Black Hole/ On the trail of Lord Buddha

Um. I can't decide whether to write about Buddha or Calcutta. I suppose that I should say something about Calcutta first. It's huge. Until Friday, London was the busiest city that I have ever visited (narrowly beating Lagos, Nigeria). But Calcutta trumps both. I've never seen so many people in all my life. It's crazy. It's like every minute of every day is the Strand at lunchtime. But instead of suits rushing to and from Pret a Manger, it's rickshaws being pulled on foot, hustlers, beggars, shoeshines, hawkers, barbers...

I'd not really thought much of going to Calcutta. I'd even forgotten the "of Calcutta" bit of Mother Teresa. To be honest it was just the cheapest way to get from Bangkok to India. A few people had told me that it'd be depressing, or intimidating, or scary, or heart-rending. The worst introduction to India. But apart from a few scrapes (like wandering into a slum and then being followed by a few hoodlums - I was saved by a chap called Mohammad Akhbar, who kindly offered to walked me to his mosque) I found it ok. I guess that the Strand and Nigeria stood me in good stead. As did Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Nicaragua...

So from Calcutta I started my hunt for Lord Buddha. It hadn't crossed my mind to go hunting for a 2,600 year old deity until a chance encounter at the national museum in Singapore. There a special exhibition told me all about Nalanda, a sixth-century Buddhist university (at one time the biggest in the world) in northern India. That led me on to Bodhgaya, the place where Buddha became Buddha, attaining enlightenment under a nearby Bodhi tree, and a convenient six hours by train from Calcutta. Which is where I find myself today.

Things have changed a lot since Buddha's time. This is now the poorest state in India - all dust roads and beggars and (again) huge families - and not really the place for a Buddhist family holiday. But nonetheless, the international Buddhist community has done their very best to make you feel at home. The city is full of national temples - from Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Tibet, Bhutan. Mostly Tibetan though, as Bodhgaya doubles up as the winter (November to March) retreat for sun-seeking Tibetans. Not so many are around this month unfortunately - with temperatures nudging 40 I can't blame them.

Sadly my hunt for Buddha ends here. I had planned to visit Nalanda itself, but (as I'm finding) as with all travel in India it's not straightforward. So tomorrow I move on, with a train at stupid o'clock to a place called Varanasi. Apparently it's that town where they cremate people next to the Ganges then go for a swim. Apparently here the Ganges is technically septic, too (it has no dissolved oxygen and therefore virtually no life). Best stay out of the water.

Anyway India is proving good fun. It's a land of cricket, curry and tea so I feel almost at home. Apart from the incredible heat, obviously. And the dust, and the millions of people, and the squat toilets and cold showers. So not much like home at all then...