Early morning departure to catch the 7:00 train back north to Bharatpur. Same drill: red-shirted porters take charge of our bags. Walking through the train station, every wall is covered with tiger paintings. People sleep on the floor under heavy blankets. Once on the platform, far fewer passengers await the train, but here it will stop three minutes so we have to be ready to board and find our seats while the porters pile our luggage into the doorway. Success again, we are all on and no bags left on the quay.

The trip to Bharatpur is only 2.5 hours. It's cool and misty. Again we quickly pile out of the train at our stop, board a large bus and head to our hotel. We're staying just a mile from the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, now known as Keoladeo Ghana National Park. We head there after lunch in spite of the threat of further rain.

Our mode of transportation in the park is on bicycle rickshaw, a quiet non-invasive way to view wildlife. Most of the area is marshland, teeming with waterfowl, kingfishers, cattle munching on lotus plants. Most of the time it's overcast, though rain comes and goes and by the end of 3.5 hours, the chill has set in in spite of rain gear. However a shy Black Bittern is a great find along with three Dusky Eagle-Owls, a Spotted Owlet with chick on a nest, and several Eagles: Imperial, Greater Spotted, and Crested Serpent. On our way out a large Indian Hare and Common Jackal scooted through the brush.

The portable space heater in our room is wonderful, but the bathroom's vent to the outside makes an evening shower less inviting.