Day 25 -Ahmedabad airport to Bangalore - Thursday 10th November 2011

After what has to be the bumpiest train journey of all time (seriously, I swear I spent half the journey actually in the air), we arrived at Bangalore airport. 5 hours early for our flight and having not slept for the previous 9 hours, we ambled idly into the airport restaurant hoping that coffee and food would make us feel more alive! After some breakfast, we finally were able to check in and so after a pretty uneventful but smooth flight, we touched down in Bangalore!

I had a notion that I wanted to get the airport bus rather than a taxi - for 2 reasons, the first to save some money and secondly I thought it would be a good thing for us to find the way on our own. Well, let's just say it didn't go completely to plan - firstly we couldn't work out, and no one else seemed to know, what bus we should get on! Finally we got on the bus 7a which dropped us at MG Road - which on a map, didn't seem far from our place. Ummm, after about a 45 minute walk, with our rucksacks, (and after stopping for coffee, cake and pizza - it had to be done!) we arrived at Tom's hotel - yay!

We were knackered but decided to get showered and straight out to the local mall. We looked around and decided we wanted to watch a Bollywood film. The times were not great so we jumped in a rickshaw and headed to the next mall - forum, which is apparently one of the biggest in India. We went to the counter and asked doubtfully, if any of the Indian films had English subtitles. Hooray - there was a film that did and it was called Seven Aum Arivu. Booked for a couple of hours' time, we roamed the mall and had some food and of course, pudding with chai. Come 8.40pm, we walked into the cinema amidst strange stares, giggles and it seems the amusement of everyone else in the cinema. The film was actually pretty good (Adam says otherwise) and I particularly like the random singing and dancing scenes, which everyone in the cinema whoops and cheers at! We even got an interval and someone came round to ask if we wanted anything to eat or drink - Indian cinema rules!!

Day 26 -Bangalore - Friday 11th November 2011

After our journey to Bangalore and witnessing our first Bollywood classic the night before, we were very tired so a lay in was on the cards… We woke at about 11.30am and finally got out of bed at about 12.30pm (lazy day!) We had found out the day before about a restaurant called MTR (mavalli tiffin rooms) which is really for the locals, but seeing as Soph's got a bit of henna and I'm well into the baggy trousers the Indians wear, we should be ok?!! We arrived and were told we could sit anywhere; there were loads of tables and chairs in this huge room like a school canteen. We paid 140rs each (£2) and for that we got handed a silver tray with 5 portion dividers in it. The place was packed with locals and just me and Soph in the corner, I swear everyone was starring / laughing at us. There were about 15 waiters running about the place in white shirts, loin cloths and no shoes. Their job was basically to fill up your plate and dividers. So we had juice, rice, dhal, chilli milk, potatoes, veg, coconut spices, as much bread as you could eat and then a fruit salad… we were stuffed, it was so nice as well. Then finally the meal (like a lot meals in India), was finished off with paan. Paan is a leaf with betel nut, lime paste, herbs, and spices all wrapped up, you are supposed to chew it till all the juices mix and then swallow to cleanse the pallet… I think its ok, Soph hates it but to be polite she eats it. It is so funny to watch, her face is like a baby who's first tried a slice of lemon!! Seeing as we were both so full up, we went for a walk in the botanical gardens and sat and read our books and the local paper. After a couple our hours there, we walked back to our hotel and tried to watch The Fugitive on TV, in between power cuts!

Day 27 -Bangalore to Madurai - Saturday 12th November 2011

We were up at a more reasonable hour today and headed down to breakfast in the hotel. We both had cornflakes with warm milk & honey - Soph loves the hot milk, me not so much but I can't keep having curry for breakfast, so cornflakes it is!! After we went for a stroll down MG Road (named after Mahatma Gandhi of course, there isn't much in India that isn't - they would love Lyndon!). MG Road in Bangalore is like the Oxford Street of London (ish!!!); we went window browsing and I bought some flops. We have been so used to the small Indian villages, the hustle and bustle of main towns and the general day to day Indian way of life, it was weird to walk down a busy street in Bangalore and be met with a Hard Rock café! It doesn't really suit the surroundings?!! That aside, we popped in for a mocktail and a plate of nachos - our first proper western food since being in India. On the way back we saw a pub, a United Colours of Benetton and a Nandos with a take away service (I had to get a pic!) I thought the lads would love it here… well as long as Quent bought his Nandos card!! Soph even spotted a pram which she was very excited about - since being in India we have seen hundreds of babies and toddlers and all of them are just carried - not a pram in sight for the last 4 weeks! As Soph said "it's a very cosmopolitan city".

That night we were to leave Bangalore, the place doesn't really have a lot of things to see and doesn't really feel like the rest of India, but well worth a visit to see how much some cities are booming. So with that in mind, we headed to the train station to catch our 10 hour train ride to Madurai. We had really stepped up the money here and shelled out 900rs each to go 2nd class A/C!! It was obviously better than the sleepers that we had been in previously and we meet the nicest people. In our cabin was Salem, he was a young insurance broker and his boss Swami. And then there was the lovely Bhanumathy. We all sat and played rummy together whilst chatting about learning about both Indian and Tamil culture. I remembered I had bought some cookies off the local market so I got them out and we all shared, then Bhanu took out of her bag some Indian treats which her friend had given to her for the journey. They were really tasty! It was our most fun train yet and it was great to sit and chat with our new friends - I was sitting one side with the boys and Soph the other side with Bhanu. The girls also won nearly every hand of rummy!! After chatting for a while, it turned out that we were all stopping at the same station. Bhanu asked if we would like to come with her and her husband's house for lunch the next day (we were arriving in Madurai in the early hours of the morning). It was such a kind offer and we were honoured to say yes.

After a bit more chatting and keeping half the carriage up from our noise, we said our good nights and went to sleep.