Poor, Polluted Ahmedabad

Cricket delivered us to the city reported by Rough Guide as ranked amongst the world's top 10 most polluted. Pakistan vs. India to be exact, in their first test since the bloody riots of 2002 staged in said city. After our disappointment at the rained off cricket in Australia is seemed rude not to see this legendary game whilst we were so close. So we arrived at 5am with the streets seemingly devoid of activity bar cows and stray dogs roaming. Nothing unusual as they dominate most Indian cities as do the mass of sleeping bodies, dirty and matted, clustered outside the train station - their refuge for the night. The only difference here was the quantity of each of the above. Similarly litter, whilst an unfortunate plague of Indian cities and a lack of education on the part of the government, was literally lining the streets forming small mountains of rubbish.

We headed to a recommended guesthouse despite the auto-rickshaw driver doing everything in his power to persuade us otherwise; it's closed sir, the police are always there sir, I know a better one sir. Correctly we concluded that the hotel would not pay commission to the drivers who delivered us to their doorstep. The hotel was absolutely appalling and wins the accolade of the worst place we have ever stayed in on our travels - against stiff competition too. Stained sheets, sagging bed on the point of collapse, damp and peeling walls, burnt carpet and broken toilet seats. The list could go on but it's too depressing. It was cheap and we were tired so after brushing an over-eager cockroach from the bed we gingerly slipped between our sleeping bag liners until giving up to sleep. The cold light of day did the room no favours which at best should be condemned and at worst, demolished.

Our appearance drew more attention than usual as Ahmedabad is off the normal tourist route and clearly they were not used to foreigners in their midst. We were cat-called, jeered and stared at with every step and at lunchtime we slid into a dining hall finding anonymity in the shell of a building. Nevertheless the food was good - not dumbed down for the palette of foreigners as often seemed to be the case in Rajasthan. Every mouthful was shared with an involuntary gulp of carbon monoxide omitted from the hundreds of auto-rickshaws congesting the roads and wafting kerosene fumes onto the masses.

We optimistically went hunting for cricket tickets only to find they had sold out. Half disappointed and half relieved that we could leave, we managed to change our ticket and left that evening heading for what we hoped would be the civilisation of Mumbai.