third day on the road - used squat toilet for first time

woke up several times throughout the night.  our hotel room was pretty seedy.  there
were spiders and lizards and i'm not sure what kind of bugs that bit me.  it smelled
like shit, and the power went off after we went to bed so that meant no fan and no
AC and it became like an oven.  i ended up drinking not bottled water for the second
time now... we'll see what happens.  we left early that morning to head to
Gorakhapur, about 200km to the south. 

we filled up our 20L jerry can with petrol, something very reassuring to have along
with us.  petrol here runs about 50 rupees a liter, which is a little more than a
dollar.

luckily today we hit a national highway which means a few massive potholes aside, a
much smoother ride.  unfortunately something we ate in nepal, probably the buffalo,
disagreed with sonny's stomach and he's been in pain all day.  he's got something
i'm calling shivas revenge.  hopefully the rest of the trip will go smoother.

we all have been getting bug bites, rashes, and random cuts on our bodies.  the
biggest danger is dehyrdation though.  we have some electrolyte tablets and have
drank more bottled water than you can imagine.  its like a rave everyday up in here.
very intense.  everytime we strike out for a new city its like a battle against the
sun.

we got a good hotel for the night, with a pool, bar and AC. 

we headed east about 50km to Krishnagar, the death place of buddha and a holy
pilgrimage site for buddhists.  we looked at the various temples and found the site
where buddha was cremated.  the atmosphere there was very serene and i could stongly
feel the spirituality. we said some prayers at the feet of some statues of lord
buddha, gave offerings, and requested guidance on our individual paths toward
enlightenment. 

randomly today a man with large stick started screaming at us and swinging it at our
auto.  he then ran behind us yelling and then through it at us.  we drove off
quickly... it feels like we're making get-aways left and right.

the road side villages we're passing are starting to blur together.  some are wood
huts with the thatched roofs and people leading carts drawn by cattle, others are
more slum like with concrete and corregated metal houses.  there are an unbelievable
amount of people here.  i'm starting to understand what a country of 1 billion looks
like.  the living conditions were beggining to get to me.  some things we've seen
are just plain depressing.  it is also humbling at the same time.  i hope after this
trip i will never complain about any misfortunes in my life, because really, i
lucked out big time.

its the small scenes of people going about their day as we pass that are very
meaningful for me.  simple things like a guy washing his yak in a lake are just
incredible.  the scenery is amazing, the animals varied (seen some awesome, cute
monkeys and baby goats), and the people are genuinely confused, surprised, and
really happy to see a freak like me driving a pimped out tuk-tuk as fast as possible
on these horrible roads really really far away from home.  this is a great
experience.

something not unfortunate but not great is the boombox we brought from home doesnt
worked.  we burned about 100 mp3 CDs with around 500 albums on them for the drive
and no way to listen to them.  now i'm just giving out CDs when i meet someone
around my age that likes western music.  there was this nepalese hip hop fan that i
gave some of my favorites to, hopefully he's enjoying them about now.

much love to you all

allen