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.
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!
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.
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