Mysore

“Mysore!  Mysore!  Mysore!  MYSORE!”  Was the chant that the bus driver was yelling above the hoking horns and traffic at the Bangalore bus station during rush hour.  We're learning that just because a bus says it will leave from platform 'xyz' doesn't mean it'll actually be there...just simply listen for the yelling bus driver instead!  


When we got to Mysore we found a hotel pretty easily and after dropping off our bags and regrouping for a bit, we headed out for some lunch (we hadn't eaten since the aftenoon the day before) and as most of you know, neither me nor Aaron do well when we're hungry!  We ate a delicious thali plate for lunch and then proceeded to get lost in one of the many alley ways on our way back to the hotel.  Getting lost has its advantages...a nice muslim man who was studying in Mysore started walking with us.  He spoke very good English and said that he liked talking to us so that he could practice it.  He took us to one of Mysore's local markets and through some winding alley ways.  I'm still not sure if he was trying to earn a commission off of any purchases that we might've made in the market, but we didn't buy anything and he was a great tour guide – Sami was his name, not to be confused with Sammy.  Sami eventually had to go and passed us along to a younger kid who took us to a biddi making “factory.”  Biddi's are hand rolled, small cigarette like things, but these were made without tobacco and of natural herbs and ingredients and were completely legal to smoke as well as take across borders.  I say “factory” in quotes because he called it that, but it was a small, one room living space with an old man sitting on the floor rolling cigarettes.  Again, I'm not sure if this was meant to be a scam, but he was a nice kid and took us through some winding back alleys and gave us a glimpse into what life really seemed like it would be in India.  We still didn't buy anything.  

The last place he took us to was essentially a large closet shop that a different Muslim man owned.  He sold oils and incense and tried to get us to buy some.  I was tempted by the oils, but didn't want to pay or tote around another thing in my backpack.  So, we continued along on our way and walked past a woodworking “factory” that Aaron was fascinated by (still didn't buy anything) and then back to the main area of Mysore where we walked around the Devaraja Market and then back to the hotel.  We were exhausted and were asleep by 8pm that night.

On our second day in Mysore we visited the Mysore Palace which used to be the home of the Wodeyar maharajas.  It was a beautiful place with amazing architecture, stained glass, intricate wood carved doors with ivory inlays and precious stones set within the marble floors.  We were forbidden to take pictures inside, but were able to snap a few of the outside.  

The next day we checked out of our hotel and wandered around for a bit.  It's really just an adventure to get a little lost and see what isn't mentioned in the guide books.  You never know what you might see.  (It can also be the most frustrating thing in the world too!)  We had from our checkout time (noon) until 6:30pm to find something to do.  So we remembered that we saw a movie theater nearby that was showing the Bollywood hit, “3 Idiots,” which was also highly recommended by our Muslim friend, Sami.  Well, hindsight again...make sure that you ask if it comes with English subtitles!  It was all in Hindi with a few english words thrown in here and there.  For 3 ½ hours Aaron and I struggled to follow the plot.  It seemed like a great movie from what we gathered and the rest of the audience seemed to think it was hilarious, but we didn't understand a word of it!  I will watch this movie again with English subtitles at some point!

The people in Mysore, whether genuine or out to make a buck, were all very nice and receptive to us.  It was a city that wasn't fully centered around the tourist trade – like a lot of the places that we'd been to previously.  It was a nice way to see India without being in a huge city.  


Then we headed to the bus station to get us from Mysore to Chennai via Bangalore overnight.  Bus dropped us off in Chennai around 6am and we had until 5pm that night to wait for our connecting train to take us to the northern part of India.  And here I sit, still on the train that left Chennai approximately 26 hours ago with about 13 hours to go.  I think it'll be about 42 hours on the train total until our arrival in Varanasi.  

We splurged and lucked out with our train situation.  We booked the cushy train travel way in AC2 (which essentially means that there are two sets of bunk beds within a “berth” and with Air Conditioning!!!).  Normally, this would allow for 4 people to occupy the berth, but so far...it's only been the two of us.  Fingers crossed it stays that way and we don't have two other random people show up to take the other two spots.  It's nice to have this much space to travel for this long.  Even though we each paid about $40 for the ticket!  I've even managed to brave the Indian style, squat toilet in a moving train and I think I actually prefer it to the typical western style toilet we're all used to!  (Google squat toilet if you don't know what I mean, hehe!)  Anyway, that's all for now...for some reason typing makes me more motion sick than reading a book.  Ta ta!