It's my last full day in India!

I awoke late and headed out to Sarnath by Uber. Uber is a lifesaver here in India! Cheaper than tuk-tuks, aircon and no hassle.

Sarnath is where Gautama Buddha taught his first Dharma. It is also the site of Buddha's Dhamacakkappavattana Sutta (say that three times fast) - his first teaching after enlightenment.

My Uber driver actually dropped me off outside 'the Thai temple'. Because the Sarnath is a very holy site of Buddhist pilgrimage, major Buddhist countries have out of religio-geopolitical PR needs built a series of impressive Buddha statues and temples around the archaeological site to show their reverance in a seemingly quite un-Buddhist style.

A little confused, as I was pretty sure Buddhism was not formed in 2011, I soon found out the Thai temple wasn't the actual Sarnath, and it was just down the road. It's basically a big dome surrounded in the remains of ancient city. I did get hassled by a few middle class Indians wanting selfies but other than that it was quite a peaceful and interesting place.

After a bizarre Tandoori Burger in a fancy air-conned cafe I took a tuk-tuk back to the hostel in which I now lay. So that's India!! I guess I'll have to brave the Varanasi chaos a couple more times but tomorrow will largely be a day of airports...

India is a country you love then you hate then you love again. Its damm trying that's for sure. But there are some seriously beautiful places here. It's a fascinating multilayered country. It's simultaneously at a bright part of its history (with it's booming economy) and a dark one (with the rise of ultra-nationalism bordering on fascism from an ever extreme Hindu right).

There is nothing more exhilarating than an Indian traffic jam, best enjoyed in a tuk-tuk. Walking is stressful as hell, and good luck if you have to cross a road. You just have to find a bunch of locals and hope and prey you don't get hit or run over.

It's a shame about the floods, and the heat has been oppressive! It's barely rained at all and weirdly that's something i've missed. Here's to India, crazy, dirty, confronting, hateful and loveable simultaneously.

Just had my last dinner in a rooftop restaurant called Bowl of Compassion. Founded by an ex street kid and used to support ex street kids it's a nice place to have my final meal - a chicken korma which is as far from ant chicken korma you'll find in the UK as possibly imaginable. And way better.

I'll miss the monkeys the chipmunks the cows the dogs. I won't miss the babas and the hassle but I guess India is one of those places that has that thing you can't quite put your finger on that makes all of the hassle worth it. Now only the small matter of making it back to my hostel!!

*It was actually very easy to get back to the hostel. Special mention to Yas, a street kid cum waitor who gave excellent service. Further, I am a very happy man as Charles Leclerc just to took his first ever grand prix one.

RIP Anthoine Hubert.

India, India India. As I was walking back to the hostel I came over all sad. This is the last night in India! I hate this place but for some reason I vow to return. I feel I'm not the first and certainly not the last to feel exactly this way. There's an infectious energy to ths place, a unique dynamism about. Maybe at a cooler time of year though... and more mountains less religious stuff.

Alavida!

Alavida!

T