Ken showered in cold water and went for breakfast. Heather did her exercises and showered in hot water. Today the air was thick, but it seemed to be mostly fog and not just pollution like we'd seen two weeks before.
 
Took subway to the big Swaminarayan Akshardham temple complex, which can best be described as a cross between an ancient Hindu temple and a theme park. 

On the way there we had some trouble with the subway. The car was completely full and we were trying to squeeze on when the doors closed with Ken inside and Heather outside. Ken grabbed the door before it shut completely and it opened again. Then some other passengers grabbed Heather and pulled her in.

The temple was built relatively recently in 2005 by a sect of Hinduism called Swaminarayan Hinduism. At the centre is a very large Hindu temple that was built using all the same techniques used in much older temples (ie. it's in a similar style and is all carved from stone with no steel or concrete used). But the surrounding complex is much more modern.
 
The first thing you notice is the giant parking lot. Past that is a set of gates designed to manage a very large number of visitors. We had to check our bags, phones and cameras as none of that is allowed inside the complex. Then we went through a security screening and pat-down.

Inside, we bought tickets for the three exhibition halls. The first is called the hall of values and features a series of dioramas that describe the life of the sect's founder. These dioramas use animatronic figures that act out various scenes from his life. The second hall had a 40 minute Imax movie that covered the same material. And the third was an indoor boat ride a-la disney's Small World ride that takes you through their version of the history of India.

The complex also features a statue garden, a lotus garden, and dancing-waters style fountain and a large food court. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to bring our cameras in, so we don't have pictures of any of it, except from the outside.
 

After that, we took the metro to the Bahai Lotus Temple, which was not nearly as entertaining. The building is interesting, and there were a lot of people coming to see it, but there wasn't much to see inside (no animatronics, no Imax, no underground river ride). The good news is that we were allowed to bring our cameras into the complex (though not inside the temple) so at least we have a few pictures. When we tried to walk around the building to get pictures of it with the sun setting on it we got yelled at by the security guards. We could only walk on one sidewalk in and one out. So, all the pictures have the sun behind the building.
   
 
Getting back to our hotel on the metro turned out to be an even greater challenge than the first trip. By this time it was rush-hour and the trains were very full. We managed to get on the train from the lotus temple, but then that train stopped and we needed to get off and wait for the next one. When it came, it was so full that only a few of the people waiting could squeeze on and we had to give up. 

When the next train came, we made sure we were right in front of the doors, and despite the fact that there was no space on the train we were carried inside by the force of the people behind us pushing. The train was so packed that we could not move our arms. Ken had one hand at his side and one hand over his head, so at least he could grab the handle and hang on. Heather had both hands pinned at her sides and couldn't hold on to anything. Fortunately, the train was so tightly packed that she couldn't have fallen down if she wanted to. 

When we finally made it to our metro station, we decided to walk to the beer store near the hotel. From the beer store we took a shortcut back to the hotel that we'd used before during the day, but now it was dark which made it more difficult to navigate.  It starts as a narrow walk-way along the edge of an open sewer, and gets worse from there. Next is a walled area where stinking garbage is piled 6 feet deep. At the foot of the garbage pile is an area where lots of people choose to go to the bathroom. Several were doing so as we passed. Then the alley turns into a long pile of mud where an extension to the sewer is being dug by hand. There was a slippery foot path along the edge of the dirt pile, but it was full of people coming towards us. The people going in our direction had to scramble up the mud and walk along the ridge. After that came the fish market, with stinky fish bits scattered on the ground. And right after that is our hotel, which doesn't look so bad by comparison.

Ordered room service again to go with the beer. We both ate (and drank?) too much this time though and felt ill afterward.
.