After working hard for a week in Hyderabad, Jim and I met up with another business contact—a man named Shiva working in Bangalore— for a little R&R in Karnataka. This was to be followed by two or three days of business with Shiva so he happily showed us around his home state. Our base of recreational operations was The Hotel Mayura River View outside of Mysore.

Getting there was one of the more harrowing experiences of my life. Driving at night on Indian roads is not for the meak. Dodging people, truck drivers all in differing mental states, choking on pollution and stopping suddenly every kilometer or two for an impromptu speedbump on the highway are all the easy parts! It was the 3 hours of the worst motion sickness I'd ever experienced sitting in the backseat of our Tata Motors SUV that nearly got the best of me.

When morning came and after I had six hours of good sleep, the spinning had stopped by I felt rather hung over. When I opened the door to my dwelling, this was the morning I was greated with. I grabbed my camera and crossed my fingers. The fresh country air never had smelled as sweetly.