This morning, after having a chat and openingly discussing how the trip was going, we decided to put the retreat on hold. The idea of facing into a 10 day, 10 hrs a day, retreat doesn't really feel appealing at the mo. With the monsoon rains drenching the village and turning the streets into rivers we've developed a pretty severe case of cabin fever. We've tried going out for a bite to eat and even catching a flick in the tiny video halls(50c per screening!) but have got soaked everytime. Both of us felt the urge to move on last weekend but didn't admit to ourselves or each other. I think we were too focused on staying for the retreat and thus a little blinded to the our growing restlessness.

So, we'll bid farewll to the friends that we've made here and take the nigh train to Agra and then onto Varanassi. After spending so much of the first 3 weeks holed up in hotel rooms,it will feel great to just be on the move. We'll probably move pretty quickly through a number of different cities on our way to Kathmandu and onto Lhasa. We've a package to deliver for a friend to his mum, whom he hasn't seen since he left there in 1991.