to throw me off several times before being taken away. In between the riding we spent a lot of time sleeping, watching dung beetles (amazing) and playing epic games of travel scrabble.

Dung Beetles remind me of something else I forgot to tell you earlier. After a week of temples of taj mahals when Jack and I returned to Delhi we were slightly sick of culture, too much can be dangerous. Looking for antidotes in the Lonely Planet I found out that quite near my uncles house was the 'International Museum of Toilets'. It actually took me an hour to get there but it was worth it (i have free toilet history CDs and books now). The staff were ridiculously enthusiastic about toilets, 'ask me any question about toilets, anything!' said my guide. Did you know that in Rome they used live baby ducks instead of toilet paper? Did you know there is a toilet that microwaves excreta into ash? But best of all, was their canteen, which they proudly explained was powered by human excreta biogas. I didn't eat there.

Anyway, back to deserts. After the camel safari I was concerned by the persistence of mosquito bites on my feet that perhaps weren't mosquito bites (they seem to come when I wear socks rather than leave them uncovered, and had been there on an off for 4 weeks...medic students, diagnoses welcomes). So I went to see the local skin specialist Doctor Bumb (the last b is silent). Michael: "thanks for prescription, but well, that fee is double what it says on the door' Doctor Bumb: "Michael, Michael, Michael. [he rubs his hands together] Do you know what corruption is?' Michael: 'yes...' Dr Bumb 'Now, do you know where India ranks in terms of corruption? No? Very high, perhaps one of the highest in the world. But don't worry, I won't charge you extra for this, this lesson is free.'

Less innocent, but with rapidly recovering feet (hooray) I caught night train to Jaisalmer. Sharing a compartment with someone who looked like the liver stealing man from the X-files, I did not sleep too great, kept checking my bag (and liver) was still there. But was woken up by views of sand dunes and a stream of beggars, the first did a sang and danced a lively jig played to a funky beat made by 2 wooden spoons. She got a rupee for putting me in a good mood. Drifting back to sleep, I was later woken up by metal-tracheotomy-man, leaning over me and hissing and dribbling in my face, who I gave a a rupee to out of sheer terror. The man with no legs, the man with a withered arms and the 2nd wooden spoon lady with baby did not get anything. Its realy sad, I know some of them earn a lot of money begging, but most of the time these people are very poor and there isn't state support or many charities like in England. But you can't give money to them all, and it tends to be a little random who I give them too, because its too draining if you think about it too much.

With only 7 days to go, am trying to decide whether to stay in desert or to run away to the hills to swim in holy rivers, any views?