Tuesday 12th Jan

The chloroquine nightmares started. I woke up screaming for help after the most disturbing dream I've had since childhood.

I found a cyber cafe on the same street as the hotel. The computers were ancient, but the internet was surprisingly fast. However, no USB port so I couldn't upload this yet.

The taxi ride back to the airport was much nicer, for only 100 extra rupees. The driver took main roads and drove in a manner that could be described as casual, but not overly dangerous. He too had a blinging virgin mary on the dashboard, but it was much less sinister in the light of day. Met up with Alvin at the airport and took a rather expensive high comfort air conditioned taxi to the Dudhsagar Spa Resort on the edge of the Bhagwan Mahaveer National Park. The resort consists of a sprawling network of paths linking various rooms and "eco tents". Hardly anyone else is here, and the spa itself looks somewhat run down. There is a nice (although compact) swimming pool with some sun loungers, but it was quite cloudy by this time. Lots of little monkeys jump around in the trees. We had a few Kingfishers on the verandah to celebrate once we discovered the bottle opener mounted on the wall of the bathroom. Oddly, the phone is right next to the toilet.

After a few hours' siesta I woke up in darkness, with the cicadas making an outrageous racket. Alvin wouldn't wake up, although he talked in his sleep... something about teeth. He was finally awakened when I managed to bang my head really loudly on a shelf. We went for dinner, which was really good again. Tasty tasty mango icecream for dessert. We tried feni, the local cashew liquor, but it was rather too medicinal for my liking. Although it's not aniseedy at all, it comes close to ouzo on the ick factor. Alvin had his and mine. On the path back we saw a really furry caterpillar.