On our final day in India, Vijendra and I decided to hire a driver and car to take us down to Mysore. Our driver was a very pleasant man with a wealth of knowledge about the Mysore and the sights we would see this day. As soon as we got outside of Bangalore, our driver suggested a light breakfast as it would be a 3 hour drive down to Mysore. We stopped at a small roadside cafe. We decided to eat out on the veranda. The meal consisted of a rice meal wrapped in a coconut leaf and steamed. Using a small spoon, you take scoops of this and dip it in one of 2 sauces; a sweet coconut milk sauce, or a red spicy sauce (I really enjoyed this one, though my lips were on fire by the time I'd finished!).

Once back on the road again, I ended up taking a random selection of pictures of either the landscape or people. Below you will find my view of the India countryside.

Now this was an interesting experience. While traveling to Mysore, I had repeatedly noticed people riding bicycles laden with coconuts. Our driver explained that they were taking them to market to sell for the coconut milk and meat. He said the milk was a very refreshing drink. He said that prior to reaching full rippness, the coconut contains a small amount of soft coconut meat. The harder meat we are accustom to develops much later in the rippening process. Along the way, we stopped one these gentlemen. He cut the top portion of the coconut, leaving a hole to drink from. Of course, trying to pour the milk out a hole into your mouth was a trick all in it's self. After drinking all the milk, the coconut was then cut in half and a natural spoon was fashioned from the inner core, allowing me to scoop out the wonderful meat.