Countdown to Delhi (Indus Pride, UB Export, Kingfisher Octoberfest Can)

MYSORE-A LTTLE STRANGE GOINGS ON

The bus journey to Mysore was fine. The bus journey leaving Mysore was a whole different kettle of fish which I will come to a little later.

The town was an interesting place to visit especially the Devaraja Market, with its colourful displays of cone shaped powder paints and the making of incense sticks.

Powder Paints on display

The Market Place

Making Incense Sticks

The one major tourist site was the Mysore Palace. Fantastic grounds and building, which are illuminated with a million light bulbs in the evening. The interior was a mixture of magnificent paintings, historical objects and gold leaf. Overall a great insight into the area’s history even if you had to climb over the what seemed like a million visitors as well as bribe a policeman on entry to be able to leave our camera in our rucksack.  


Mysore Palace



A Temple inside the Palace Grounds



As stated in this blogs title Mysore was a little strange and at times eerie. While walking around the streets Kate had a feeling that we were being watched and followed. People were telling us about an incense making competition and then at another part of town the same people would stop us to tell us the same thing. We took a moment to look around and the same people were following us at every turn. Later we found out from a rickshaw driver that this was one of the biggest scams in Mysore. They direct tourists off the beaten track to then rob them of their belongings, what a lucky escape. It’s a good job we are always over cautious.

Everybody's Watching!!!

Time to head for Hampi on what we thought was a regular deluxe semi-sleeper bus. How wrong we were!!!

Police Traffic Offences. Unbelievable. That explains why the next bus driver didn't bother with roads!

HAMPI-GRAVITY DEFYING BOULDERS (RELIGION PUTS A STOP TO BEER,BUT HAVE NO FEAR)

It had been so far so good in terms of travel around India up until this point. The bus last night ended up being the worst journey ever. Our first mistake thinking that we had booked a semi sleeper bus. It turned out to be a local bus or should I say a bench on wheels. We just couldn’t believe the bus when we clasp eyes on it. A tear was shed but we had no option but to get on board. The journey was 12 hours of hell through the night bouncing along dirt tracks, where you couldn’t sleep in case you fell off your seat. It was packed and to make matters worse we also had to worry about our luggage which was underneath the bus with a pin holding the door shut.

We survived the journey, and realised what a mistake we had made when the locals on arrival asked what we were doing on there. Apparently we were the only westerners they had ever seen get off that particular journey. They were just so puzzled. Why didn’t we get the train again?

The journey was worth it once we made it to Hampi a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The landscape was beautiful made up of huge boulders balancing upon each other. There was plenty to see walking through the hillside seeing the old temple ruins, banana plantations, rice paddies, small villages and the Monkey Temple. In the village was the Lakshmi Temple that had a temple elephant named Lakshmi who bathed every morning in the river.

Lakshmi Temple

Amazing Hampi

How do they do that?

Lakshmi's morning bath in the river

Monkey Temple. Oh NO!

Overhead views of Hampi

After weeks of travelling in quite isolated places it was great to meet and latch onto Rich and Tony from Milton Keynes and Paul from America. The town was dry of alcohol so our fun was cards and large amounts of moist chocolate cake while hitting the town but was a great place to kick back and relax.

Nutters! Who jumps into a lake with signs saying. No SWIMMING Crocodiles?

Just hanging out, taking the weight off

Anyone for game 50 of S**t Head?

We do love MOIST (my new favourite word) chocolate cake!!!

I might have said that the town was dry but that doesn’t mean our room was. We still had the beer samples purchased in Bangalore to taste, once chilled in a sink of cold water.

INDUS PRIDE, brought to you by SabMiller is a 100% malt beer made using aroma hops and the finest malt, giving it a rich and vibrant taste said to be suited to the Indian palate. Brewed longer at 18 days helps to bring out the rich malty flavours with a clean head and form alongside a nice sunshine yellow colour liquid

Most beers use a combination of sugar, maize or rice with malt. So instead of around 65 % malt you are allowed to relish the true taste of a 100 % malt!  Indus Pride, with its 100% malt content, gives the beer a rich flavour and aroma with plenty of depth. Especially with an Abv of 4.8%

Indus Pride

UB EXPORT,  is Karnataka’s home grown brand and for decades, people of Karnataka have loved and respected this brand as one of their own. It was stopped in production but has undergone a revamp in recent times. With the emphasis being stylish packaging for a male core target market, age 21-35 years. It has also been endorsed by a local film star to take it to the masses. So locked away in my hotel room after chilling it in the sink (Not perfect). Here is my view. Served out of a 330ml bottle and not exceeding 5% Abv. Light golden colour. Clear with a dense white head.  It held a sweet and light soapy aroma with some fruits noticeable but in the end rather bland. The flavour was light, grassy with a hint of citrus fruit with a thin body and not much of  bitter hoppy finish. I could see it as an OK holiday blonde lager if served extremely cold.

UB Export

KINGFISHER OCTOBERFEST 2010 LIMITED EDITION CAN, and thats about it. The liquid was Kingfisher Premium Lager. More about the rather snazzy can and the fact that Kingfisher do hold an annual Octoberfest. Imagine that...

Kingfisher Octoberfest 2010 Limited Edition Can

HYDERABAD OR CYBERBAD (BEERS OF THE SOUTH DONE)

Making our way to Delhi for the 16^th October to meet Kathryn and Danny meant a pit stop in Hyderabad for a day, to make sure we were on time for the 31 hour train journey direct to New Delhi Station.

It didn’t mean we had nothing to do. We visited the Muslim district to see the Charminar and the vibrant bazaars, as well as the park to view the giant Buddha statue in the middle of Lake Hussain Satar. We also visited the shopping district finding the Ruci & Idoni Supermarket which was very cool winning the award for Best World Interior Design at the London Retail Awards.

Charminar

Muslim District Bazaar

Giant Buddha in the Lake

As always we got lost in the streets. This now seems to be a common theme. This is not always a bad thing but we got stuck at night and didn’t fancy walking around a new city we didn’t know. Have to keep safe and for once we couldn’t get a rickshaw. Rush hour traffic was unbelievable and even though you usually fight the drivers off all day when you need one there is none to be found. Ce La Vie!!!!

Getting lost in yet another Major City

So South India pretty much done. We now head north to Delhi, the Capital. Looking forward to seeing what all the horror stories from other travellers have been about, especially 2 days after the Common Wealth Games. It was the closing ceremony on TV the night before we departed Hyderabad. Quite disappointing we didn’t get the chance to experience the games.



Welcome to Second Class Sleeper by India Railway

Look at the state of me! Only 29 more hours to go. God it's hot in here!!!

The second class sleeper train to Delhi was great even if it took 30 hours. Maybe the nightmare of Mysore to Hampi was still at the front of our mind. The train was on time and we had lots of space to relax and read while enjoying our snacks of cheese sandwiches. Lots of sleeping also helped. 30 hours no problem!!! Bring on the north.