Woke up at about 7 after what was generally a good nights sleep. I can confirm a laptop and an EOS1d Mk4 make a good pillow. The train was full of new people who were crouched on the bottom bunks waiting for people to wake up so the bunks could be put away and turned back into seats. I got up and converted the bunk and then decided that as I had three hours still to go I would go and sit in the doorway of the train. The trains here basically run with the doors open and you can stand or sit in the doorway and watch the world go by. It is a great way to see the country. It was a really nice way to spend the rest of the journey.

This part of India is so green. There were people working the fields and I got a glimpse of the life they lead living and working on the rivers and in the fields The Indian population is extremely hard working and many processes are still manual. The fields were being worked by hand. It was a great way to spend a couple of hours.

Train arrived almost on time and the rickshaw to the hotel was quick and easy. Less than 48hrs after my camera broke it was sorted and I was back to cover the match in Kochi. All in all a fun adventure. Time for a shower, a change of clothes and a snooze before the game.

This was our last match in Kochi and with a 16:00 start it was the hottest. The heat and humidity were terrible. Everyone just baked in the sun and I just sat with sweat pouring down my face for four hours. Not much fun but the match was good and the team got some good shots.

During IPL 2 in SA back in 2009 I met a journalist, Mathew, and we had agreed to meet up after the match for supper. We met at the hotel and went to a restaurant at another hotel for supper. The Kerala prawn curry was fantastic and we had a good evening. Thanks Mathew it was great to see you again.

Finally bed at about 00:30 and three and a half hours sleep. Up at 4 tomorrow, or later today, for the flight to Chennai. Today was my last day in Kochi but I would love to return and explore this state.

Cities Visited: Bangalore – Kochi

Tried anything new? Kerala Prawn curry with coconut. Dinner with an old friend. Sitting in an open doorway of a train watching the world go by

Total flights so far: 14

Trains so far 1

No rush this morning as the part was not due to arrive until around 11am. My top priority was to work out how I was to get back to Kochi in time for tomorrow’s match. If the part arrived at 11 it would not be ready until about 14:30 and taking everything into consideration that would probably be 16:00 anyway. So figured I could book a late evening flight. No chance. The last flight to Kochi is at 16:20 and there is no way I would make that. OK so I looked early the next morning. It would mean staying another night in Bangalore but I would be there on time. There was a flight that would suit my needs but it was Rs25000. I had only paid Rs3700 to get to Bangalore so that seemed a bit ridiculous. The only other viable option was the train. There were two trains to choose from and I went for the 21:40 one this evening. It arrived at 10:00 tomorrow. Plenty of time to get to the stadium for the 16:00 match. I couldn’t book the ticket online so I went to the station. You have to complete a reservation request form before you can buy a ticket.

In SA or England you simply say to the ticket guy that you would like a ticket to wherever, pay him and he prints it. In India you have to complete a form and you need to know the train number and the name of the station. So saying the 21:40 from Bangalore to Kochi is not good enough you have to ask for train number 16526 departing at 21:40 from Bangalore City Station to Ernakulam You also have to provide your ID number and address etc. All very confusing and time consuming. Anyway I completed the form and the guy asked for the money. Rs257 for sleeper class. That is about R40 for a 600km trip in sleeper class.

Had I stayed over and caught the flight in the morning I would have had to pay for another evening meal, the hotel, taxi to airport and the flight. Even with a flight at the cheapest option my total cost for the extra night would have been about Rs15000. My actual cost was Rs100 Auto trip to station and Rs257 for ticket plus Rs150 for food for the journey. Result!

So now I had a plan and could spend the day in Bangalore waiting for the camera to be fixed. There was a match that evening in the city and it was being covered by another team so I thought I would hook up with them during the day and go to the match in the evening as a spectator. Prashant and Saikat were doing a couple of head shots at the team hotel so I gate crashed.

I knew the name of the hotel where I needed to meet the guys and I knew it was close by but I did not have the address. So I got hold of an Auto driver who quoted me Rs50. That was fine and so off we went. I had half an hour to get to the hotel which was no more than 2km away. Surely no problem. Anyway it turned out the driver did not know where the hotel was and we ended up going round in circles for ages. The driver then started shouting at me saying I should know where I wanted to go and that it was my fault. We eventually find the hotel and of course he wants more money. When I refuse he gets very animated and calls me a cheat. I tried to explain that I don’t know the city and when I asked for the hotel you were very willing to help and quoted a price but he was not interested and stormed off .

These guys are strange. They hassle you all the time as you walk along and then when you get where you are going they often demand more money. I understand they are on a low income but it would be much more pleasant if we could just agree a price and not have to re-negotiate at the other end. I have taken to paying the exact fare and just walking off. It gets rid of the “no change issue”

It was really good to meet the guys and be able to have a chat. They are great guys and I am lucky to be working with them. Once the head shots were done they headed for their hotel and to prepare for the match.

I now had the afternoon to myself so I headed back to Brigade Rd. It’s one of the main shopping roads in Bangalore with all designer shops mixed with locally supplied cheaper goods. It has a good vibe with bars and restaurants and lots of locals mixed with a few tourists. I wandered around for a while and was surprised to see more beggars than usual. The poor and the disabled are many in India and you are always approached for food or money more so because you are a “westerner” and therefore have money. The very fact you can afford to travel to India means you have money. Today however there were many more people with missing limbs or fingers. I have experienced this before many times in India but today it was overload. It’s really quite sad to see people suffering from leprosy or other inflictions and having literally no fingers. Holding their hands out and asking for money. Incredible thoughts run through your mind about the way they live and how their existence must be. It makes me sad.

Mrs Rukmin called and said the camera would not be ready until 6pm and so I went to their offices for about 5:30. I had had enough of traipsing around Bangalore.

Camera fixed so off to the match. I would have about an hour there with the guys and I would get to meet Parth. It was good to spend some time with him, albeit briefly, and to see the guys before I left for the train.

More fun with Auto drivers as he took me to the wrong station even though I showed him my train ticket. The station I needed was too far and he did not want to go there however begrudgingly he took me and when we eventually got to the right station he wanted more money.

Bought some supplies for the trip, water, food etc and also a blanket as in Sleeper class all you get is a bunk. Then boarded the train. Train travel is great fun. You get to meet people and you see far more of the country as you wind your way through it. The guy opposite me took out his tiffin with his supper, lemon rice, and insisted I joined him so he used the lid as a plate and we ate together.

That was really nice of him and is just another example of how hospitable the Indians are. Although there are many frustrations here I have never experienced a more welcoming people before. When you remove yourself from the touts and the Auto drivers and the guys selling tat on the streets and the beggars the Indian people are warm and extremely generous.

That night as I climbed into my bunk and tried to sleep with the rumbling of the train, whirring of the ceiling fans and the chatter of the other travelers mixed with the on train vendors selling chai and other delicacies. I had my little bag and a bottle of water and the most expensive pillow on the train

Cities Visited: Bangalore

Tried anything new? Sleeper Class on Indian Rail

Total flights so far: 14

Trains so far 1

Woke up to some good news. I had an email telling me that there was a Canon repair center in Kochi. Great, things might be easy after all. Waited for a while before phoning them to check if they could help. The woman who answered the phone was kind and polite but I have to admit that I became concerned when she asked if an EOS1D Mk4 was a digital SLR camera.

Any way it turned out that the office in Kochi was really just a drop off and pick up centre. All repairs are done in Bangalore. So I started calling the people in Canon I had been given details for. They had all received my email, some even last night but nothing had happened to try and resolve the issue. I asked if there was a loan camera I could use and was told that there was not. In fact Canon only sell a couple of Mk4 in the south of India and so there was no stock available. The only option was to get the camera to Bangalore where they could fix it. So checked flights and there was one in a couple of hours. Just enough time to get it and I would be in Bangalore by half three. Hopefully the camera would be repaired and I could be back this evening. Tried to book the flight online but for emergency travel foreign cards are not accepted. So wasted about half an hour sorting the flight out. Eventually asked Shuaib the travel agent I had been using to sort it and he did. Thanks Shuaib. So I jumped in a cab and headed for the airport in double quick time. The driver was great although the trip was a little scary at times. Made it onto the flight and headed for Bangalore. I took just my laptop and camera. Nothing else as I was hoping to be back that evening. Got to the Canon offices and they confirmed it was the shutter that would need to be replaced. The camera had fired off 120,000 frames in the six months I had it. Obviously I have been a busy boy! Mrs Rukmini and Mathew were excellent and said they would give my camera top priority and it would be fixed as soon as possible. They also offered to do the work under warranty so not cost to me. Great service and a very welcoming team.

I would have to wait overnight as the part was to come from Mumbai or Delhi. So there I am in Bangalore with only a laptop and a cellphone. I found a hotel right in the centre of town and basically had nothing to do and no camera to do it with. The other teams had matches and so I could still work with my laptop but basically I had 24hrs with nothing to do. It was early evening by this time and so I went for an early supper. Tried Indian Nandos and it was really good. I then headed for Pub World which was just round the corner from my hotel to watch the cricket.

Crazy. The pub shuts at eleven and last orders are at 10.30 so everyone missed the end of the match. Why didn’t they extend the opening hours to get the whole match in?

Next to my hotel was another bar so I thought I would try that. It turned out to be more of a nightclub so gave up on the cricket and stayed there a while.

Finally made it to bed at about 1am. Hopefully tomorrow will bring good news.

Cities Visited: Kochi – Bangalore

Tried anything new? Emergency trip to get camera fixed/ Indian night club

Total flights so far: 14

There have been a few days in between my last ramblings and so there is much to catch up on.

Monday was match day so the day itself was pretty quiet and then we headed off to the stadium of the match between CSK and Pune. The tournament is shaping up nicely with teams changing fortune with every match. The only really consistent team is The Mumbai Indians. Some teams performed badly to start with and are now coming good and others were doing well and are now not. I have almost given up predicting the winners. And I used to be quite good at it. Anyway CSK won the match and head off to their second encounter with Pune in Mumbai in a few days with the upper hand.

Tuesday I left early for Kochi. Our next match was scheduled for the 27th and so I wanted to be in Kochi to cover the training at the stadium. Kochi is so green. As you come into land the surrounding countryside is lovely. Rivers and waterways wind their way through the forest and it just looks awesome. It would be great to mountain bike through the forest.

Kochi is HOT. It is an incredible heat. I am not sure why but the heat hits you as soon as you leave the plane. It is a type of heat I have never felt before. Not really sure I could live here. It is also humid. The training session was not until 18:30 but even then it was so humid that you can stand completely still, only breathing and work up a sweat. Not Nice!

Headed for the hotel and had some supper. Mutton and coconut. Sounds a bit weird but was actually very nice. Coconut features heavily in the food of Kerala and the chicken curry is so full of flavour.

Today was match day. Vino andJacques arrived and we had breakfast at the hotel. I spent the day doing admin and just basically running my business. Albeit from a distance. The stadium in Kochi is huge. It’s actually really nice and very well lit for night matches. There was an awesome sunset with the sky turning orange whilst at the stadium. Orange is Kochi’s colours and so even the sky was supporting the home team.

What can I say about the match? Well it started off pretty average with the Chargers really not doing very well. To be honest I was pretty sure they would lose. Until the Tuskers came in to bat. Wickets fell so fast I could wire the images fast enough. At one stage they were 6 runs for 5 wickets. Unbelievable. Ishant Sharma took a five wicket haul for 12 runs. MOM for sure.

It was the worst performance I have seen at IPL so far although statistically not the worst ever.

Towards the end of the match my Canon EOS1dMk4 decided it would retire and the shutter picked up a fault. Error code 30. Thankfully it was after Ishant had done his business on the field. So I have one faulty camera and am in a small town in India with about 36 hours until the next match. I have the contact details for the Canon guys here so I emailed them. It was almost midnight though so will have to wait until morning to see what I can do. Hopefully a speedy repair or a loan body from Canon.

Headed for the hotel and collapsed at about 2am. We are supplsed to be going to thje elephant training centre tomorrow but I feel I will be trying to fix a camera instead.

Cities Visited: Chennai – Kochi

Tried anything new?

Total flights so far: 13

Today is Easter Sunday. The day should be spent with family and friends, Easter egg hunts and a family meal round a big table. But not this year. Spent the morning just chilling at the hotel and then had Pune and Superkings training sessions in the afternoon. A quiet day really. Managed to skype home in the evening and chat with Deb and Toby. Next year we will have a lot of fun.

It’s funny when you are away for so long. You tend to miss things that if you were at home you probably wouldn’t be doing anyway. Your mind plays tricks on you and you think something like, I could be off to the beach right now, or I could be sorting the garden. Often these are the things you put off or don’t do as often as you probably should.

So what do I really miss?

The quiet – We live in a very quiet neighbourhood and you can sit in the garden and sometimes hear nothing at all. People very rarely walk down our road and only the residents drive there.

Cooking – Deb will laugh at this because if we are not having a braai I normally cook Indian food.

Having a base – I miss the office, somewhere to sit and think. To work out plans and schedule the year. A hotel room is not the same.

Home – The comfort of a place that is yours. You can do whatever you want, relax, work, chill, listen to music, whatever. There is no feeling like being in your own place. Being on tour is a lot like staying with friends. You can do all of the things I mentioned but the feeling of being in your own place is just not there.

The sea and the drive to work – Cape Town is incredibly picturesque and the drive from home to base is amazing with the sea and the mountains.

The fridge – Anything I want is available here but you have to make a call and wait or go out to the shops. It’s always great to sneak into the larder and raid the fridge when you are hungry.

These are the silly things that I miss. Ultimately it’s family that I miss the most.

Cities Visited: Chennai

Tried anything new? Not today

Total flights so far: 12

Well there seems to be quite a gap between some of the home games for some teams. The structure of the tournament has it that teams go on the road for a few games and then have a few games at home. This is the away time for the team where I am based so I have had a few days to chill. My next match is on the 25th in Chennai.

The team seem to be settling in to their roles well and the images keep coming. We have a total of 8000 captioned images on line so far and we are only a third of the way through. In comparison during IPL 2 that we covered in SA we only uploaded 9000 images in total. This is the most extensive photographic coverage of any IPL season. The archive we are building for BCCI over all forms of the game stands at about 50000 images. All captioned and available as high res downloads from their online archive.

So three days in Chennai and apart from picture desk duty in the evening and trying to organise the head shots for players who have been drafted in as injury replacements my time was my own.

This morning I went to visit St George’s Cathedral. It is a funny building, not like a church at all. Inside it was lovely to experience the peace and quite. To be left alone and have no one asking you form money.

Today by coincidence is St George’s day so it was quite appropriate really.

After an hour or so I decided to walk to Marina beach. The walk is about 3km and so I put the headset on and set off. Chennai has a lovely feature. Many of the walls along the roadside are painted with murals. There is very little graffiti and the art is really very good. So my walk was very pleasant watching the people of the city rushing along all seemingly in a hurry to get somewhere. Then I met my first Auto driver. I really never knew I had so many Indian friends. “Hello my friend, which country? You want to go to the beach, temple, sightseeing, only 1 hour. Come I take you” Only Rs10. One even claimed he would do it for free. Nothing is ever free. Especially not in India. After a while I got bored with the banter and so I turned the headphones up and just ignored them. Next time I may pretend not to speak English and claim I am from China. Wonder if they will notice.

Chennai boasts the longest beach in Asia, some say the world. The water is warm and the beach is soft sand. Ideal to relax and enjoy. The current is strong and it is said that only the best swimmers should venture out. I had briefly visited the beach last year and this morning I went back for another look. One end is quiet and you can walk alone. The other end is packed. There are thousands of people of all ages playing in the sand, eating lunch, swimming and jumping the waves. There are also hundreds of stalls and stands. These stands sell everything you can think of, fast food, clothing, seashells, drinks, plastic wares, shoes. The list goes on. There are also fun stands, like you find at the fair, where you can pop balloons to win prizes or stand and have your picture taken with a cardboard cut-out of your favourite Bollywood star. All in all it’s a fun place to go. It’s just a shame about the rubbish. The popular end is just full of rubbish. It seems that it is perfectly acceptable to simply throw your rubbish on the floor. People do it all the time everywhere. It is the norm. It is also such a shame. This is a beautiful country. There are some incredible sights and yet everywhere you go there is trash. I don’t see it changing. It must be almost impossible to change the mindset of over a billion people.

After my long walk and some time on the beach I headed back to the hotel. Had a shower and some lunch. The heat and humidity here mean that I seem to spend most of my time in wet clothes. It reminds me of summer in Durban.

In the early evening I went for a walk down a road that is almost opposite my hotel. I was driven down it earlier by my Auto driver on the way back and wanted to go on foot.

The road is a mini slum. On one side there are work sheds where people repair Auto’s and two wheelers etc. The other side is small dwellings and shacks. It seems that the people that live here have absolutely nothing. They exist on the street. Their lives are public in every way. I have to admit that I was a little concerned when taking my camera out. I would be the obvious target. I had no need to worry. The people welcomed me. They posed for pictures and they invited me into their homes. The all smiled, even the ones without teeth. It truly is amazing that people that live like this can be so happy. I get fed up about little things and allow it to affect my day. It’s ridiculous really when put into context.

Back to the hotel, yes I know a nice cosy hotel with aircon and a TV and beer and food a phone call away. Anyway, it was evening time so a match to work on pics from. As it turned out a fantastic match the highest opening partnership of IPL, the two highest scores of IPL and some fantastic batting action. The Daredevils finally came good and beat the Kings XI

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday

Cities Visited: Chennai

Tried anything new? Experiencing the welcoming nature of people that outwardly have nothing

Total flights so far: 12

Up at 4am – jeepers this is getting repetitive – for the flight to Chennai. This time however we left on time. I was travelling on my own so I booked a cab. The usual two cell-phones and the hotel wake up call did the rest

The flight was fine and we seemed to come into Chennai in a different was as we flew over the stadium. It really is an awesome stadium and I have to say it is still my favourite.

There is a definite routine to things now as I have visited all the cities and venues that I will be covering in the league stage. The car was as usual an old ambassador and the doorman at the hotel smiled at me like an old friend. Even the bell boy said hello Mr Ron from IPL.

These early mornings and late nights ere killing me so I decided to take the morning to myself. I caught up on some paperwork and then headed off to see a Jain temple. It was only a few kms away so I walked through the streets of Chennai like a real tourist. Some of the areas I visit are so far off the tourist norm that I am the only white person there. I cause quite a stir in my shorts and polo shirt, trying to look casual and almost to fit in but failing 100%. Maybe because no one here wears shorts apart from the tourists.

One of the most complicated logistical operations I have ever been involved with has been sorted. All the shooters are hitting the venues. They are on time and in the right place. Cool.

This is the most expensive part of the project and as I say the most complicated. To ease the burden I employed a local travel agent who did all the bookings and negotiated a discount based on the quantity of travel and accommodation nights. They have invoiced me for part of the fee and the balance is due later on in the tournament. So I do an online, overseas payment via the bank and it is refused. It takes 48 hours for the payment to be refused. Due to money laundering regulations payments over a certain figure have to be approved. The invoice I have is a pro-forma invoice and so does not detail all the travel. The bank want everything on the invoice, names, dates, costs, hotels, flights and airlines before they will accept it. So the phone rings and the bank want info.

Quiet morning shattered I return to the hotel to make the necessary arrangements and send the info.

It takes all day to sort. Loads of phone calls and emails and BBM messages before finally at about 6pm Indian time it is resolved and the payment is made.

These banks are impossible. In SA they charge for everything. So much so that they even charge you a percentage to pay your money IN TO the bank. Unreal!!

So now we can almost relax. There are two games today, one in Mumbai and one in Kolkata. I am on picture desk duty so keep an eye on the pics coming in and make sure everything is running smoothly. We have an issue on the site at the moment with there being a delay in images going live and thumbnail generation. I have requested for this to be resolved many times but there is a delay in communication with the US and so I have to make each image live as it is uploaded.

Finally with two really close games the day ends and I am ready for bed at 01:00

Tomorrow will be a lot quieter as there is only one match in the evening.

Cities Visited: Chennai

Tried anything new? A new beer 6000 it’s called. Not very nice, almost a sweet flavour.

Total flights so far: 12

Another early flight. Up at 5am after getting to bed at about 3am. The rain delay at the game last night caused chaos with timings. We got back to the hotel at about 2.15am in the end. I can’t just switch off. Whenever I do a late game or a soccer match I need time to relax and stop thinking about images and the website. It means that often I am up until very late. On this occasion, not a good idea as the early flight is a killer at the best of times. So front desk told to call me, two cell phone alarms set five minutes apart. Taxi/ Auto booked. What could go wrong? Well luckily enough I was up in time and ready for the off. A bit Zombie like but, there in body if not mind. Vino struggled a little more on this occasion and so we eventually left about half an hour after our scheduled departure. Luckily the Auto driver was a friend of Vino’s and so he pushed it all the way. Jacques is booked on a later flight as he joined the team some way into the tournament. This of course meant that he could have a lie in. Some bad planning there I think.

The flight was fine and we landed on time. Got the usual taxi service to the centre of Bangalore and dropped Vino off on the way.

Time to have breakfast, a shower and a snooze before tonight’s match. There is actually quite a lot of admin to do for the tournament as well as running the other side of the business. There are other clients to keep happy and other photographers to manage and keep track of. So the afternoon was spent doing what I do every day in SA whilst waiting for the match this evening.

I had arranged with Vino that we would leave for the stadium at 18:15 however it has been pouring with rain all afternoon so I was not really sure if there would even be a match.

Then suddenly at about 17.10 I get an sms. The next hour would be crazy. It was the kind of message that could mean nothing and yet could mean so much. On this occasion it set a whole chain of events in motion and meant that for the next couple of hours life would be a little unsettled.

Let me explain.

The text message read:

“I am yet to track our friend Jacques. Don’t know where he has gone”

Now the night/ morning before the team had chatted about the fact that Jacques was to catch a later flight and so we agreed that he would catch the shuttle bus into Bangalore on arrival and Vino would pick him up from the bus terminal. Great. Easy plan, nothing could go wrong.

Unless that is you change a plan and don’t tell everyone. On the way to the airport it was suggested that as Jacques had not been to Bangalore before Vino would collect him from the airport instead of the bus terminal. The Auto driver that took us to the airport was the same guy who would transport Jacques so he was asked to make sure Jacques knew of the change of plan.

So at 17.10 the text message comes in. Vino had been to the airport. No Jacques. Vino went to the bus terminal. No Jacques. Where was Jacques? Jacques has no cell phone, no internet and has never been to Bangalore so doesn’t know the city.

Any way to cut a long story short Jacques was not told of the change of plan so he did as agreed and got to the bus terminal. By the time Vino had left the airport to get to the bus terminal Jacques had given up waiting and got an Auto to the cricket stadium. Of course in the mean time there are calls to the airline, calls to SA, text messages and emails sent. Questions to be answered: Did Jacques board, was the flight on time, was it diverted. The airline insisted all was OK. So the only thing we all have in common is the cricket so with no way of communication all we could do is head to the stadium and hope Jacques was there. Of course he was. A little unhappy regarding the mix up but never the less in one piece and still smiling.

Call off the sniffer dogs. Photographer found!!

In the end the match was an anit climax. Rain prevented play and the match was abandoned. Points shared.

Collectively we left the stadium and I was dropped off at the hotel. Not such a late night but again a 4am start tomorrow for the flight to Chennai.

I guess all is well that ends well as they say.

Cities Visited: Kochi – Bangalore

Tried anything new? Lost a photographer in Bangalore for a couple of hours

Total flights so far: 11

Wow I can’t believe it’s been so long since I wrote. It’s been quite hectic with more traveling and matches combined with training sessions. I have had some time to see some sights in Chennai and Kochi. In Chennai I was able to spend an afternoon at the Kapaleeswarar Temple which was really nice.

From Chennai we moved on to Kochi. Again we were lucky enough to have a morning to explore so we went to the harbour, Kochi Fort and the Chinese fishing nets. This is the India I love. It’s fantastic to leave the hustle and bustle of the city behind and find a part of old India. The people and the smells and the colours are fantastic. The light here is awesome between about 16.30 and 1800. It has a golden glow and just brings the colours of the clothes and building alive.

Prior to leaving Chennai I made a change to my team and have replaced a photographer. It’s always a tough decision to make but it was evident that the role I required him to fulfil was one that he was not comfortable with. It made sense for both of us that he left the team and was replaced by a photographer more used to the work ethic of my team. I wish the photographer well for the future and will keep in touch as friends.

Cities Visited: Chennai – Kochi

Tried anything new? Sightseeing in Chennai and Kochi, rain delay in Kochi, Kerala Chicken Curry , Helped out with the grain merchants carrying 50kg sacks of wheat, Bought slops for 25 Rand,

Total flights so far: 10

Up at 4am for the flight to Chennai. No real reason to be up so early as my next match is on the 16th so had plenty of time to travel. Vino was supposed to collect me at 5 to leave for the airport but he turned up at five, Indian time, 5.20 to the rest of us. It just meant that there was a bit of a rush to get to the airport. I made it , literally only just as the gate closed behind me. It’s funny how the cultures are so different. There really seems to be no urgency here. A photographer turned up an hour late to a shoot

and simply said sorry it was the traffic. It was as if that made it OK.

I don’t remember much of the flight as I slept the whole way. Got to my hotel at about half 8 only to realize that I had locked the keys to my case in the case so we had to hacksaw it open. It was quite funny really as they used a huge hacksaw for a tiny lock.

Had the day to myself apart from finalising the travel plan and organizing the missing head-shots. There aren’t many now so shouldn’t be too bad. This whole head-shot thing is a nightmare. The teams are not interested and often plan other events when they have agreed to see us. We have had photographers waiting for up to five hours to do a 45 minute job. Funnily enough when the shoot is done all the teams ask if they can have the pics, as a favour. NO show us some courtesy and we would be more obliging.

Went out and about in Chennai during the morning and late afternoon, wandering around the markets and shops. It is OK but the best feature of Chennai has to be the beach. I went to Marina beach when I was here last December but will go and take another look tomorrow.

It was match day in Mumbai and also Mohali so captions and folders had to be created. Apart from one team it is all coming together nicely. I will have to resolve the issues with the poorly performing team in the next few days. There is a plan!

Tamil Nadu is holding local elections so the whole place is buzzing with people rushing off to vote. There are polling stations on what seems like every corner. As in SA once you have voted they put a semi-permanent mark on your finger so you can’t vote twice

Spent the evening at the hotel watching the cricket and monitoring images as they come in. Had Indian buffet at the hotel for supper. As it was election day the law states that alcohol may not be sold. No Kingfisher tonight!

Cities Visited: Bangalore – Chennai

Tried anything new? Locked myself out of my own suitcase

Total flights so far: 9