First bit of real India that is not really real India although I still can't answer what real India is.....

Asia » India » Karnataka » Mysore
February 14th 2014

Published: February 13th 2014

Right, a bit of a preamble: I actually wrote the bulk of this about two weeks ago, and had thought about rewriting it, but decided to leave it the same but add some postscript so this text and the pictures might be a bit disjointed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello everyone, as always I ... Read Full Entry

Photos are below

Photos: 63, Displayed: 21

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It is early days I know, but I like Indians. It is hard to explain why, this will become clearer as time goes on.

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Madonna Madonna.

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The draw of shiny new technology it seems is universal.

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I berated myself for being in a shopping mall, and not the real India. But for tens of millions of Indians this is as much a reality as public defecation and deformed beggars.

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These parking spaces were reserved for people who have X Ray vision or can Fly. Or something. Good effort though!

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A another Selfie. A Selfie in an empty rail carriage. Fear not, it didn't stay that way for long, this is India and everything gets pretty full pretty quickly.

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They put lorries on trains here. This is the sort of thing that barely registers but I have to remind myself that folk at home are not used to this. The drivers will spend days on these trains, washing their trucks and changing oil. All sorts.

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The cows love a bit of cardboard around here. Love it.

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Joys of travelling with others is you can share the cost of transport meaning that luxury of taxis become a reality.

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Mooo you looking at?

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To you this just looks like another canoodling India couple, but it was in fact a shoot for a bollywood type Hindi music video.

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A Bollywood type Hindi music video we were invited to star in. We had to sit looking out at the sea while the chap in the yellow socks sang along. I put the name of the artist in my phone, but can't find it now.

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What happens when you get two Turkish women together? Lots of noise and lots of energy.

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Neriman was great with local people and was very interested in trees and fruit. This old lady was happy to explain which kind of tree she was hitting and why.

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She was also a seasoned negotiator, never excepting the first price. Unlike me, with my English sensibilities of not "making a fuss" overriding the need to save money.

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Just to give you an idea of why my Comms has been scant lately. You can see that India averages 9 on this Global Internet speedometer. The Cities can be super fast, the towns not so.

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This is an attempt to tackle cast discrimination. I am told that it exists in the rural communities but is largely being stamped out in the Cities. Still not sure about that one.

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This may be a slightly premature statement but I think I am falling in love with Indians. They are charming and hospitable.

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Me being nice to a baby. Ahhh innit cute.

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A rare thing this, and Internet Cafe, even since my last trip Wifi has really taken over.

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First bit of real India that is not really real India although I still can't answer what real India is.....

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