Chennai to Margao

Friday 12: Bus to Chennai (Madras) then a pre-paid LPG powered rickshaw (45th mode of transport) through the city's fume-filled streets to the Central Station for a reserved sleeper in carriage S1 on the 2:10 pm Vasco Express sleeper (24 hours) and ordinary rickshaw to Margoa's (or Madgoan's) pretty Municipal Gardens in the forlorn hope of seeing the rugby in Clova's Tate Sports Bar in the evening. Saved, once again, by the BBC radio's on-line Six Nations rugby commentary.
Photos Chennai to Margao.

Pondicherry and Mamallapurum

Saturday 6 February: Officially Puducherry but to everyone else it's Pondicherry or simply Pondy. Old French colonial town with little to offer except cheap alcohol and a statue of Ghandi. No beach, no televised rugby and for 'Rue de la Canal' read 'Open Sewer Street' - bit like Calais in a heatwave. Saved by good old BBC Scotland's on-line rugby commentary.
Monday 8: Bus to delightful Mamallapuram. Lots to see and do - UNESCO World Heritage Site with excavated caves, sculptured and rock-cut temples, relief carvings plus a beach, lily-filled lake, good restaurants and plenty of low-budget accommodation - a backpacker destination.
Sea Shore Temple is just that. Arjuna's Penance an immense carved boulder - penance in Hindu meaning willingly suffering to subsequently receive Godly rewards. Not without humour a cat is also carved in penance as mice look on in amusement.
Five Rathes (chariots) Temple is remarkable in that it was chiseled from a single piece of stone and at two rupees the Sculpture Museum is worth every penny (about three pence). Photos of Pondicherry and Mamallapuram.

Trichy and Thanjavur

Wednesday 3 February: Arrived at Tiruchirappalli or as it is more popularly known Trichy. Local city bus no. 1 shuttles between the bus stand and the two main sights Rock Fort Temple and Sri Rangam Temple, the largest in India.

Thursday 4: Thanjavur's new bus station is a couple of miles from the old bus stand, clock-tower, temple, palace and the old city - fortunately bendy-bus (44th mode of transport) no. v74 plys a route between the two. Ashoke Lodge, a real find with red and cream exterior and comfortable squeaky-clean rooms. Brihadishwara Temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of carved honey-coloured sandstone. Nearby, the old Royal Palace has a great bell tower.
Photos of Trichy and Thanjavur.

Madurai

Tuesday 2 February: Modern city with an ancient Hindu temple dominating the skyline.
Dedicated to every man's dream but every woman's nightmare, the triple-breasted Goddess Meenakshi, it's a wonderful temple. If you only see one temple in India, make it this this one. The north tower alone has more than 1,500 stone-carved and painted figures. Thirumalai Naiker Palace nearby is also worth a stroll.
Photos of Madurai.

Kerala: Fort Cochin

Saturday 30 January: Netravathi Express sleeper north to Eranakulam with pretty Fanny Anduret who is heading to Gokarna beach on the Karnataka coast for a month's course in Theatre studies.
Short ferry-ride to Fort Cochin - no fort but lazy mix of Portuguese, Dutch and British Raj colonial styles. Huge cantilevered Chinese-style fishing nets line the shore while further inland whitewashed churches hide from the packs of cruise-liner tourists, groomed and tagged with coloured number badges like mixed-breed show dogs at a county fair.
At St Francis Church you can see the tombstone of Portuguese seafarer and explorer Dom Vasco da Gama who died of malaria here on Christmas Eve1524.
Pictures of Fort Cochin.
Monday 1 February: Semi-sleeper overnight bus (43rd mode of transport) to Madurai in Tamil Nadu state en-route to the tax-free former French colony of Pondicherry - hopefully to see the first round of the Six Nations rugby championship, especially Scotland v France on Sunday.

Kerala: Varkala

Thursday 21 January: At just 200 Rupees (about £2.70) a night, Yoga India House's basic twin-room with separate shower open to the blue palm-filled sky and spotless western-style loo fits the bill.

Great range of Arabian Sea seafood in the cliff-top restaurants - from big ugly weak-jawed but tasty Kingfish or Mahi mahi and delicate Pomfret to plump Tuna, sleek speckled Sea Salmon and snub-nosed Barracuda, Red, White and Black Snappers and gaping-mouthed Red Groupers, Red Mullet, smooth-skinned Butter fish, magnificent Blue Marlin and Shark - not to mention Crab, Lobster, Tiger, King and White prawns as well as Calamari and Octopus.
Enjoyed my relatively expensive (530 Rupees) La Reserve red, the great food, golden beach, rugged waves and a few Kingfisher Strong with Kaveh who liked the ice-cream, chocolate and banana based desert Hello to the Queen that you find on Indian menus.
Managed to catch a temple festival featuring Hindu men adorned as deities, some with huge flower-pot costumes, a parade of kids with candles and a string of decorated elephants.
Saturday 23: Day out to Kovalum's lighthouse beach with rougher waves and groups of Indian youths gawking at pink geriatric package-tourist flesh.

Tuesday 26: Day trip to Kollam for canoe-boat (42nd mode of transport) tour of Munroe Island's backwater canals. Saw canoe-building - planks jointed and lashed together with coconut-fibre rope then sealed with cashew-nut oil, rope-making from coconut husk fibres and various spice plants.
Thursday 28: Away day to Trivandrum zoo. Like most other places in India the old colonial name is still used rather than the new official name - Thiruvananthapuram - wonder why?
Goodby dinner with Swiss girl Fanny and Kaveh who was flying back to language school in icy Tajikistan via Bangalore, Delhi and Almaty in Kazakhstan.
Photos of Varkala and around.

Bangalore

Wednesday 20 January: Mid-morning when voluptuous French Fanny opened-up a fine ruby-red I knew I was in for a treat . . . and I got it in the form of the berry-fruit flavours of Grover Wine's Cabernet Shiraz.
India's IT capital - there is no need to dwell in Bengaluru (Bangalore's official name) - give the Hard Rock Cafe a miss, throw away your guide book and simply take the 285M bus from platform 23A of the City Bus Stand to Doddaballapur for a short rickshaw ride to Raghunathapura village and Grover Vineyard. But, e-mail Fanny Olivier in advance to visit the vineyard and tasting room.
Bought a Grover La Reserve at Spencer's supermarket in MG Road (Mahatma Gandhi Rd) in Bangalore. Established in 1992, incredibly, Grover's don't yet have a license to sell alcohol!
Photos of Bangalore area.
After dinner and few beers - a mad dash with Kaveh to just catch the 9:40pm Kanyakumari Express sleeper down south to Varkala in sleepy Kerala.

Hampi

Friday 15 January: Boulder-strewn landscape with a ruined city, ancient temples and thriving Hampi Bazzar on the banks of the fast-flowing Tungabhadra river.
Virupaksha Temple with its erotic carvings is the focus of the village while Vittala Temple is the tourist highlight with its hefty stone-carved chariot that would take a team of elephants to shift. Nearby are Royal palace and watchtower remains and the magical Tungabhadra where traditionally crafted coracles - woven with palm fronds covered with rice-sacking and painted with pitch - still ply their trade as fishing boats and passenger ferries.

Monday 18: Strolled along the river bank to Vittala Temple, took an UNESCO eco-friendly electric 'golf-buggy' (40th mode of transport) to the road junction, walked back to the scary coracle ferry (41st mode) to climb to 'Monkey Temple' on top of Anjanadri Hill. Great day out through rice paddy-fields, banana plantations and palm groves.
Tuesday 19: Great views from Mathanga Hill and thali lunch at Shiv Moon restaurant, typically chapatis, rice, dhal, a couple of vegetable dishes, spicy chutney, cool curd and sometimes a desert. Entertained by black-faced, long-tailed Langur monkeys dancing on the guesthouse roof.
More commercial than when I was here previously - the curse of UNESCO World Heritage Site status I suppose. Despite or maybe because of the ban of meat dishes and alcoholic drinks, Hampi is still an extraordinary place to visit.
Pictures of Hampi.
Bus back to Hospet for dinner and an ice-cold Kingfisher at Manasa restaurant, before boarding the 8:10pm Hampi Express sleeper to Bangalore.