Got to leave Patna for the first time yesterday. On official business, of course. Drove down to Muzaffarpur, the largest city in Northern Bihar with around 350,000 people. (Also famous for its litchis. Unfortunately they are out of season.) We left Patna, crossing one of the longest river bridges in the world- the Mahatma Gandhi Setu- over 5.5KM long. Unfortunately, the bridge is always under repair- and is the only road link to Northern Bihar.

Crossing the mighty Ganga was a great sight- the river is enormous- but there are a lot of silt deposits that make it possible for fishermen to get out and wade mid river.

Was out in the "field" today. That's what it's called when you step out of the office to work. I like that. Field work. Although I stepped into another office once in the "field", so I guess I went back to office work in the "field". Anyway, Patliputra colony is around 700 houses, and the contract for it stipulates that the company will only pick up door-to-door waste- domestic kitchen waste at that.

All is well hither. Made friends with one of my neighbors, cooked some rice and potatoes, and wonder how I can kill time. Never have I ever wanted to come to work as much as over the past 2 days when I had absolutely nothing to do. Couldn't even find a decent book shop to go get something to read from. Will have internet at home soon.

Public transport is something that Patna needs to work on urgently. You can't even get an