I'm here

And so here I am.

The flight from London to Bangalore wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. An indian family had been split apart by accident, so one half was shouting over to the other half accross the plane. One of the ladies consistently sat on my arm rest (aisle seat) as well, and generally they were a bit of a pain. I have no idea what they were discussing but it sounded like very enthusistic football commentating.

I got to Bangalore hazy and tired, managed to get my luggage or rather prise it out of the hands of a tiny little airport attendant who was going to charge me money for picking it up for me or something, and made my way to the pay-in-advance taxis. I got to the train station and after 35mins of wandering over to the next platform where the train is supposed to be, I got a taxi back to the airport to pre-pay a driver for Mysore. I needed to pee desperately, and there is a 3hr journey to Mysore from Bangalore. There was of course nowhere I could go and have my stuff with me too. At that point, I gave up on the train.

The trip in the taxi was good, my driver filled up on gas and put air in the tires and we were off. We won many a head-to-head with other vehicles to see who would fit in the next smallest space up ahead. This man had a great love of music, as he constantly played a few tunes off a tape, then huffed and puffed, and then put a new one in and would then only leave it until he was ready for something more specific. When it was the right tune, he turned the sound up loud as it would go. I definately wasn't going to fall asleep which was good. I think he would have liked a samba mix, he was definately into the percussions.

When we got to Mysore he didn't know where he was going so he stopped to ask about 9 different rickshaw men and their answer went something like this: "Gokulam wadadadadada lummmy lamamama right, straight lalalaama lumy right, straight" - and so he turned left. I'm not an expert at the language but it does make you wonder if that's why we were so lost for 30mins. One rickshaw man decided that it would be best to tell me all about how to get there in his language while I stared blankly at him. I just said "straight and then right" to my driver...but...ah well we got there in the end. Some children showed us where to go and then tried to sell flowers.

I have already started compiling my list of funny signs, today I particularly like "joy walking might be dangerous". My winning nation so far for this is China.

It's good to be back into India. India is easy as long as you realise that the rules are the opposite here. Everything is going to take ages to get done, but hey, who's in a rush. Being worried about the roads is too tiring, so instead i (try to) chill. One thing for sure is that people are very helpful and most would bend over backwards for you, not necessarily because they see an opportunity to make money in you. But my god do they barter...Not one of my strengths.

Shakti Inn is a great place to stay, great big rooms, everyone is really really nice and I had some french toast and chai, a chat and a shower, and it seems i have finally discovered the internet cafe also. Now I need a nap. Everything is starting to feel strange and marshmellow like! Jet lag.

Tune of the Day: "Dirge" - Chemical Brothers (it's how jet lag feels)