Day 31: Homeward Bound & End of Blog

The Gateway of India

The overnight stay at Hotel Accord in Mumbai was good. Saturday morning we rose at 5am and made our way by taxi through the much quieter streets of the vast, over-crowded megatropolis that is Mumbai. One of the world's largest cities at at nearly 21 million people.

We three friends parted at the airport: Adityabodhi back to Pune and Sanghanath and I back to the UK. 

Sanghanath and I are back in Cambridge now. We reached Heathrow at 2pm today and Vimalanath was thankfully there to pick us up at Heathrow. SADHU!

It is always a long flight back and I had a chance to reflect on what an excellent month this has been.

A month of good work, wonderful friendship, some fascinating tourism, pilgrimage, being the recipients of great hospitality and generosity, cultural diversity and an awful lot of travel. Within India itself, we travelled over 4000 miles.

I feel very grateful to be sat here in Cambridge now - having had such an experience.

Day 30: Flight to Mumbai

We are leaving for the airport at 09.30am this morning by taxi. Our mid-day flight takes us to Delhi, where we wait for a while and then on to Mumbai, where we have our last hotel stay. Then Sanghanath and I must rise at 5am to get checked in at Mumbai International airport for the 08.55 flight to Heathrow. All being well, we get picked up by Vimalanath's taxi service at 14.30 BST at Heathrow, and then back to Cambridge.

I think returning to Britain will be a cultural and meteorological shock.

Start of the concert last night

The concert last night was sublime. Really wonderful traditional Indian music and we were transported. 

I particularly appreciated the tabla. Such amazing rhythms and sounds.

The night streets of Bodhgaya

4.30pm at Delhi airport: We are now on the plane for Mumbai - sitting waiting for takeoff.

This morning, we got to Gaya airport and so many of our friends were there - waiting for flights around India or flights back to the UK. Our short flight to Delhi went well and now it's another flight to Mumbai where our last hotel awaits us.

Tomorrow morning we board a British Airways flight to Heathrow at 08.55. Given the change in time zones, we should be back in Cambridge for tea time - all being well. 

What a month it has been! I have seen things and been places I could not have imagined - in the last month. I feel privileged. Privileged, especially by the wonderful hospitality of Indian people. 

For three of my four weeks, I did not see a single other Western white person. But then, I'm used to this. This is my twelfth trip to India. My close friends here forget that I'm British, because I'm just me, and their friend. However, riding through remote villages, I get lots of stares - not at all unfriendly. Sometimes, I'm the first Westerner they've ever seen.

Remote village in Rajasthan

10.15pm: Here we three friends are in the Hotel Accord once again. I am back in the same room I was in on my very first night in India a month ago! Sanghanath, Adityabodhi and I have just had our 'last supper' together. Tomorrow morning we will have a parting of ways at Mumbai airport: Sanghanath and myself back to the UK, and AB will head back home to Pune. This month is a big month for him and his family. His son Vishal has a kidney transplant this month - with his mother being the donor.

I have been helping AB raise the £8500 to pay for it.

Vishal and family

Day 30: Flight to Mumbai

Day 29: Last full day of this trip

Yesterday, I visited the Archeological Museum here at Bodhgaya. It was good to see the ancient artifacts and to read about the fascinating 2000 year history of the site. 

We were so lucky that the British restored the site in 1870 onwards. It was a ruin for hundreds of years before that.

We have the Viceroy of the time - Lord Mayo to thank for that, as he initiated the Survey of India, which led to the restoration of India's thousands of ruined religious sites. This was good news for Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Jains. Unfortunately, he was assassinated while inspecting the Andaman Islands, which shocked and outraged Queen Victoria.  

Lord Mayo

Archeological Museum at Bodhgaya

Last night I did not go to the temple for puja. I was still recovering from the dehydration and also the temple was stuffed with many thousands of Tibetan monks, nuns and laypeople. There would not be much room on this occasion, even though the temple and its surroundings has the capacity of somewhere like an English Premiership Rugby Union stadium like Gloucester.

Kingsholm Stadium - the home of Gloucester Rugby Union Football Club

Though the nights are staying cool, the weather is getting hotter. The BBC weather app says 27C but it feels hotter than that. It will be a shock to get back to the UK in winter.

Tonight, we have a cultural programme to go to: a concert by two Indian national treasures: a tabla player and flute player. I think I will really enjoy this.

Before the concert, AB and I watched the sun setting. Our month is almost over.

Day 28: Stretching myself

AB and I have spent around 25 days doing morning yoga sessions online with a very popular Indian teacher called Saurabh Bothra. These sessions start around 06.30. Though I have Rheaumatoid Arthritis (RA) and yoga is not my preferred and most useful form of exercise (that's cycling and gym sessions), it makes sense in India.

It's hot here most of the time. Gyms are not flexible enough for me to be a member for a short time. You wouldn't want to swim in an Indian swimming pool and cycling on Indian roads would be a quick route to the grave. Walking and yoga are do-able, so while I'm here, that's what I can do to keep in reasonable shape.

India is both a very beautiful and fascinating country. It is also a very dirty one. Hygiene standards are much lower, and that requires scrupulous health practices for us Westerners, or we get very Ill, very quickly. 

In the 22 years I've been coming here, I've noticed the rising tide of plastic waste strewn overwhere. There is no effective recycling. It really shows. You can be travelling through a beautiful countryside scene, and the ground will be littered to a huge degree. Because places like the Taj Mahal are so important for tourism, there is a small army of litter pickers - keeping it prestine. Otherwise it would be covered in plastic. Anything less than the Taj Mahal or a Government bhavan (official building) will be be strewn: railway stations, high streets, public parks are all strewn with plastic waste, particularly. Every river everywhere is filthy and polluted. It's a sad indightment of what happens if you don't manage things properly.

India is drowning in a sea of plastic waste

Last night's puja at the Mahabodhi Temple was dominated by Tibetan monks - lots of them. They were setting up for a special day today, and there wasn't really room for hundreds of us. Somehow we co-existed for the evening.

Apparantly there will be 15000 (yes fifteen thousand) Tibetans at the temple today, so I don't know what we'll do tonight!

What 15 thousand Tibetans looks like

This afternoon, I fell foul of the dreaded dehydration again. It is so easy in the dry heat to not drink enough. I should know better after 22 years. I've dosed myself and can feel my body coming back on line now.

I am going to give the temple a miss tonight.

Day 27: A few things on my plate

Bihari breakfast

As we are in the poorest state in India - Bihar, I have been surprised how good the local food is. There is a lot of choice. The equivalent of £2.50 will bring you a feast.

During our 3 week tour, we were being fed three times a day by local people who were often very poor but would have been offended if we had eaten at a dhabba. Hospitality is in the Indian DNA. There was no choice of food for me, I had to eat what was served. It was always vegetarian, of course, but my goodness, it was always hot (spicey).

I am enjoying my chats with other Buddhists, Western and Asian men and women. I've met many who do charity work here. 

Yesterday, I was involved in a small accident in the street. A Tibetan boy-monk came zooming out of a monastery gate on a bicycle into the busy street as I was walking by. He hit my right calf with his front wheel and fell off his bike. I was bruised but not much. He hit his head and bashed his elbow, unfortunately. First Aid training kicked in and I checked he wasn't concussed. Luckily I had antiseptic wipes and plasters and managed to fix him up amidst his tears. He winced when I applied the antiseptic to his small wounds. He kept saying "Ghong Dhag" (sorry) and "Thug je che" (thank you). I looked up these words later on Google translate. 

I didn't have the Tibetan words for "Be more careful, kid" so said nothing and smiled at him. He eventually smiled back and got back on his bike. It could have been a lot worse. Lots of folk around stopped and watched but no-one else offered to help. Perhaps they thought the situation was in hand.

This is India.

The boy monk looked rather like this

I wonder what will happen next on this trip? There's a few days to go yet.

Day 26: Into the Home Strait

Nepalese temple

In 5 days, I will be packing my bag to prepare for the flight home to the UK.

It's going well here, and I am appreciating sharing a decent hotel room with AB, and having a regular routine after 3 weeks on planes, trains and automobiles. 

AB is a 69 year old yoga teacher (amongst other things) and is able to do yoga poses I can only get half-way towards. 

So we do an hour's yoga each morning. Gyms are not really an option in India (they exist but have rediculously rigid membership rules), so I need to do something to keep fit whilst here. We are also walking everywhere instead of taking rickshaws. 

It will be interesting to see how much weight I've actually lost since being here.

Can't wait to get back to the YMCA gym in Cambridge and a decent 25 mile bike ride!

The bike on which I cycled from Lands End to John O'Groats

This morning, AB & I had a late breakfast in the hotel and did some touring around temples. We mainly spent time in a beautiful Nepalese temple dedicated to the deity Vajrasatva. It was an exquisite place and full of atmosphere. We also spent time at the Chinese temple, which houses three huge Amitabha Buddha figures, which are 200 years old and came over the sea in a boat.

Chinese temple

I am able to be active mornings and evenings here in India now. The afternoons are too hot and I rest in the hotel or do administrative work around our project.

There is much, wealth, splendour and tourist income here at Bodhgaya. The scores of magnificent temples and monastic buildings draw huge crowds. But poverty is also all around. There are substantial slums that are just behind the main streets. This is where the shop workers and street vendors live.

At the very top of our hotel is an area where guests can dry laundry. There is a metal and brick hut on the roof in which many of the hotel staff live.

This is India.

Typical slum housing

I enjoyed the puja at the Mahabodhi Temple again tonight. There must have been a rhousane people there from many countries. It is a special place in the evenings in particular.