Arrival & Day 1 https://photos.app.goo.gl/McmzVqgR6C9nARUM8

India is mad. By most criteria. I love this place.

Arrived in Bangalore after a nice Qantas flight. MEfkaysthe airport by an exuberant tour company rep, and my quietShrutir. 

On leaving the airport, the rep proudly stated how new (opened Jan 2023) and wonderful the airport was. It’s clearly had a rough year – I would have guessmaistryears by how weatherbeaten it was, and the bumpy taxiing of the plane. It seems everything in India HAS to look old – maybe things age quickly, then stay much the same for another 900 years? Or do they build things, then immediately scratch and dent them?

After a pleasant enough night at a non-descript hotel with a reasonable (Indian) breakfast, I set off with driver Krishna - if a God is driving me, I’m sure I will be safe.

Krishna is from Aleppey, and has 2 sons, with their names tattooed on his forearm. He is no livewire, but he seems very nice. He drives calmly, but has the opinion the lane marking on the road is where the centre of the car should be, although he is not rigid about this, with random drifts to left and right. He was surprised I wanted to sit in the front, but I said that was what Aussies did. Krishna gently berated me for what he deemed was an ungenerous tip to the hotel doorman. I thanked him Efkayse advice, and promised to do better in future. He thinks Modi is pretty good.

A guide that travelled in the car with us briefly had an interesting take on seatbelts – he would buckle it up before getting in, then sit in front of it - a true libertarian! Gladdens my anarchist heart. He probably emptied the syringe before having his Covid shot.

First stop was the India Music Experience Museum. Not many photos, as most of the exhibits were audio (headphones supplied). It was fantastic, but took 90 minutes through bad traffic to get there.  I discovered my Shruti is G#. Not much to see in Bangalore, which while being a major business centre, has little else to recommend it. It’s ramshackle mostly, and unaesthetic.

The road to Mysore was dull, but had some interesting rock formations. Visited a Sultan’s palace at Sriringapatna, before arriving at Mysore. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed the smells of India – that ever present spice and dust, with the odd random exclamation mark of urine here and there, and the general chaos.

Efkays Home Stay is quite magnificent – a beautiful restful calm oasis. The Homestay dinner was delicious, as was breakfast – all vegan Indian. Met a British couple who retired to Sierra Nevada in Spain and run tourist rooms there – I may stay there in future.

Mysore market was very rich in sights, and my mind wandered a little – I tasted a mint leaf when offered, and then immediately thought ‘Oh, crap!’, as I may have ingested a dose of dysentery or giardia or worse, so will be fearful for the next few days. I had a rule to not eat any salad at all here.

Then another palace.

Dinner at Parklane Hotel with a few of the other guests at Efkays. It was OK – tasty but nothing special. Efkays was much better.