Magical Mysore

We arrived in Mysore on a sleeper train from Mangalore at the ridiculous time of 4:00am. Our auto driver woke up the workers in the hostel and we managed to check in and caught up on some sleep until mid-morning. Still feeling a bit sleepy but wanting to get some fresh air we headed to the Maharaja Palace in the city centre. Along the way we stumbled across a local restaurant with delicious vegetarian curries and more paratha bread. The palace grounds were impressive and the interior decoration was on another level, so intricate and fancy! In the evening we returned to the palace as we wanted to see the display of over 5000 light bulbs illuminating the palace. This is only usually turned on for Sunday evenings but at the end of the boring sound and light show they switch on the lights for a few minutes and the result is spectacular. It is like an elaborate Christmas decoration but on a huge scale.

On the second day we went to the top of Chamundi Hill to see a Hindu temple and along the way some great views across Mysore and the surrounding plains. According to the Godly Museum we should have felt a sense of deja-vu when reaching the temple as '5000 years ago at this time you had visited this place in the same way you are visiting now, because world drama repeats itself identically every 5000 years!' Neither of us experienced this so I now doubt the Godly museum and all of its beliefs!

The central market in Mysore was a photographers dream, with beautifully laid out fruit and colourful spice and dyes piled in colour coordinated small piles. We didn't buy anything but wandered around the small alleyways and squeezed between the buyers whilst listening to the call of the sellers stuck on repeat and the sound of constant to and fros of bartering, the only way to shop in India.

Mysore was an out of the way trip for us, away from the coast, the way our path was headed. It was a city worth the trip, with great food, good views and an awesome palace.