Sometimes I write my thoughts down.

After previously sampling planes and cars, today was a day of trains. The journey from Vellore to Mysore took over 6 hours, including one change in Bangalore. The stations look much like they do anywhere in the world, really, except maybe for the red-jacketed porters carrying obscene amounts of luggage about, including several suitcases piled on top of their heads! The trains were extremely long, with 3 or 4 different ‘classes’, and were apparently fairly infrequent (once every 3 hours or so). Almost as soon as we set off, a man came through the carriages selling hot tea, followed swiftly by a hot coffee-seller. This set the tone for the journey, with every few minutes bringing yet another food- or drink-salesman – fruit juice; cakes; samosas; muffins; fizzy drinks – all shouting their product as they went. It struck me that you’d likely get bored rather quickly with walking up and down a train shouting “Tea!” for a living, but there you go…
Mysore is different again – very open and grand, with green spaces, wide avenues and roundabouts (which I hadn’t often seen up to now). It was the capital of one of the old Indian kingdoms, and so has a huge, magnificent palace at its heart. In the evening, we were met by Veena, one of the scientists working here and whom I had previously met in Southampton just before Christmas. Even though it was getting on for 8pm, we went shopping! Veena was very keen to get Inga kitted up with a sari, as Mysore is famous for its silk. The silk shops will happily take down any number of carefully folded fabrics and fling them open in front of you. Her choice, a shimmering green-and-gold fabric, will now get adjusted for collection in a couple of days’ time. We also wandered around the market, which was a wonderful experience. Everything was in abundance: fruit; herbs; roots; sweets; colours in general. It was also slightly unnerving, as all the stallholders shouted to you and thrust their produce in your face as you passed. I think this would happen to anyone, but we got it much worse as Westerners!