The first two days in India and purchase of Royal Enfield Thunderbird
Confirming arrival in India; hundreds of people to greet me at the airport, check; dozens of persistent rickshaw drivers, check; sneaky illegal money changers, check; dusty boogers within minutes, check; ample supply of grotty hotel rooms, check; visits to three different offices needed to buy one simple train ticket, check; beaming smiles after initial unease, check; cheap prices for just about everything, check! Indeed I have arrived in India :)
Trichy Airport

As standard operating procedure upon entering a new country I try to walk past the rickshaw and taxi drivers until I reach the main road where it is usually possible to get transport into town at a fraction of the cost. Trichy was no exception, with rickshaw drivers offering to give me the silver service for 80 rupees but the local bus driver was also happy to offer the same for just 4 rupees.

The hotel situation was dire in Trichy. The first 5 I tried were booked out and I finally found a revolting room at Hotel Diamond for 315 Rupee – it's only saving grace being relative peacefulness due to being set in a garden back from the main street. Luckily I had no money on me so I had to go roaming for an ATM and in so doing stumbled across the much cleaner and attractive hotel Vignesh.

I woke up at almost midday after my first night, or so I thought, so I got straight on to searching for motorbike showrooms. Everything was closed and I couldn't work out why. Turned out I hadn't changed my time-keeper to Indian time. Oops. Back 2.5 hours from Kuala Lumpur, I think. With a great deal of walking, perspiring and direction asking I finally made it to Raja Motors, apparently the only Enfield dealer in Trichy. Now Mr Raja Motors promptly informed me, with a sorry wave of the hand, that he could not sell me a motorcycle, which I half expected, but he had indeed had other tourists in searching for bikes and kindly told me that I would have no problem making a purchase in Chennai. The truth of that statement, of course, remained to be seen.

So I jumped on board a train to Chennai

arriving at 9:30pm, exactly 7 hours after leaving Trichy, and looked at a dozen hotels before finding Toufiq Inn which left the others for dead. Now there's been talk of Shane Warne being sent to India as an ambassador to improve relationships between the two countries, but I'm sure that the Indians have already been making an effort with a number of streets in Chennai being named, I'm sure, in an effort to improve India-Australia relations. For example, Gandhi Irwin road - obviously named after the great Indian, Mahatma Gandhi and the great Aussie bloke, Steve Irwin (R.I.P.). Then there is Kennet lane, named in honour of the former Victorian Premier on the move, Jeff Kennet. The naming efforts reach beyond just streets to things like hotels, for example: Mohan Lodge, clearly named after my student back home, J. “Gandhi” Mohan :)

After a great sleep and feed I headed out in search of the Enfield showroom, but jumped off the bus when I saw the office of AA. Not, my friends, Alcoholics Anonymous, but the Automobile Association of Southern India. Here I was promptly told that as a non-resident there was no way I would be buying a motorbike in India – confirming the official line that is reported on horizonsunlimited.com, but there's always a way around and, having done it before in 2004, I didn't lose heart. Back on track I found the Enfield showroom on Mount road were brand new Thunderbird twin spark 350cc are being sold for ek lak saat rupiya, 107000 Rupee. I guess at just under $2700 this isn't too bad for a brand new motorbike, but I decided that second hand might be the go, so I was bundled into a rickshaw and taken to motorbike buyers heaven, Bell Street.

Bell street (perhaps also called Ellis street) is the home of second hand motorbike dealers, a very honest bunch I'm sure. Long story short I walked away the proud owner of two Thunderbird twin spark 350cc for 183000 Rupees.
Exhibit A: 2008 Thunderbird, 91500 Rupees

770kms (yeah right!)
Front disc
Rear drum
One small lockable pannier
Fully serviced, at my request
Tool kit, spare spark plugs, accelerator cables, brake cables, clutch cables, at my request
20 BHP
17 Litre fuel tank
Insurance transferred to my name
Registration...let's just say it's complicated? haha
I have the registration papers and the transfer form signed by the previous owner... When it comes time to sell the bike I simply have it transferred straight into the name of the person who buys it. Hm, if it all goes pear-shaped I ride it to the airport and run through the terminal to my plane?!

Exhibit B: 2009 Tunderbird, 91500 Rupees

19000kms
All other details the same

Here are the up-to-the-minute petrol prices in India

Alright, enough about the bikes, lets see if I get out of Chennai with both bikes and the papers.
Tomorrow, the 17th, is my birthday, all alone :(
On the 18th Torb joins me from Denmark and I hope to hit the road pretty soon after that, heading south towards kanyakumari via ramneswaran.

P.S. It is probably time I put some definitions on the Brookesy Scale of budget accommodation.
We'll let Thailand and Malaysia stand alone as most places I stayed there were $30 or more and I'm going to call that mid-range.
But now that I'm in India, it will be true budget with $15 being a complete lash out.
So, what is important in accommodation? Other peoples' thoughts appreciated but here's what I think is important and my ratings are based on a combination of these factors:
Noise – at night when trying to sleep
Free from mosquitoes – though I don't mind other bugs
Bed - comfortable and clean
Cleanliness - of main room
Toilet/shower - functioning
Security

And here are the details on cost for India so far, in Indian Rupees (INR):

TRANSPORT
Trichy Airport – Trichy Junction stations
Bus INR4 (20 minutes), Rickshaw INR80
Trichy – Chennai Train #6128 departing 1:50pm, 7 hours, INR80 (first go to the unreserved ticket counter inside the main station and buy a ticket, then to the office of the DCM (on your left as you walk out of the main station building, then to the computerised ticketing centre (on your left as you look at the main station building)

ACCOMMODATION
Hotel Vignesh, Trichy: INR263 for a single
Visible from the main bus stand, to the right if you are sitting in the bus stand chairs)
Small room with fan, bathroom, TV with lots of channels, reasonably quiet and easily the best out of 8 hotels I looked at for INR300-400
7/10 on the Brookesy scale.

Toufiq Inn Guesthouse, Egmore, Chennai: INR450 for a single
on Gandi Irwin road which runs parallel to the train line. Turn left as you walk out of the train station.
Good sized room with double bed, TV, bathroom, comfortable bed, very clean and very little street noise. Much more like a Thai hotel than an Indian hotel. Aircon room available for INR750
8/10 on the Brookesy Scale.