Mysore

Mysore is known as the city of palaces, and rightly so. We decided that we would take a bus trip to Mysore for the day. Why not, at 390 rupees, (~9USD) for an entire day of being driven around from site-to-site, it was well worth it. As always, my story revolves around the four of us, and today Eric joined us too. We went to all the big touristy places and got hit by all the touristy vendors that wanted to sell something. It was an adventure that pushed our barging skills to new limits.

Like I was saying, we took a bus, a city tour bus. It was actually a lot roomier than I initially thought it would be. I had room to stretch my legs out and my knees did not run into the seat in front of me! Well, as long as I sat straight up, they were fine. So, that was a good start to the trip. The bus did not have AC, but as long as the windows were open, it wasn’t too bad. Mysore is about 120km away from Bangalore. Not too bad, it should only take 2 hours to get there. Yeah, right. If we drove like Americans and the roads were, well, roads. The roads tend to resemble the surface of the moon. So, you can’t go very fast. Also, one of the more noticeable differences on the roads are speed bumps. Not just on city roads and at intersections, where they are all over the place, they also put speed bumps on the highways! You really cannot drive that fast, even if you do, you have to slow down at the speed bump or you’ll destroy the vehicle. So, along with the speed bumps and driving on the surface of the moon, there is yet another delay. When you are nearing a city from the highway, they also have “security barricades”. The road is two lanes, but the erect three barricades in an offset pattern that forces you to slow down and take a snake path through the three barricades. This really backs up traffic. On top of all this, it is very common, actually expected for the bus to make stops every hour or so. To let you off, get some food, stretch and go shopping?! Yes, one stop was in a small town and the driver stopped in front of a small gift shop and said you have 15 minutes to go shopping. I just wanted to go! I don’t need any of this stuff.

We were on the bus for almost three hours and we finally got to Mysore. Well, technically we were still outside of the city, but it was nice to be somewhere. The first place on our day long adventure was Tippu Sultan’s summer palace. Not to be vain, but it did not impress me at all. It almost saddened me and disheartened me to the rest of the day. When we got there we had to pay admission. White admission. The tariff for everyone was 5 rupees, and for foreigners, 100 rupees! That was a little unnecessary I thought. So, we paid and went into the palace grounds. As we were walking down the stairs though the entrance arch, you could see the shed; I mean Palace two hundred meters ahead. When we got to the Palace, we got in line to walk though and they hit us with another 10 rupee tariff to go into the palace. Well, I didn’t feel like leaving the line, and it was only 25 cents, so I walked through Larissa Joined me while Steve, Matt, and Eric stayed outside. Once inside, we were told no cameras, so I can only explain what was there. The walls were covered in huge murals of battle scenes fought many years ago. It was just very hard to look at them and wonder where our admission fee went. The Palace was in pretty poor shape and the interior needed some major renovation work. The paintings were holding up, but the intricate details in the molding and doorways were falling apart. But, it was a nice glimpse into the struggle the India’s had with the British.

We left the summer palace, and headed on our way to the next stop on our destination, one of the many temples. As soon as we got off the bus, we were hounded by people selling us stuff. All the way from the bus, to the temple, where they were respectful enough not to follow us in. As we were approaching the temple, we accidentally stepped too far with our shoes on, and got yelled at that we needed to take our shoes off if we wanted to go any farther. We also had to leave them outside as Matt found out. He tried to stick his shoes in his back pack, and then go into the temple, but they wouldn’t let him when they saw his try to take his shoes it. I was worried that my shoes might get stolen - I had the whitest pair of shoes there, so they stuck out like me. A guy outside the temple said he would watch over our shoes for us, so we agreed and went in. While I was inside, a priest smeared the traditional red dot on my forehead. I didn’t know what to think at first, but then I went with it. When we left the temple, the guy who promised to watch our shoes held his promise. Our shoes were where we left them, and so were the merchants that we left at the entrance. They are some of the most persistent people you will ever meet. I made the mistake to pick something up and look at it. Once you do that, it is very hard to give it back to them. They keep trying to have you buy it. They will not take it back, you almost have to put it on the ground and walk away. I did buy something though, some bracelets for my sisters. (So, Claire and Caroline, if you are reading this, I got you something. Stop yelling at me that I never buy you anything.) Needless to say, they followed us back to the bus, and then as we hurried to get on the bus, they came to our window and hounded us for another 10 minutes until the bus left. And during those ten minutes, they stood at our window yelling at us to buy their stuff.

After we left the temple, we went and had lunch, and then it was on to the next stop. We went to the Maharaja’s Palace. What a spectacle to behold. This palace was enormous and it was beautiful too! It is one of the picturesque palaces that you think of when you think of an Indian palace. It was quite the sight to see. I only wish I could have been there Sunday night when they illuminate the palaces with close to 100,000 light bulbs! I have a picture, but I was told that it is incredible in person. After an hour of gawking and taking pictures, we left the palace grounds to head for the bus. Again, we were met by hoards of merchants all selling the same stuff saying there’s was the best! I got tired of dealing with them, so I started speaking French. After a few minutes of them trying to understand me, they realized it was futile. It was amazing! I freed myself from their oppressive hold on me. I controlled the situation now. Well, there was still one persistent guy who would not leave me alone, especially when he heard me speak English to Steve. So, he followed us for a while and tried to sell some bangles. They were nice, but I just bought some at the last place! I was able to get the same deal out of him, so I guess I paid a reasonable price. Initially, he and the guy at the other place both offered one set of bracelets for 350 rupees. I got them both to 200 rupees for six sets of bracelets. Not too shabby. But, still not as good as our crowning achievement.

After the palace, we went to a silk shop and were almost forced to buy saris from the salesmen inside. I’m not having that, so we went outside to wait for the rest of the group. While we were waiting, we met more people trying to sell us stuff! Imagine that… Well, this guy had musical instruments, bamboo flutes and the instrument that you see snake charmers use. Well, his initial offer was 350 for one snake charmer instrument and 200 for a flute. That is ridiculous! So, we decided to have fun with this guy. We had time to kill, and we just gave him the most ridiculous offer we could, 10 rupees! He was really determined to sell us these things, we go on the bus and he took up his position at my window. After playing “My Heart Will Go On” on his bamboo flute, we had to keep talking with this guy. It was too funny not too. After about 20 minutes of going back and forth with ridiculous offers, and flat out telling him, “THIS IS GARBAGE, “I DO NOT WANT IT, TAKE IT BACK OR I WILL DROP IT ON THE GROUND” we came to an agreement. 50 rupees for one snake charmer instrument and two bamboo flutes. Why did we buy them? I don’t know, but it sure was funny.

A few more uneventful places later, and we started to make our way up to something that caught my eye when we first got to the city, the Chamundi Hill. Atop the Chamundi Hills is one of the most holy places in southern India. Legend has it that that the demon Mahishasura, the king of the area that is currently Mysore, was killed by the Goddess Chamundeswari (also Chamundi) after a fierce battle. The hills hence got their name and a temple of the goddess was built on the top. At 1000m above the rest of the city, you get a great panoramic view of the entire area. Well, if it was a clear day and not monsooning at the time! As we were leaving the temple, we experienced our first monsoon rains. It came right up the mountain and right into our faces blowing sideways with a gale force. It rained pretty heavily for a time, but it subsided almost as quickly as it came. Let’s back up about thirty minutes, before the rain. As we got up the temple, we found some monkeys and followed them around the side of the temple away from the crowd where we met this kid.

Most people trying to sell stuff are either middle aged, or very young. But, this kid that we met was our age, and he was pretty smart too. He first came up to us not asking us to buy stuff, but he asked where we were from. When I said, USA, he immediately said “USA, capital city, Washington DC. California, capital Sacramento. Texas, capital Austin.” Then I asked him a few other states, and he started to slack off a bit. So then he changed the subject to European countries. He started naming some countries and their capitals. Not too shabby, he knows more than an average American. So, then I really threw him for a loop when I told him to ask me a few. He did, and to his surprise, I was answering them as fast as he was. Then I started asking him a few others from around the world, and again, I stumped him. He was not too happy with me. He wanted to get his edge back, so he reached into his pocket and pulled out some coins. He had coins from all over the world! I was very surprised with this, and then he started telling me how much each one was worth and then comparing it with the US Dollar, the Euro, and the Rupee. He was right on with the conversions, and quick with numbers too. He really wanted me to change some of my rupees for some of his coins. But, I had no need for a Great British Pound even less use for a South African Rand! But, this kid really got my attention for a while. He was pretty smart, I just wish he could (or would) go to school and use that brain. Not just bother tourists for a living. Alas, it was time to go and leave Chamundi Hill.

As I said before, this is when it started to rain! So, on the way down the hill, we could only see Nandi, the giant bull from the bus. That was ok, I was starting to get quite tired from the day, and I just wanted to go home. But, we still had one more stop, the Brindavan Gardens and Musical Fountain at the Krishna Raja Sagar Dam. This place at first was like a year round carnival with food vendors selling food out of little tents, but as we went further in, it became apparent that this place was pretty nice.

The fountain show made me think this place belongs in Las Vegas! The fountains looked like a mini version of what you see in front of the Bellagio! But, like the rest of India, there were 5000 people standing right next to you the entire time! It was a nice show, and the last of our day long adventure in Mysore.

Now just the bus ride home and the adventure in Bangalore! We left the musical fountains at 8:30, and at 9:30, we stopped for dinner at a small little place. I got a bottle of orange juice and went right back to bed on the bus. I put some music on and the next thing I remember is waking up to see the sign that says welcome to Bangalore. Woohoo! Home, and its only 11:38pm. I figured we would be home just after midnight, it took us less half an hour to leave the city and we were supposed to have the same route into the city. Nope. I’m no expert at navigating Bangalore, but we drove in circles. Finally when I realized where we were, I went and told the driver which way to go to take us home. We didn’t get home until 1:30am. It was a long day, but a fun one. Next weekend, Goa.

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