8:00 I get up out of bed early enough to get breakfast. We head down to the main floor and pick up on the breakfast buffet.

9:30 We meet up with our guide is named Rom. He is very smart and incredibly nice. It turns out that Rom and I have many of the same musical interests (e.g. John Mclaughlin, Frank Zappa, and Rush.) He directs us to the government buildings and the Lalbaugh (Ruby) Gardens. After that he drives us to a Hindu temple with a big bull in it. In an adjacent temple we hear music and see a wedding procession approaching.

After a few other stops Rom takes us back to our hotel. I take his name and address and tell him that I'll try to send him some Frank Zappa or Rush albums that are not available in India.

12:30 After buying water and chocolate we are on our way to Mysore. It is about a three hour drive. The scenery is just as I would've imagined for a jungle in southeast Asia. I think it is very beautiful and relaxing. The weather is very cool and quite dry compared to anything we've experienced in the country thus far.

16:30 Arrive in the Southern Star (Quality Inn) in Mysore. Even though the hotels on this tour (the Romance of the Nilgiris tour) don't quite compare to those of the Golden Triangle tour (our tour of northern India,) they are all still very nice places.

Ember wants to see the town and I do as well so we walk down to a place called the Gandhi Square that has two restuarants we read about from our guide book. We first try the RRR. They gladly seat us, hand us a newspaper, and then resume talking amongst themselves, not even giving us another thought. After refering to our guide book we realize that this restaurant closes from 18:00 to 19:30 (what we would consider normal dining hours.) After a short discussion about how this restaurant isn't getting us very far we decide to head across the square to another place with the dining area up on the roof (which offers a great view of the square. We finally get to eat at a "local's only" restaurant with tradtional Indian dishes. The total cost for both of us is just under $3.00 USD.

On the way back to the hotel we run into a guy who says he has friends who do Henna art. Ember's a tad interested so we follow him through the streets and upstairs to a home dwelling. We take off our shoes and sit down on the couch. Four girls of different ages come out and begin talking to us. Two of them do the actual Henna art and, after letting Ember choose the designs she wants drawn on her arms, go right to work. The guy who lead us here isn't part of the family, but is like a brother to all of the girls. He is kind sleazy and it seems like his only desire is to become what he thinks an American is like - materialistic and self-centered. The girls, however, are very focused and down to earth. The fifteen-year old girl is training to become a tailor. The nineteen year old is studying economics at the local college and the seventeen and twenty-year olds have trained to do the Henna art. This is the first time we really get to sit down with a family and discuss their lives with them. They are all so interesting. We have been so lucky to see so many different faces and sidess of this country. They charge us 450 rupees for the art work but the conversation alone was worth that.

20:00 By the time we leave it is dark outside. We walk straight back to the hotel stopping just long enough to buy some bananas.

20:30 Hotel - Emma tells us that Rob (Ember's take) might have called. We have a great time teasing her about him. Rob is awesome.