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| india |
| south - bangalore, mysore, mangalore |
| From Pondicherry to Bangalore by bus, through the southern reaches of India, bordering Tamil Nadu and Kerala, I rode. I passed between immense fileds of green, rocky outcroppings and scattered boulders, even a torrential downpour that lasted the better part of an hour. Bangalore, along with Hyderabad, is known as India's IT hub. From the glitzy shops and Western-style malls of MG Road to the bustling temples and vegetable markets, Bangalore was quite a city. |
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| (Above) Crowds of people near the central market area, (left) a holy cow and (below) my 15 rupees (50 cents) take-out dinner of fried rice and tandoori chicken. |
| (Above and left) The central vegetable market. |
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| Mysore |
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| Mysore is famous in India for sandalwood oil and incense sticks. It was a bright and colourful city węth lots to see and way too many people trying to rip me off. |
| In the centre of town is this beautiful, opulent palace belonging to the Maharaja of Mysore. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take photos inside. There were enormous mosaics, chandeliers of glass and gold, rugs and vases and stained glass windows...you'll have to take my word for it. |
| The Mysore Clock Tower. |
| Vendors in the market scamming tourists węth cheap quality oils and rangoli coloured chalk powder. |
| Mangalore |
| (Above) A view of Mysore from Chamundi Hill and (right) a statue of the holy cow, Lord Shiva's bull vehicle, Nandi. Hindu pilgrims walk the 1000 plus steps up the hill stopping to pray to Nandi along the way to the Chandswari temple at the top. |
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| The city of Mangalore lies on the Arabian Sea coast of India. It's a quiet, rarely visited town famous throughout India for manufacturing red-clay roof tiles. I spent a couple of days here in the swelteręng heat before heading northwards to Goa. |
| (Left) A worker loading red-clay roof tiles into a kiln and (right) a photo of my roof-tile factory guide in front of a chimney stack there. |
| One of my favourite South Indian dishes, masala dosa. |
| Can you believe I walked 2 hours in 40C heat to see this? A reconstruction of an old watchtower near the sea called Tippu Sultan's Battery. |
| A temple ceremony and procession at the Kadri Manjunath temple. |