Milton or Dante.

I've taken a small apartment in the pink house behind the temple. Clean, comfortable, and cheap. It comes with two gas rings, and a wet room, anti-mosquito mesh at the windows, a small verandah, and an infestation of ants. So in the scheme of things, quite luxurious. Two or three minutes through the palm trees to the beach. I have paid a month's rent up front.

I rationalise my guilt/stupidity:
Traveling is harder work than I ever imagined, and I need a break.
I'm about half way through, so it's time.
I need to hole up somewhere for Christmas.
I want to get shot of the asthma.

But however charming Patnem is visually, l'enfer c'est les autres...
And there is no shortage of autres.

So I think it'll be an interesting month... If Varanasi and Kolkata scrubbed off a few layers, Patnem will challenge sanity...