Rickshaw Ride through Madurai This is the sort of thing that G Adventures does really well. Take a tour of a city with another company and they will put you on an air conditioned bus and take you on a trip around the landmark buildings. G Adventures on the other hand puts you in a cycle rickshaw and takes you on a tour of the markets and slums. Cycle rickshaws are no longer in vogue since everyone can now afford a Tuk Tuk which are much much faster. But in a cyc...

The road to Madurai The next morning it was back to work and we were off on a cycle tour of the ancient temples of Mammallapuram. In this town the earliest temples were carved out of solid rock. You could trace the development of rock cutting technique and artistic style over the centuries. Because they took so long to carve, war and politics tended to get in the way and few of them were actually completed. One remaining temple on the sea shore had been one of a...

Travel and Rest We spent the morning in Mysore's covered flower, fruit and veg market. The colours are vibrant, the aromas from the spices are exotic and the produce is very fresh and appealing. If only we had this quality and choice at home! There was even an environmentally friendly recycling plant in the market - a tethered cow and a couple of goats were making short work of the unwanted stalks and the produce that was past its sell by date. In exchange they ...

Travel and Rest We spent the morning in Mysore's covered flower, fruit and veg market. The colours are vibrant, the aromas from the spices are exotic and the produce is very fresh and appealing. If only we had this quality and choice at home! There was even an environmentally friendly recycling plant in the market - a tethered cow and a couple of goats were making short work of the unwanted stalks and the produce that was past its sell by date. In exchange they ...

Mysore We saw elephants that morning. On the edge of the tiger reserve there was an elephant sanctuary where orphaned of injured elephants were cared for and put to work. Some of them were used in logging while others joined the park rangers and were used to patrol the park for poachers. We saw the younger members being fed their balanced diets and watched as the more mature ones were taught to carry logs. It was a long drive to Mysore but we arrived on the out...