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Last posting from Gwalior - we arrived in Bhopal Mon night after 16 hour train journey - stayed in an ex-palace overlooking the lake. Since then we've been doing the sights of Madhya Pradesh, Buddhist stupas at Sanchi, the oldest stone buildings in India (built by Ashoka 3rd C BC) then 'exquisite' temple in Udayapur - but 4 hours on cart tracks to get there, and Orchha, palaces and other 17th C ruins in Hampi type village. Today drove through Holi celebrants, covered in mostly purple paint, that looks difficult to get off - fortunately just had some village kids spraying us with water not paint. Seen some Jain temples and 'sky-clad' ie naked colossi and are due in Delhi Mon eve for flight home Tuesday. Happy Easter/Holi - see you all soon.

Hyderabad

A busy sightseeing week since the last post - starting with Mysore Maharajah's palace - a bit like a glorified version of the Royal Pavilion in Brighton - we had a whistlestop tour of Bangalore between trains en route. We've seen tons of temples and a few forts , the most impressive site being Hampi - huge 16th century abandoned city stretching over miles of bare rocky hills. We stayed at the site itself - in a atmospheric guesthouse with roof views over the ruins. Hampi's full of newagey types, but was actually very pleasant, even for aging hippies, despite 1-2 hour powercuts every evening. One of our modes of transport round the site was a coracle ride across the river - with 3 motorbikes and 10 people. Now onto Muslim architecture - much more restrained but on a grander scale, in Bijapur and now Hyderabad. Continuing north on Monday to Bhopal. Sorry no pics - we're on emergency (Indian) batteries.

Kochi (Cochin)

We've been doing Kerala in the approved fashion - cruise and overnight stay on a houseboat (private - just us chickens and three servants in proper Raj style) on the backwaters (miles of rivers, lakes and channels not unlike the Norfolk Broads, though with rice paddies, palm trees and sun). Then we stayed in a wildlife park in the hills - lots of animals and birds including an encounter with an elephant which was rather too close for our guide's peace of mind - he had us running away pretty fast. But once again no tigers, though we saw some pug marks and scratch marks on trees.

We're now in Kochi, which is a lovely place, full of spice shops and warehouses and some Dutch and Jewish architecture. There used to be a Jewish kingdom here in the midle ages, oddly enough, though the Jewish community is now very small - only 60 or so. It's also full of so-called Chinese fishing nets - complicated Heath Robinson contraptions for fishing from shore or platforms.

We're heading north now - next stop Mysore in Karnataka on another interminable train ride, via Bangalore.