travel in Bodhgaya in monsoon season (and travel in general in monsoon season)

Hello,
I'll be in India during the monsoon season and (amongst other places) wish to travel to Bodhgaya. I'll be in Bodhgaya in late August. Almost every website says to avoid this area during monsoon season- as it's, seemingly, very hard hit. I am determined to visit this area- so I have some practical transportation related questions...

Do the trains get affected by the monsoon rains? For example, if I was going to take a train from Varanasi to Bodhgaya (and if I actually wanted to stay in Bodhgaya for 3 days)- should I pad my time... maybe giving myself 5 days in Bodhgaya just in case there were a couple of days that the train wasn't running because of the weather?

And, in a more general way, in the monsoon affected areas, are train, bus and flight delays common? In terms of flights, I'm planing/considering on flying in/out of Delhi, Kathmandu, either Varanasi or Patna, and Cochin or Trivandrum, and later heading to the Norther Eastern States.

Thank you for any information that you're able to share about any part of this message.
Very appreciated,
Ali

I have not been at Bodhgaya in August (but several times in winter season), so can't tell about the specific problems you are going to meet from personal experience. But there are obvious aspects to consider. You would need an AC-room to be somewhat comfortable. That rules out a stay at a monastery (which otherwise I generally recommend here). A special thing you have to take care of is with walking on wet marble floors barefoot, which you have to do at the main places, like the Mahabodhi temple and other sites like around the huge Buddha statue. It is also problematic when approaching with plastic flip-flops.

Monsoon in India does not mean that it rains always for days on end. Often it is just heavy downpours for a few minutes, if it is much it lasts for an hour, sometimes light rain, sometimes none at all. Raining several days is also possible, but the exception. Monsoon is a very happy time in India in general. (Onset of monsoon seems to be delayed in Bihar this year, and previous years not enough rain-fall.)

When it says trains are disrupted it does not mean that they do not run at all, it just means they are delayed by a few hours. But at any rate it would be a good idea to plan in an extra day or two if you have tight schedules to meet, like an outbound plane to catch.

You could also consider taking a car from Varanasi to Bodhgaya, if trains are a problem (cost in the region of Rs 3500 for a basic car; calculated for the going and return-distance of 500 kms times 7 Rupees per km). By train it is only about a four hour ride from Varanasi to Gaya.

P.S. If you do not get sufficient answers to your train-disruption question here I'd recommend to look first in the trains section for similar questions, or then start a thread there, as the Bihar Forum is probably not widely read by the train experts, especially stevenber.

Thank You very, very much for your thoughtful response. Not only did you help me with the transportation question, but with lodging, too. It just seemed natural, in a place like Bodhgaya to stay in a monastery. Now,I know (having never been to India before, let alone India in the summer) that the rooms might be so unbearably hot- that it might just be prudent to go to a place with AC. Thanks again!