Is that blood on the wall?

It's happened. It was bound to happen at some point. I looked for all the signs each time I checked out a room. Apparently if there are little speckles of blood on the wall near the bed you should not take the room. It means one thing only: bed bugs. Well, despite checking for the obvious signs it seems that I have managed to somehow end up in a place with bed bugs. My body is itchy and red. Not all of my body, just my ankles, tummy, lower back and arms. I took some anti-histamines for the itchiness but it will take a few days for the bites to heal. Of course now I can't distinguish between the bed bug bites and the mosquito bites.... Arghhhh. Anyone out there have any advice on this? Should I be throwing away my clothes and bedsheet or will washing it help? I have washed most of the stuff in my backpack. From what I understand bed bugs live in the furniture and don't actually travel with you in clothing.... Please tell me I'm right.



Have arrived in Mamallapuram just north of Pondicherry. This place is supposed to be a great mix of beach and caves. Well, caves it has and a beach as well but man, it's dirty on the beach and the ruins have a simple sort of charm to them. The sound of chisels fill the air as you walk through the streets. The town is famous for its sculptures. It should also be famous for its mosquitos. The Ramakrishna hotel gave me a mosquito coil when I checked in. I didn't realize it then but apparently there is a huge tank of water just a few streets down. A hot bed of mosquito action. Great. Just what I needed. Tonight I share a room with a girl I met getting off the bus outside of town.

I'm leaving tomorrow for Chennai (formerly Madras) to catch a train all the way up north to Satna. Apparently there is an 80 people waitinglist for the train out tomorrow night. I might have a better chance making a reservation from Chennai rather than Mamallapuram because they deal with tourist quotas. Otherwise the next train out with available seats is March 25. Won't wait that long. I have places to go and things to see before I head back to Delhi for my sister's birthday.