Back in Delhi

I've been all over the map these last few days. Saw some more awesome Hindu temples built in the 12th and 13th centuries in Hassan. They are covered with unbelievably intricate carvings which surpass anything I've seen this far. By this time, the artists were at their pinnacle and it really shows. They were working with soapstone which comes out of the ground soft and gradually hardens in the air. I guess that's how they managed to get such fine detail into their work.

Then we were off to Mysore, which is the nicest city I've seen here. Wide, tree-lined streets and clean, too. I was supposed to see the world's largest monolithic statue on the way, but when I found out that you have to climb 500 stairs to see it, I vetoed that idea! Who's idea was it to put the thing up there, anyhow?

Mysore is called the 'City of Palaces' and it does have some beauties. I went into one that was built by the last maharaja in 1912 and it was quite a place indeed. Like Mel Brooks said, its good to be the king. At least I think it was him who said it. Mysore is one of the few places you can buy genuine sandalwood products, so I got some there at the palace's gift shop.

We went up to the top of Chamundi Hill to see the Parvati Temple, which is still in use. Boy, was it ever! I think there was about a million devotees there. It was quite a scene. I took the opportunity to refresh myself with another coconut juice cocktail and enjoyed the pandemonium around me.
On the way down the hill, I saw a wild mongoose enjoying some roadkill! Big deal for me. After all, when was the last time you saw a mongoose in the road?

Finally, I saw the ruined fort of Tipu Sultan, aka the Tiger of Mysore. It seems sometime after we got done kicking the arse of General Lord Cornwallis, King George sent him to India to get on Tipu's case. Didn't go so well for Cornie here, either. It took four wars against ol' Tipu before the Brits finally killed him and subjugated his sons. But he put up one hell of a fight! Fact is, if the Brits weren't preoccupied with their problems in India, they might have sent more troops to America, and we never would have beat them. As King George put it, when the manor house is on fire, you don't concern yourself with extinguishing the outhouse.

Believe it or not, I stayed in a Howard Johnson's in Mysore. And no, the roof was not orange.

Due to a minor error in my itinerary, I'm back in Delhi a day early. No biggie. Flew up here on Kingfisher Airlines, which is owned by the Kingfisher Beer magnate. Oddly enough, they don't serve beer onboard! But their service was first rate. I was met at the airport entrance and personally escorted through the check-in and security procedures by an airline rep and put on the plane ahead of everyone else. I asked him why I was getting such special service and he said "Because you are from America". He told me earlier that America is his "dream country". You gotta love these people.

So this afternoon, I went to the National Museum and saw some cool artifacts from around 3000 B.C., as well as a lot of other things. I love old stuff like that. Guess it makes me feel young.

Tomorrow, I get to sightsee around Old Delhi, which should be fun.

My Delhi driver is a nice fella named Mahesh. (I wish they'd get easier to remember names here, like Joe or Bob). His hometown is up north in the foothills of the Himalayas and he invited me to stay there with him and his family the next time I come to India. Turns out I have an open day on thursday and noticed that the Russian circus is in town, so invited my driver and his family to go to the circus with me.

I'm really looking forward to returning home, if not the flight to get there.

Later