The story so far.

Too much to write and I'm forgetting stuff so just a quick travelogue to get me up to date, I will write more on some of these places later.

Bangalore - Our party - Me, Aisling, Ollie + Amelia, Cassie
Big, progressive, IT capital of India and our destination after Hampi. As it happened one of our party of 5 was based out of Bangalore, living in the penthouse apartment of a family friend. Cassie got us into the swankiest bar in the city, where a double vodka and red bull cost me the same as four nights in a hotel. We then went to a sexy party and rubbed shoulders with people with names like "Xavier". Me and Ollie (Man U fan) saw fit to sing Roy Keane songs apparently. I don't know the words so I probably was just chanting his name over and over and thinking it worked in the song. Wisely realising that integration would never work, Cassie's contact brought us back to her very own high-end health spa with a jacuzzi, steam room and booze, where we were mostly safe from any diplomatic catastrophes. Highlight for me was going around slapping my companions with my wet boxers. Keeping it real.

Mysore - Our party now - Me, Aisling, Ollie + Amelia, Cassie, Val, Hugh
Mysore was supposed to be quieter place with a nice atmosphere but we were pretty disappointed. It didn't help that a few of us were in various states of unwellness, I had a small bit of Delhi belly. Impressive palace, lit up with over 50,000 lights on Sunday nights.

Kalpetta
Grand little place in hills. Wildlife safari a bit pants, saw some elephants (which were cool), then some deer, some bees, some more deer, and for the grand finale, some chickens.

After that we went to a cave with ancient rock carvings and did a little trekking. Got a shave.

Fort Cochin
Real laid back place, stayed here a few days doing nothing much and enjoying it, people watching. Portuguese influences here, very christian.

Allepey waterways
We got a very posh houseboat for a night (with our own chef), rode the waterways while we watched Kill Bill in Hindi, drank, played charades, then the "pick-box-off-ground-with-mouth" game and poker.

Amma's Ashram
We went and stayed in the ashram of The Divine Mother, Amma, the hugging guru. That was fascinating, not least because this centre of charity and spirituality looked like a hotel in Torremelinos. Monsoon kicked off spectacularly.

Ooty
Up in the hills proper, rented cottages in this hill station surrounded by tea and spice plantations. Cold enough that you need blankets to sleep again. Lovely trekking with native guide through the settlements of the Todi tribe. Couldn't take famous miniature train up due to landslide on the tracks.

June 1st
Ahmedabad - Me , Hugh(just a friend)
The group splits and a new chapter begins. We 2 fly into Ahmedabad up North to commence our tour of Rajasthan, the dusty jewel of India...