Day 34 - Bleurgh. Lurgy. All change...

09:00
I sleep pretty fitfully, waking up coughing on a few occasions, struggling to breathe through my nose on others. My throat is pretty sore now, an my glands are swelling. Fucksticks.

I wake for the last time around 06:00, and quickly make the decision to extend my stay in Aurangabad by a day, and find another means of getting down to Mumbai tomorrow. I’m beginning to feel pretty sub-standard, and I don’t feel like a day of marching around the city, followed by a night on a sleeper train.

I check with my hotel, and they’re fine with it. Satisfied, I head back to bed for some more sleeps.

15:00
A change is afoot.

I wake up at 12:00, and head downstairs to grab some food. Nothing fancy - just a mild Palak Paneer and some rice. It’s a bit of an effort though. I’m sitting outside at the roof bar, and the heat of the day (it’s not THAT warm, but…) is making me feel a little feverish. More fucksticks.

Back at my room, I decide to look into moving my flight up a couple of days, and heading back tomorrow instead of Thursday. The last thing I wanna do is get down to Mumbai tomorrow, then spend 3 days in a hotel room feeling like shit. There are economy seats with BA for a little under £300, and I can get cab to Mumbai Airport for around £40. I check with Virgin, and they’re happy to move my Premium seat to tomorrow’s 10:30 flight for a little less, so I bite their hand off. I book myself a cab to pick me up at 01:30, which’ll get me to Mumbai Airport around 07:00 for check-in. I’m way underspent on my budget for this trip, so I don’t feel too bad about the extra expense.

I’m disappointed to skip Mumbai, and even moreso to miss hanging out with Manas and Preeti. I’m conscious though that after 47 years on this blue marble, I might finally be learning to listen to my body. Having made a decision, I immediately feel happier. Tomorrow evening, I should be safely at home with my baby boys. I’ll miss Vicki, as she’s heading over to her company’s office in Newbury for a couple of days, but she’ll be back Wednesday. Until then, I’m heartened by the idea of being able to spend time in my own bed when I need to, and lazing on my own sofa the rest of the time.

Satisfied with my afternoon’s work, I get my head down for more sleeps. I’ll try and sleep in the car to Mumbai, but there’s no guarantee - and it’s a day flight into London, so again no certainty there either. I reckon this'll properly mess with my body-clock for a few days, but I've (still) nothing to be up for in the mornings, so I'll get by...

01:30
And so, it begins. I’m in the back of a moderately comfy cab for the next 5-6 hours. 24 hours from now, I should be getting home. I’ve got the A/C in the cab cranked up, as I’m feeling pretty warm. Here’s hoping that’s the worst of my troubles…

No photos today. Apologies.Les mer