Jan 28
We've a long coach drive today, from Ooty to Mysore in southern Karnataka. The distance is only 150kms but the road is steep and windy, and badly maintained. However the scenery is exceptional and we make regular pee and tea stops. On the way down we pass through the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary and the Bandipur National Park which together cover an area of 1195 sq kms. Traffic is restricted through the parks and we have to stop at a checkpoint to get in. There's wildlife quite close to the road and as expected we see deer and monkeys, but we don't expect to see elephants or tigers. To our surprise, we suddenly see a group of five wild elephants and our driver stops for photography. The elephants seem unperturbed by our presence or of other road traffic, and we get plenty of photos. It was certainly the highlight of the day. The tigers were hiding in the undergrowth.......???

Because we've been unable to get to an internet terminal we've a backlog of photos and diary to load onto our web site. Once we get to Mysore we find an internet café, and it takes us a full 2 1\2 hours to get it all loaded on.

The hotel is a very good standard, but we still get interesting and unusual service standards. In the restaurant in the evening we're dining as a group of seven with members of the tour group. Two receive their starter but none of the others arrive for a full fifteen minutes. When the other starters arrive, we receive our main course at the same time, so Sarah waves it away and tells the waiter in no uncertain terms that we're not ready for it yet. Once the meal is over, the head waiter is keen to make it known that he specifically instructed the kitchen to "cancel" the returned meals and got them to prepare new ones. He asks Sarah to complete a satisfaction survey, which she does, including correcting the spelling and grammar on the form. She writes "All dishes should be brought to the table at the same time so that guests can enjoy their meals together". The mark was 5/10 for service and "please see me after school"...