we headed off to mysore for a night and some sightseeing after the sayc conference finished. we stayed in a really nice hotel and it had internet access which was a plus for me.

first stop was the temple on a hill top overlooking mysore. there were monkeys climbing around which was fun. we went in and it was interesting to see a hindu temple in action… i reflected on the conversation i had had with ganesh who wanted to set up a christian temple – i.e. without the idols but using the same kind of building and approach to prayer. i began to see how this might work.

there was another statue on the way down the hill of a huge bull with a priest offering prayers and incantations. we stopped in at the mysore cathedral and that got me thinking about the contrast this would be to the christian churches and worship we have encountered so far.

next stop the palace which was impressive. then on the way out we stopped at a bird sanctuary. this involved a boat trip where we were rowed round to see various groups of birds. the surprise came when we saw a crocodile on a rock in the sun. it was so still with his mouth wide open that at first we naively thought it was a statue. however careful inspection showed it was real when it blinked. the guide with us drifted the boat close to the rock. i was nearest to the croc and was filming in the back of the boat. i wasn’t fearful as i assumed the guide knew what he was doing but we were literally within 5 feet of the croc and the boat then got stuck on the sand bank. he then lazily got up and slithered into the water. it turned out that the rest of the boat were half expecting the croc to leap off the rock at me at any moment… we also drifted towards some bigger crocs on the other side of the river. this was an exhilirating experience – how many times do you get within 5 feet of a croc in the wild?!

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