Mysore

After a rest we went out to try and find a particular restaurant for lunch. We were heading for one only 200 metres away, but couldn't find it. This was because in our slightly befuddled state, we hadn't realised that the directions were from the front of the hotel and we had emerged from the back. A combination of lack of sleep and the date being the thirteenth perhaps.

The streets were appalling, broken pavements, incessant hooting traffic, smells of urine and litter everywhere. We found a bus station which gave us our bearings, and ended up eating in the themed restaurant of an upmarket hotel.

The theme was a jungle cave, but it was like dining in a coalmine. Very strange gloomy surroundings although the food was excellent.

Later in the evening we tried to find a market and failed again, but this time we went out of the front of the hotel across the dusty unmade road. It was a different world. The streets were pedestrian friendly with wide, even ( for India) pavements separated from the traffic.

Road intersections had statues in the centre and it was altogether more salubrious. Two sides of India in such a short distance.

We stopped for a beer in another upmarket hotel, then returned to eat supper at our own. The President hotel is primarily a business hotel, but it is situated only 700 metres from Mysore palace. It is a bit tired, but comfortable and the supper we ate was excellent.