Bills’ journal is finally online. I definitely recommend visiting, if only to get a different perspective on the events described here. Besides, he’s a much better photographer than I am and his pictures are worth the visit.

Today was a lazy day when compared to most others. All of us slept for hours, grabbed lunch, then headed off to work later in the afternoon. The 10+ hours sleep we managed the night before was wonderful and desperately needed by all.

Shortly before heading to work, we checked our hotel bills to date. As with my experience before, multiple charges appeared on our bills that weren’t ours. After asking to see the receipts, we found meals for other rooms and strange mini-bar items charges and immediately asked for them to be investigated and removed. I’ll definitely have to keep an eye on my bill each week to make sure all the charges are gone before I settle up for the past 2 weeks on Friday.

While at work, I was tracked down by a member of the transport department and arrangements were made to pay the charges for the rental car and driver to date. I’d been attempting to find out how to pay for the car for a while and Manish assured me that eventually someone would track me down and find me. Well, today was apparently the day. It’s a relief to finally figure out who is handling the billing, since when I asked the driver a few weeks ago, he had no clue who was supposed to be paid for his services.

As with previous nights, Anand and I were chased by a number of barking dogs. Linda and Bill weren’t bothered at all, although a few dogs did look closely at their car before deciding that I wasn’t riding with them tonight.

Earlier, I spoke to Drew and he informed me that my parents are calling tonight (no, Fenris did NOT growl at me while I was on the phone) and I had a quick chance to talk to Thanatos. So, while I should be asleep in bed, I’m adding new pictures to the site and typing away an account of today’s events while I wait. However, if the expected call doesn’t arrive before 6am, they can talk to my voicemail…

Today I miss:

• The smooth ride and great suspension in North American cars
• Roads with small potholes… instead of ones big enough to swallow a small bus!
• Drivers who don’t cross into oncoming traffic because the car in front of them is traveling too slowly for their liking – especially when I’m a passenger in their vehicle

Sunday, October 19, 2003
6am comes way too early! I knew my alarm wasn’t going to be enough to get me out of bed, so I called the concierge desk for a wake up call at 6am. Just to be on the safe side, I also ordered a big pot of coffee.

After breakfast, we hopped into the car and headed off to Mysore. Manish explained that while Mysore was only 150 kms outside of Bangalore, it would take 3 hours to drive there due to traffic and road conditions. The vehicle had no shocks and every pothole or speed bump jarred the teeth from your head.

Somewhere along the way, we developed a flat tire. While most of us were worried about what we’d do if another tire blew, Manish joked about catching a bus back to Bangalore. I don’t think any of us shared his sense of humour and we were all desperately praying to which ever gods we believed in that there was a second spare under the vehicle.

Once in Mysore, our first stop was the Lalitha Mahal hotel. The building had been a palace in a former life and was amazing. Apparently, tourists wander through the hotel on a regular basis and we were taken to the king’s bedroom and encouraged to take pictures. As we were leaving the hotel, two Indian men asked for Linda and I to post in a picture with them. It was odd, but we complied none the less.

After the hotel, we drove up the Chamundi Hill to visit the temple. Unlike the faithful, we didn’t make the journey up the steps in order to pray at the site. Instead, we took a winding road and were amazed when our driver smacked into the rear end of a smaller car struggling to make it up the hill. After a few words were exchanged, our driver continued on his journey. I was absolutely amazed. Back home, we would have had to wait for hours while the accident was reported, investigated, insurance information was exchanged, etc. This, being a minor event on Indian roads, was shrugged off in less than 5 minutes.

Once we arrived, it became apparent that we weren’t in Kansas anymore. The temple closed at 2pm and was packed with people. We saw our first set of monkeys, which were running rampant throughout the area. As we lined up to take pictures, Manish warned us not to get too close. Monkeys like to bite and scratch and are likely rabid. While Manish stood in line for tickets, Linda and I were chased by every vendor in sight. They wouldn’t take no for an answer, and both of us were pretty frustrated after a few minutes. As a group, we decided that we didn’t need to see another temple – especially not one where we had to take our shoes off and walk in the dirt for a great length of time while we attempted to make it into the building. The crush of people was enough to make me claustrophobic and we all agreed that we’d rather visit the Palace than stand in line waiting at the temple.

At the Palace, Manish warned us that we’d have to take off our shoes and walk around in bare feet. The Majaraha (king) still lives somewhere in the building which was built less than 200 years ago. It took 15 years to complete the palace and outbuildings – what is truly remarkable is that all construction was completed by hand. The concept seemed pretty easy when being discussed from outside of the palace, once the shoes were off it was another story entirely. Gritty red dirt covered the ground and stones jabbed into our sensitive soles. Anand hopped from foot to foot like a true westerner and wouldn’t have passed for a local if anyone was paying attention to his hopping and shuffling. At least Bill, Linda and I had the excuse of our light colouring to excuse our attempts to walk to the entrance of the Palace.

We had to check our cameras before entering the Palace, so other than the outside, we don’t have any shots of the amazing gold, silver and ivory doors, massive carved wooden pieces, intricately tiled floors, and gilded ceilings. After walking through the public sections of the Palace, we retrieved our cameras and took a few shots of the Palace and outbuildings. The Palace temple was amazing and since I was concerned that I wouldn’t manage to get a good shot of it, Linda also took a few pictures so we could share. I also managed to get a great picture of Linda, Bill and Anand on the Palace grounds.

After an eventful day in Mysore, we agreed to head home. We were tired, sweaty and completely finished with pushy people surrounding us en masse. Since it definitely looked like rain, we unanimously decided to drive back to Bangalore and head to the hotel for an early night and some much needed sleep. Manish had a Diwali party in his building to attend later in the evening, and promptly fell asleep once he re-entered the vehicle.

Unfortunately for us, Manish was the only thing keeping our driver from acting like a maniac on the roads. The excruciating trip out was made a hundred times worse on the return journey. The rain had started in earnest and the driver wove in and out of traffic – at one point sandwiched between two buses on a two lane road, all headed in the same direction – and when we got to the hotel after one too many close calls, we were happy to see the driver go.

After taking a 30 minute break to shower, we headed to the hotel restaurant. The meal dragged on forever, but not because we were slow eaters. Our waiter had to be asked repeatedly to bring water, cokes, forks, bread, and eventually disappeared in the middle of the meal. We were stuck waiting over half an hour for someone to bring the bill to the table in order for us to leave. By 8pm, we were all ready to head off to bed, but I decided to toddle off to the Barista (the Starbucks of India) in the galleria for an iced cafe mocha before heading back to my room.

For the first night since I arrived, I’ve managed to get to bed at a reasonable hour and plan to sleep forever…or at least until 11am. I don’t have to meet anyone until noon.

Today was spent visiting 5 star hotels in Bangalore. We started off at the Sheraton for lunch, went to a work Diwali party at the Taj West End, and ended up at the F-Bar in the Meridian hotel at the end of the night.

After lunch, we headed to the Bull Temple. Linda and I have noticed that street vendors will chase us around – refusing to accept ‘no’ or ‘not interested’ as an answer from either of us. Anand appears to most Indians as a local due to his colouring, so he is often left alone. Bill can turn them away with a single shake of his head…but Linda and I are slowly learning that in India men aren’t used to hearing women say the word no.

As we exited the Bull temple, we heard a loud racket and looked up into the trees. What appeared to be monkeys at first glace turned out to be giant bats fighting over a spot on a tree branch! Who knew bats were so active in the daytime? Jokes abound regarding the bats internal clocks being set to Eastern time rather than Indian Standard time.

Manish arranged for us to view the Government buildings and Law Courts and we are quickly whisked off to the Russel Market after snapping a few shots and purchasing some Bangalore postcards from a street vendor.

Russel Market is something else. For the last few weeks, we’ve seen a very shiny and progressive side of Bangalore. While we know there are millions of people living in this city, aside from myself, no one has been out in the crowds and noise that comprises an Indian commercial area. Russel Market is an older brick and stone building with row upon row of fresh fruit and vegetables. Manish assures us that most of the food will be purchased and eaten long before it spoils and that most citizens buy their groceries in this general area or a market very similar to it. The streets are packed with people, garbage and noise. Pedestrians wander through auto, car, motorcycle, moped and bicycle traffic as if there was no one else on the street. Linda learned that trick is to walk straight across the street and let the vehicles maneuver around you and was soon walking across masses of traffic as if they weren’t there at all. We slid off into a side street and immediately noticed the change in noise levels and smell – both were markedly improved!

After our jaunt to the market, we were all exhausted and happy to be heading back to the hotel to shower and change. A few hours later, we met up in the lobby to head for the Diwali party at the Taj. En route, our car was pulled over by the traffic police for excessive use of headlights. The street was a no headlight zone and our driver had been attempting to signal to the bus in front of us to pull forward so we could slip by. After explaining to the officer that he was a ‘taxi’ and that he had Americans in the car, we were waved on our way.

The Diwali party was supposed to take place by the pool, but a late evening shower played havoc with those plans and we quickly moved inside. Rajesh made us all welcome and somehow we managed to convince Linda to come out to the F- bar (which is affiliated with Fashion TV) before heading home for the night.

As we left the Taj, Bill informed me that I have until Monday to post my side of the dog story before his web site is launched. Unfortunately, I don’t think I have a suitable defense. I attempted to bribe him by offering to ‘forget’ to mention his attempts to bribe Anand into kissing a girl in the F-Bar in my journal, but he was unfazed. Apparently, no one will be shocked to learn of it (his offer of 5 Rupees was raised to 100 by Linda, and then I added 500 Rupees to the total amount). Poor Anand. Everyone in India and back home is teasing him that he won’t be returning to Canada without a wife and we’ve been searching for a suitable candidate for him all week.

Occasionally, we mutter about returning to the store to look at the Kashmir rugs one last time. Now that most of the things I wanted to purchase have been safely packed in my suitcase, I’ve been considering picking up a slightly larger Kashmir rug. Of course, I’ll only be buying one if the price we’re offered is comparable to the one received on Tuesday.

After returning to the hotel at 3am, we arranged for 6am wake up calls and agreed to meet for breakfast before heading off to Mysore.

After a quick lunch in the Leela, we headed off to Cauvery on M.G Road to pick up some souvenirs. Manish met us as we exited the car, but had to return to his car for a moment before entering the store. He trotted across 6 lanes of traffic, ignoring all vehicles on the road. On his return trip to the Cauvery, he started talking on his cell phone while dodging traffic. As you can imagine, we were all flabbergasted. How he managed to cross the road without being killed is beyond me. To be able to hear the other person on his cell amidst all the racket made by the cars on the road is phenomenal. When he arrive at the sidewalk, Manish shrugged off our shock and led us inside the store.

With wallets a few hundred Rupees lighter, we exited the Cauvery and crossed Brigade road. Across from us, the city was launching their new parking meter – the cities first – that will charge 5 Rupees per half hour and maintain a parking record for 10 slots. The meter was imported from France and if successful at decreasing parking issues on Brigade Road, additional ones will be added throughout the city.

As we continued down the street, we passed an advertisement for American Food Festival in Nilgiris. Nilgiris is a grocery store chain in India, and the stores are about the same size as a small MacDonalds restaurant. The store had a few shelves carrying highlighted ‘American’ food products, such as Skippy Peanut Butter, Casa Grande Salsa, French’s Mustard, chocolate sauce, and Heinz Ketchup. It’s strange to think that these products are considered to be American, since I’m used to seeing them in Canada, the US, Mexico, parts of the EU, etc.

The final stop of the shopping trip was in a factory seconds outlet for Designer clothing. Armani, Tommy Hilfiger, The Gap, Timberland, Nike, Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren lined the shelves. RL Polo shirts were selling for 250 Rupees each (approx 7.50$ CAD) and RL button down dress shirts were an amazing 425 Rupees each (approx 13$ CAD). Manish worked his negotiating magic and had the prices lowered from 250 to 200 Rupees per golf shirt and from 425 to 350 Rupees for the button down shirts. Since Polo golf shirts cost more than 50$ in Canada, and the button down dress shirts can cost as much as 95$, I grabbed a few for Drew and I. I wouldn’t be surprised if some showed up in people’s Christmas packages this year *hint*

After all this shopping, we’re worried that things won’t fit in our suitcases. Worries about going over the dollar limit for customs haven’t really entered our minds yet. After some quick calculations, we all determine we are still under the exemption limits for the US and Canada.

— break for work —

I’m beginning to wonder if Bill and Linda’s theory about the dogs doesn’t have some truth to it. While I’ve been joking that they’re chasing and barking at me because they know I’m the only one of the group who was forced to take rabies shots prior to traveling and that they instinctively know that I wear a picture of Thanatos (one of our cats, and my favorite) in a locket around my neck each day, even my own dog doesn’t seem to happy with me. When I called Drew today, I could hear Fenris (our dog) growling in the background and Drew saying ‘shush, it’s only Mommy on the phone’.

I will definitely need another carry-on bag or small suitcase. After some serious packing practice, I’ve managed to fit everything I purchased as gifts into my empty bag…but I will need a miracle to get my clothes, shoes and sundries back into my battered suitcase.