In Bangalore Airport, waiting for his plane, no less a personage than Nicholas Parsons. Alas he had to wait more than just a minute (honk!) as there had been a deviation (honk honk!). It was a foggy morning in Bangalore and it turns out our plane couldn't land. It had been diverted to Chennai. Some three hours behind schedule we finally took off and I was on my way home at last.

The flight itself was comfortable but it turns out Heathrow had been having bad weather as well. Apparently there had been a thunderstorm earlier which resulted in more planes on the tarmac than there were gates to receive them. So having landed we then waited another hour before we could get off.

And the fun wasn't over then. I got the Heathrow Express back into London. We set off very slowly before gently coming to a complete standstill and losing all power. We waited in the blackout for a short while before we (slowly) got going again. One more blackout, one more standstill and we limped into Paddington a further 30 minutes late.

It's great to be home!

The normally unimpeachable Rough Guide to India recommends the Fort View cafe in Jodhpur as having a roof top cafe with, get this, a view of the fort.

Alas that's one piece of info that's slightly out of date...


How horrendous is that? Capitalism is great isn't it!? Those billboards are completely invisible from the road and it would make you weep if the image itself wasn't so grimly funny. I had a chat with the manager and commiserated with him. He was stoic in the face of adversity. He says that a local law has been passed limiting the height of billboards and he's optimistic that they may get taken down. But householders get paid Rs1500 a month for the use of their roof so it's hard to turn down.

But one thing the guide book is spot on about (as well as the accommodation which was great) is the audio tour of the fort. Both Rough Guide and Lonely Planet big it up and while normally avoiding these things like the plague I thought I ought to give it a go. Indeed it was a delight with the glorious fruity tones of a posh Indian voice explaining the history of the fort. The current Maharajah (sounding considerably less posh than the narrator) would chip in with his own observations as well. Good stuff.

I'm confident that there is a great caption to this photo, just waiting to get out. Only I can't work out what it is - can you?

Back in Bangalore to pack up before heading back to dear old Blighty. I'm very glad however that I managed a few days in Rajasthan. It was fascinating and interestingly different to southern India. The colourful clothes, the elaborate moustaches (and you should see the men...), camels, fairytale fortresses and friendly, friendly people were all wonderful to sample but I think I've left plenty for another trip.

I had very little time at all in Jaipur - one afternoon of proper exploring really. But I saw a lot, had the most delicious cup of chai and I had an interesting encounter with a local. As I was walking round I got talking to a guy called Ajey. We stopped and talked outside a temple for a while - can't remember what we talked about but on the evidence of every other conversation I had in Rajasthan at some point we must have talked about:

• being bald
• why I'm not married

Anyway Ajey showed me around and even guided me to the city view that my friend Glen had alerted me to. I managed to avoid buying any jewelry from his friend's store but in the end I did end up paying way over the odds for a picture back at his place. Apparently it's all for charity...

The next day I headed for Jodhpur. I took a Keynesian approach to the problem of having not much time and plenty to see, i.e. I threw money at it until the problem went away! I ended up getting a driver for a couple of days which felt terribly extravagant but it was well worth it. I think Jodhpur was the highlight of the trip. The extraordinary fort looming over the blue-washed houses is like something out of a dream.


The old town below the fort is the most fascinating network of alleys and interesting buildings. I just wish I wasn't so shy about taking photos of people and daily life because I've never seen anywhere quite as ripe for the photographical picking as the old town in Jodhpur: every corner seemed to have another arresting image around it.


People were also amazingly friendly. Everyone seemed to say hello as they passed and many people wanted to know where I was from and stop and talk. I had a chat with Jatinder below, owner of an electrical store. He wanted to know:

• what it's like being bald
• why I'm not married

On the way home I gave the dubious delights of Pushkar a miss and opted to visit the Islamic shrine in Ajmeer. The Khwaja Muin-ud-din Chishti Dargah (ask for it by name!) is apparently India's most sacred Islamic site and one of the most important in the world. It contains the tomb of a Sufi saint and I was disappointed to miss the marvellous qawwali music that goes on in the evenings. But it was a great place to visit and I'm glad I was able to add an Islamic shrine to the Jain, Hindu and Christian places I've seen on this trip (there's just never a Zoroastrian when you need one). Anyhow, it was great and the thing I'll always remember was the wonderful, delicate smell of rose petals that pervaded the atmosphere. Unlike the incense burning in Hindu temples the traditional offering here is a basket of rose petals and the smell was wonderfully pungent particularly inside the tomb itself. I was ushered into the press of people filing in, made a donation and was wrapped in the hem of the sacred cloth from the saint's tomb. It was heady stuff!


Again I got approached by a number of locals who wanted to find out where I was from. It's amazing what a well timed "asalaam aleikum" can do in such circumstances. Having done my bit for Anglo-Islamic relations I headed back to the car and back to Jaipur. Good times.

Day one of my micro-break to Rajasthan and I'm coming to you live from a charming hotel in the centre of Jaipur. I can highly recommend the Hotel Diggi Palace if you are passing through. Lonely Planet said it had a "friendly Goan manager" and they weren't wrong, Mr John Wilson couldn't be more easy going and helpful. It's very central but an absolute oasis of calm. You enter through a marvellous arched gateway (painted a bright blue - a renegade step in the Pink City?) and into, mirable dictu, a garden!

I don't think I've ever appreciated a garden so much. An honest-to-goodness garden with, you know, a lawn and trees and flowers. Bangalore touts itself as India's Garden City but dude: that's spin. This is a big garden, the first one I've seen in God knows how long, with tables and chairs on the lawn and it really felt like being on holiday to be able to sit out there, read and listen to the birds singing. And to a one time member of the YOC, being able to sit out there, read, listen to the birds singing and WATCH a hoopoe bob around the lawn was very heaven. I've always wanted to see a hoopoe. And now I have.

I'm into my last week and a half in India and once this week's Immersion is finished I'm planning to take some holiday.

My original intention had been to stay in South India and perhaps explore the Western Ghats in Kerala. But entirely on the strength of my friend Glen's excellent blogging and great pics I've ripped up my itinerary and I'm heading for Rajasthan on Saturday. Alas I don't have long enough to do it justice but that way I can save more for next time. I really want to come back to India for more travel and I've set my heart on a trip to Sikkim and a view of Kanchenjunga , or Khangchendzonga as they say round there (see I'm already learning the lingo!).

Actually we rode the 10.30pm train to Hospet but lets not quibble.

I really thought that no trip to India would be complete without a journey on India's famous railway network. So when my colleague Jez mentioned a trip, by train, to see the ruined city of Hampi then I was keen to come along.

There seem to be a myriad of classes and types of travel on India's trains. What with the that and the noise and confusion of Bangalore railway station I was pleased to be travelling with people who knew their way around. Having said that there is a very efficient on-line booking system. Efficient in the sense that it works, not in the sense of speedy. The website is a mass of animated gifs and confusing text and it took Jez a mere 45 minutes to complete the booking. But it worked and as the train drew up, pasted to the side of compartment A1 were our names and our berths.

We were travelling 2 tier A/C which is quite posh on account of someone who shall remain nameless (Rani!) not travelling any other way don't you know. Not that I'm complaining - it was clean and comfortable and we had a reserved seat/bed. In the simplest unreserved carriages there is right royal scramble for a seat as the train pulls in. I saw one kid pull of an outstanding "Dukes of Hazzard" manoeuvre in through the window of the train before it had even come to a stop. He deserved a seat.

I'm not the kind of guy that actually sleeps on a sleeper. I can well remember an overnight train journey to Cornwall, aged about 14, where I heard my digital watch bleep every hour from 11pm to 7am. Even the efficient operation of a Swiss sleeper couldn't get me to sleep and it was the same this time. But I could lay down, it was comfortable and I felt fairly well rested. I also got to see the glorious sun rise as we approached Hospet, our jumping off point for Hampi.



Hampi was once the capital of a powerful empire that ran things in these parts about 500 years ago. In them days they called it Vijayanagar - City of Victory (woo!). It must have been incredible in its heyday. Today the ruins occupy a really large area and you can wander around uncovering temples and statues amid the amazing rocky landscape: an extraordinary collection of boulders which seem to have been carefully arranged by some autistic giant.



Hampi is about half-way between Bangalore and Goa. But in atmosphere it's a lot closer to Goa (I would imagine) and about a light-year from the 'lore. It's clearly a popular backpacker's spot, witness the many chilled out restaurants all serving identical fare: a few curries, pasta, pizza, Israeli goodies (?) and momos, a Tibetan delicacy (which as one right-on traveler had scribbled on the menu is NOT the same as Chinese). Like playing the didgeridoo, I mistrust the desire to eat Tibetan food in a way that's quite unfair and probably unmasks me as a terrible inverted snob. But there you go. I'm not complaining though - despite our Punjabi correspondent finding they did an odd take on Aloo Paratha, the food was great and it was nice to slow down from the crazy pace of Bangalore.

I hadn't got far with my sightseeing before an Indian family beckoned me over and before I knew it had thrust their baby into my arms. I know people seem to like having their photos taken with westerners but the reckless abandon with which the dad swung his child at me was quite something. Still the kid was very sweet and the whole family came in for a picture as well.


In the end I got to do some exploring. My young friend and I climbed up the hill on the edge of the village, scrambling over boulders and investigating caves.


and we got to hang out with some monkeys..


We ended up climbing back up and the end of the day to watch the sunset, made even more marvellous by the enterprising local who brought up a tiny stove and sold tea! The sunset was spectacular, as we had been told it would be. There's great poem by e.e.cummings that says something along the lines of "if day has to become night, then this is a beautiful way" - nice one e.e.


More photos here, but none of the cheeky young rapscallion selling newspapers and magazines at Hospet station on the way home. He offered us Cosmopolitan, "Mary Clarey" and then thrust India Today towards me. I'd just been telling the group my "old bald guy" story so when he pointed to Gandhi on the cover and then to me... cheeky bugger!

On the way home, after a final game of Scrabble I took one of my hardcore-yet-over-the-counter sleeping pills and, joy of joys, I actually slept on the way home. We pulled into Bangalore at 6am and I was ready to go when classes started at 9.

... is the headline in today's Times of India. Fantastic :)

Gah. I'm back and just about with-it again after a climate busting return to London. Left Thursday night, got back Monday morning in time for class starting at 9am. I've used http://www.climatecare.org/ to assuage my middle class guilt but at heart off-setting emissions is bollocks isn't it? It's like going to the therapist to make yourself feel better about the terrible things you do: it would help everyone if you just stopped doing them. But now having admitted the off-setting is bollocks (but also having offset) my middle class guilt is fully assuaged. However I am going to try and change my ways going forward.

But the lure of London was too strong this time. I went home for the ThoughtWorks UK Away Day for which I'd persuaded my friend Andy Walker to give the keynote speech. As I'd roped him into it, I wanted to be there to introduce him and be a friendly face in the crowd. I also harboured a sneeky suspicion that it might just be the best presentation I'd ever seen. I was right. Andy happens to be the funniest, most forthright and insightful people I've ever met and he spoke for an hour with maximum force on the phenomenon of Web2.0. It was incredible - outrageous, funny, thought-provoking - he went down tremendously well (here's a pic of Andy in action).So it was definitely worth the trip, especially as he told me his happy news and I could congratulate him and his good lady wife. Happy days all round.

The rest of the awayday was fun - it was great to catch up with so many people from the office that I haven't seen for a while and to be reminded of how many clever, energetic people I work with. It all ended with a cowboy theme party and I think I've discovered a hot new look for autumn '06...


A last word must go to London. Oh London (giddy London)! I don't think I've ever been so in love with the place. Clear, crisp blue skies, autumn leaves, glorious sunsets and the inescapable sense that there is just so much to do here. I'm going to be sad to leave Bangalore but I am looking forward to getting home. I've already made my new years resolution for next year, make the most of London, and I might try and start a month early.

If I was a South Park character....

Courtesy of http://sp-studio.de/