Our stay in Bangalore also included sampling some of the leisurely delights of the city! One could choose from theatre, open air concerts, music concerts, the cinema, several art galleries, museums of ancient carvings as well as the entertaining museum of science and industry, parks, Tipu's Summer Palace, eateries, cocktail bars and cafes as well as a couple of film festivals.

The so called garden city has a couple of well maintained (albeit restricted access) gardens and public parks. Along with the cool cafe culture Sundeep was reminded of San Francisco... without the Bay! The gardens provided an oasis in the bustling city and we took refuge in Cubbon Park a couple of times. Lal Bagh had great views across the city, and both it and Cubbon Park was a haven for botanists. The trees in Lal Bagh were from across the continent(s) and we have a truly spectacular picture of the one that impressed us. Col was a bit disappointed with the topiary which involved prickly sparse bushes being trained around wire stencils. We were left guessing what some of them were. There was a Glass House modelled on Crystal Palace, but as neither of us had seen the original we left thinking it was a pretty, english looking park structure.

The photo albums provide a glimpse in to some of our expereinces. If there's one thing anybody visiting a city in India must do, it is to go along to the cinema to watch a popular Hindi film in the afternoon. We went to our local cinema to watch the crass Golmal Returns. The film lacked plot, the humour was juvenile and homophobic (a recurrent theme in a lot of Bollywood releases at the moment), but the audience participation made up for what otherwise would have been a cringy experience. There were resounding whoops, cheers and clapping every time a star came on screen; a good dance move and the cinema hall roared with appreciation and there was raucous laughter at the slightest hint of an innuendo. An entertaining afternoon, and one that we would like to repeat with a good film!

Highlights also included the couple of Film Festivals we happened to chance upon. The first was of award-winning South Asian documentaries and the second focused on how film, music, literature and culture are inherent parts of any resistance movements. Both provided a glimpse of film-making and critical thought in India.

The final week in Bangalore was rainy and limiting so we escaped up north to Hampi and stunning sunshine. We went on an overnight train where we happened to share a compartment with the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka state government and his wife. He invited us for a personalised visit to the impressive Vidhan Soudha - the grandgovernment building in the centre of Bangalore. Unfortunately, after Hampi we left Bangalore and made our way to the other end of the country - Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala - so we could not take him up on his offer... but maybe next time.

Whilst at Hampi we did the tourist trail. Hampi one day (sightseeing by rickshaw), Bijapur the next day (sightseeing on horse and tonga), a circular route around Badami, Aihole, Mahakuta, Pattadakal the following day (by car). The photos tell our story better than words.

We topped this magnificent sightseeing fest with the bus journey from hell, Badami to Hubli, where we were practically hitting our heads on the roof of the bus and desperately trying to keep our teeth in our mouths, each time it went over dirttracks (which went on for miles) and unseen speed breakers. The driver seemed a little too red-eyed and happy for somebody that had been driving for five hours and we were convinced it was more than just the frontal lobe damage from years of repeated whiplash that was keeping him so merry. We stopped along the way at a bus station and tried to switch buses with the complaint that he was driving too fast (and the certainty that we were going to die) and we insisted on seats at the front of the bus to survive the rest of the journey; all to no avail apart from a bizarre request from one of the station staff for a digital camera... obviously that request was not granted either.

We returned to a still wet and rainy Bangalore grateful to have our own space again and breathed a sigh of relief when two hours after getting off the train we finally got to our flat in muddy Bellandur... in one piece!