The end of the India trip

(this entry covers a few days. I met a girl from england out there, and diary writing took a bit of a back seat!!!)

Thurs 19-02-04
The train didn't make any time up overnight, and as a result, i missed my connection to Mysore, which meant that I had to stay in Bangalore for a couple of nights. I was in a quite nice hotel, so no worries. Did things like change money and get laundry done. Also got a malaria tablet stuck in my throat, which tasted as though I had been sucking on a rusty nail

Friday 20-02-04

Went for a walk down MG street, which hardly looks like it's in India at all. Lots of modern shops, and wait for it… proper roads!! I felt quite out of place. Went on a tour. First stop was the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological museum, which was a hands on place with displays from the dinosaurs to space exploration. We drove past several impressive looking government buildings, and then to Tipu Sultans Palace, which i have to say, was a bit of a waste of time. The Lalbagh Botanical gardens were pretty, and we had an hour or so there, so i found some shade and read my book After that, they took us to a handicraft emporium, which i wandered around briefly in disinterest. Then went to see a couple of temples, and caught a rickshaw back to the hotel.

Sat 21-02-04

Checked out of the room, and caught a rickshaw to the train station. Miraculously, the fare was the same price as the pre-paid rickshaw to the hotel, and the driver used the meter without being asked! The waits for the trains would have been unbearable without cigarettes, but hey kids, thats not an excuse to start smoking!! (2006- have been quit for over a year!!)
I worked out a rough plan for the following days, which went completely tits up.

After that, i became a bit rubbish at keeping my diary. Basically, quite a lot happened, but only I need to know about it, and not you!!!
Some additional highlights were… A rickshaw driver being so stoned he kept asking me to drive the rickshaw, random people trying to sell me fish, a dead body washed up on the shoreline, tonnes of albinos, transvestites and midgets. I ended up eventually in Chennai (madras). Sorry to miss out my final 10 days, but that stuff is personal to me and no one else!

Read more about my India train travel adventure

This is a directory to the blog posts in this series.

1. First day in India
2. Second day in Delhi
3. Sightseeing around Delhi
4. First Indian train journey
5. Calcutta
6. Sightseeing in Calcutta
7. Puri
8. Day trip to Konark
9. Bubenishwar
10. Calcutta again
11. Into Darjeeling
12. Darjeeling day 2
13. Darjeeling day 3
14. Train journey from Darjeeling to Varanassi
15. Boat ride on the Ganges
16. Another night on a train
17. Journey to Khajorho
18. Khajorho
19. Amritsar
20. Taj Mahal
21. Waiting at the station
22. Quiet day
23. Jodhpur
24. Jaisalmer
25. Camel Safari
26. Problem day
27. Jaisalmer Festival
28. To Ranthambore
29. Tigerless safari day 1
30. Tigerless safari day 2
31. Another day, another railway station
32. On to Mumbai
33. Mumbai
34. Aurangabad
35. Ajanta
36. Ellora Caves – Day 1
37. Ellora Caves – Day 2
38. Hyderabad
39. Chill out day
40. The end of the India trip