We arrive at what appears to be a market rather than a Hindu temple at the top of Chamundi Hill just outside Mysore, but most of the goods for sale are items that can be used as offerings at the temple. There are garlands of flowers, brightly coloured powders, colourful strings and coconuts. There are also special blessings baskets containing a combination of these things. The name of the temple is Chamundeshwari and the present tower of a building is covered in carved figures mostly dedicated to Shiva, the god of destruction. There are many depictions of Nandi the bull that Shiva rides upon, the biggest of which stand 15 feet high carved from granite. We watch worshippers bring their offerings to a stone trough where, after placing their bananas, ghee candles, coloured powers, flowers and ... read more

Jet lag has caught up with me big time tonight. I must have been running on excitement up until now, my body distracted from jet lag confused exhaustion into thinking it's fine to go with 2 hours sleep a night! Last night I just could not get to sleep at all. The heat, the noise from the ceiling fan spinning fit to bust and knowing that it's really 8 pm not 1.30am, my mobile phone obviously lying to me! Since normally I'm not asleep until well after 1am my body said 'No, what ARE you doing, just no!'. As I'm room sharing I can't just flick on the lights and read, so spend a very long night tossing turning instead. At least I'm awake in time to go up the tower to bird watch for a ... read more

A nomadic lifestyle sounds so wonderfully appealing, constantly on the move, seeing different places and people all the time. Of course the reality is obviously less romantic, having to pack your stuff up to move every week or so, the worry of trying to find somewhere to stay, wondering how the locals will react to you. In India nomadic tribes have been given land by the Government where there are able to put down roots. Not only do they now have a more constant lifestyle but they are also able to send their children to school and take advantage of health care facilities that would have been extremely difficult when on the move. We are given a chance to go and visit one of these tribal villages and meet the people who live there. It isn't ... read more

Caves are cool in so many ways, from literal to geological to historical and the Edakkal Caves in the Wayanad district of Kerala are no exception. We find out that we are about to see unique neolithic rock carvings rather than the more usual paintings that were des rigour for the cave dweller artists of the day in other parts of the world. But first we find out from Suresh, our new guide for the day, a bit about the area we are in. Wayanad is at between 700m and 2100m above sea level and with its Chembra mountain rising to 5000 feet (strange mix of measurements I know but that's how we were given them) the area is known as a hill station. Wayanad actually translates as 'The land of rice paddies' but not so ... read more

Today we join the 2.5 million people using the Indian railway system every day as we are on the move traveling by train from Cochin to Calita. We arrive early due to the unpredictable nature of - well let's face it, pretty much everything in India, but in this instance specifically, the traffic. No major hold ups mean we have some time to kill. I find myself going on a trip down memory lane with another ex Hull Universityite comparing notes about the halls of residence and changes that have taken place in the town itself in the intervening years since our respective degrees were taken. After reminiscing about 10p a shot vodkas at Ferens and finding out about the closing of Clemenson amongst other stuff only of interest to ex Hull students, it's time to ... read more