Saturday, Dec. 11th 2004, 3:33pm

I'm writing to you from Bodhi Gaya... I arrived last night, having taken a train from Nagpur @ 9am Dec 9th, arriving in Patna at about 11am the next day. It was a 2nd sleeper trip, and was one of the most enjoyable train rides, well I guess I'd say *the* most enjoyable train ride, that I've ever taken. Having almost arrived at the Patna station for almost an hour, the train starting and stopping, getting closer and closer, a young Indian fellow I'd been getting on with suggested that we hop off and simply catch a bicycle rickshaw to the station. He was a native of Patna, so I took off with him. He dropped me at the station.

Having already sussed out my next train possibilities from Gaya to Delhi, and written up a couple of reservation tickets for successive days & different trains, in case the waiting list was major, I walked in. I spotted a tourism info booth, and was happy to receive some really useful information from the old man who bellowed at me, and to whom I bellowed in return. (He was hard of hearing.) He directed me next door to the booking office, and to the first floor, told me how much the fare from the train station to the bus station should be, how much the bus to Gaya should be, and how much the fare from Gaya to Bodhi Gaya should be! I went into the booking office, found the "Authorized agents & foreigners" line, which after just a couple minutes of my waiting stood aside and allowed me to the front, and in short order was handed my confirmed ticket back to Delhi on the 18th.

On my way out of the station a young (~25 - 35 year old) India fellow struck up a typical 'where are you from and where are you going' conversation, and then he and his friend took it upon themselves to accompany me to the bus "station", get me a 55 Rs ticket to Bodhi Gaya, and even show me which seat I'd been assigned. See, he felt that Patna was a place that someone like me might get ripped off in, and he didn't want that to happen. From Patna I took a crazy 3 hour bus ride, hauling ass across the land, through towns, villages, screaming horn all the way to warn all those ahead of the speeding bullet headed their way, in case they might like to save their own lives and get out of the way. It was like a freight train on wheels. As we went, people would climb onto and off of the roof, often celebrating when they managed to get off uninjured. One fellow tried to climb the side, right by my window, but hit a bicycle rickshaw as the bus accelerated, swung around, and let go. It finally passed through Gaya, which looked like a bit of a hell-hole, if I may be so bold, and dropped myself and a few other passengers at an intersection leading to Bodhi Gaya.

A couple of times I thought of Nona, my grandmother, who'd been on a bus cruising through India sometime back... in the late 60's or early 70's. Her bus had hit a young child, and she, much to the protest of the present Indians, insisted that they must stop and help. Apparently the Indians had felt that they might very well end up dead, and from what I remember, they just barely escaped that fate. I was surprised that my bus didn't kill anyone, but I guess the 4 - 10 second long horn blasts helped. There were a few close calls tho.

From the Bodhi Gaya intersection we grabbed a horse drawn carriage, which dropped me off at the Burmese Vihara - which was full. I then checked out three neighboring guest houses, settling on Deep Guest House @ 107 Rs per night. It was about 7pm when I dropped my bags, and I immediately headed out to wander around. I wound up at the Mahabodhi temple, where the buddha was when he attained enlightenment, which was indeed very beautiful at night. I made my way around and down... visited the rose garden... and explored most of the rest of the site. There were monks & nuns, 'westerners' of various nationalities, Indians, etc, all doing their things. At about 9pm they started to close things down so I headed out, grabbed a couple samosas, and wandered back to the hotel where I enjoyed a much needed hot shower and sleep.

One thing that hit me as I came into Bodhi Gaya was the other foreigners! It was a bit of a shock, and I didn't feel much like being around them. I guess I'd gotten used to Nagpur where I seemed to be one of the only foreigners in the whole city.

This morning I went for a walk, looking for Mohammad's restaurant, and found it very near by. I met Prem, who remembered my dad (and his tall friend) fondly, and recounted to me my dad's like for coffee, honey & banana pancakes, garlic fry, and cheese & spinach pakoras. I wound up having a rather large breakfast of those pakoras, the garlic fry, and three ultra-fresh chapatis - it was a rather large & *very* delicious breakfast. :) I think tomorrow I'll try the pancakes. Oh, and for the first time since I hit India, I got a full, large glass of chai! I've always been served these small portions despite my efforts to get something larger. Mid-way through breakfast some fellows, meditation teachers from England as it turned out, sat down nearby and soon we were having a conversation. They mentioned that they were staying at Mohammad's guesthouse, and near the end of breakfast Mohammad showed up. He also remembered my dad (and his tall friend) fondly, and at my interest showed me over to his guesthouse, which is quite nice, and so I've taken up residence there @ 130 Rs per night. I've gone for a good wander around town today, and dropped in at the government museum. And, having wandered around a bit more and gotten tired, I've come back toward the Mahabodhi temple, and have sat down here to do some email and so-forth.

Yeah, I feel myself changing here... my approach to situations, and comfort level within this all too foreign land. And I *have* met many Indians who have turned out to be genuinely helpful. I feel sort of wrong saying that, but my first impression was pretty harsh, and it's taking a while for me to adjust and learn to distinguish, or lacking that ability, to make sure I guard myself against possibilities.

Ok, well I've pretty well talked myself out here, and my fingers are feeling about as tired now as my legs were earlier. I'm gonna go relax around...

ps. For those of you still in suspense, I did get on the scooter, and it worked out very nicely with a cup of chai at the end. :)

pps. I realized later that it was spinach & cheese momos, not pakoras, that my dad had been so fond of, and so I had a plate of those - even better!