Jan 29
We've got a day in Mysore, which is famous for its silk and sandalwood. We've got to the stage in our travels when we're looking for gifts to take home, and in the morning we do a little shopping after which we can tick off most of the things on our list. We're not going to tell you what we've bought though, because then if you're getting a present it'll be a surprise, and if you're not getting a present you'll be none the wiser and won't be disappointed.

In the afternoon we visit the railway museum, which is a bit of a gem. There are a number of old steam engines and carriages parked up in a small garden area, each of which has a sign which says something like:
"I was built in 1925 in Glasgow, England, and came to India to pull goods trucks on the Mysore and Bangalore Railway and was given the designation Class E. In 1937 I was honoured to pull the special saloon on the occasion of the inspection of the line by the Inspector General of Railway Inspections Dr Surya Devarayanadurga Pingbody. My wheels no longer go round but you can turn my handbrake even now."

The highlight of the visit to the railway museum is a ride on the "toy train", a couple of open carriages hauled by a petrol-driven tractor round an oval of track. Our party is probably the biggest thing that has happened to the museum for many months, and we give the 27 staff something to do for a change. The visit isn't long enough for Clive, who wants to climb in the cabs of all the engines and pretend to drive them.

Next we're off the the Mysore Palace. Now, we're not particularly fussed about old buildings - temples, churches, palaces and the like - but this is pretty spectacular. It's a huge and ornate building set in large grounds with equally ornate gates and surrounding walls and long wide driveways. It was built in 1912 for the Maharaja of Mysore, who still lives in a bedsit at the back, apparently. Inside there are huge open galleries and rooms, with stained glass roof windows, mosaic floors and carved wooden doors and ceilings, all of which defy adequate description in this diary. Unfortunately, dear reader, photography is forbidden in the palace so if you want to know what it's really like you'll have to go there - it's well worth it.

As we're walking out we encounter five large elephants taking a stroll past one of the outer gates. The mahouts get the elephants to trumpet and have our photos taken with them, and in return we give the elephants Rs10 notes which they pass up to the mahout. The image of the elephants against the palace backdrop is just so Indian.

Next, tour leader Fuzz has pulled another masterstroke. He's taking us to the Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel which was once one of the maharaja's palaces and he's arranged for the bar to be opened an hour early, especially for us. It's an imposing building, and even the bar is special - a large high-ceiling room with plush seats and a snooker table. Apparently the service isn't the best (it's a government run place) but it would be worth staying there just for the experience.

On Sundays between 7pm and 8pm Mysore Palace is lit up with over ninety thousand light bulbs. So, this being a Sunday, we can't miss the opportunity to go and see this, so we don't (miss it, that is). We arrive at 6.45 and wait expectantly in the palace grounds along with a few thousand locals and tourists. Sure enough, at 7pm on the dot, ninety thousand light bulbs come on. They're not only on the palace itself, but are also on the gatehouses, the two nearby temple towers and the surrounding walls. The bulbs are fixed in strings along all the significant edges and corners of the buildings, and the result is very impressive. We notice when we get close-up to one of the gatehouses that a bulb has gone out. Thankfully these bulbs are not in series, like Christmas Tree lights, otherwise somone would have to go round testing each one to find the faulty bulb. We don't stay the whole hour, and head back to the hotel for a well-earned drink and meal.