3/2/10 Bengaluru to Mysore Wednesday

We arrived into Bengalores Yesvantpur St station about 4km out of town half an hour early after leaving an hour and a half late from Hospet. Somehow the driver had made up two hours but that explained the extremely bumpy ride. We'd had an awful 'sleep' on the Indian equivalent of bullet train. Our initial plan was to spend the day in Bangalore sightseeing after leaving our bags in a hotel, then get a night train to Mysore for the next day. As we'd arrived in Bangalore early we decided to catch the next train through to Mysore instead from the City railway station a few kms away. A taxi on the platform quoted us 300 rupees for the journey saying it was more expensive in the early morning. Raoul had advised us to look outside the stations for taxis as the ones in the station always try and cheat the tourists so we did that and found one for only 70 rupees. We drove through Bangalore through some back streets which looked like the other cities we'd seen, pretty dirty etc. We arrived at the railway station and it was about 6am and loads of Indians were asleep all over the place. A very stern loooking guard in pristine uniform was tapping them all with a big stick to get them up as the station was busying up for the day. Liz waited with all the bags while Phil went to see about the next train to Mysore, as we knew we could buy a general ticket and take a chance that we would find a seat. There were huge queus in the ticket office but in themselves the queues were a novelty and suprisingly the peole were having a go at the few people pushing in !!! It took Phil 35 minutes to get us tickets one pound twenty for two tickets...bargain. We went through security and onto the platforms, chattd to nice young guards there. Liz went off to use the ladies loo which was inside a ladies waiting room. She got into wha she thought was a queue but turned out to be a free for all. Whoever dived for the free loo first got it !! Liz had to swan dive past a pushy woman to finally get the free toilet or she'd have been there all day crossing her legs !!! The toilets were smell free and immaculate unlike all the mens Phil has had to use !!! The nice guards told us where to go to catch the train so we went over the bridge to the right platform. The train was already on the platform so Phil went to see if any of the seats were unreserved so we could hopefully jump in a free berth. As he was reading the reservations list he was approached by a nice man called Gerard (Indian chrstian hence his Englsh name) who invited us to sit with him andhis family. We decided to go for it despite the fact in our experiences here there would normally be a catch. Gerard Benedict hlped us find some free seats near to his family thentook us to introduce them. His sister, her children, his children and other relatives were there all happy to meet us. They were a Catholic family so all had English names, Melvyn, Peter, Jennifer, Christopher and Juliet, Gerard sat chatting with us all the way to Mysore and it turned out he and his family were on the way to his nieces wedding that afternoon. While Liz had a sleep feeling a little Dehli Bellyish Phil managed to get us invited to the wedding at the cathedral in Mysore. His neice was having an arranged marriage in a Catholic cathedral in the middle of Mysore and Gerard thought we might enjoy the exerience as we wouldn't get to see one otherwise so we accepted the invitation and got the details from him. The people in the South have been so nice and really alot more genuine than those we came across in the Northern towns. We shared tea and some onion biscuits then arrived at Mysore station. We asked to be taken to the min area of hotels but the rickshaw driver told us he knew a new hotel which was very nice so we went to that one frirst to take a look. The guides advise against this as the drivers get commission but we have found that the drivers know some good places. Phil went into the SK Residency and saw that the reception was really smart and booked us a room for two nights. We had to fill out reems of paperwork as usual, we have started to use made up details now as noone seems to check them and there are enough of our details floating around India already. hey made us pay an overpayment which was to reserve the room incase we wanted to extend our stay!!! The room was really nice ensuite and a tv hot shower so all good. Liz went to bed for a while as she felt quite bad with Dehli Belly which might have been from the train food but Phil felt ok so who knows. Phil went out to try and find out if the miniature train to Ooty in the mountans was running or not. We had conflicting information as the website for the train said that it was cancelled due to landslide damage in November but other tour offices were saying some trains were running. Our plans for the next few days were dependent on us going on the little train which is supposed to be a really fabulous scenic trip but as we couldn't get any definitive information we wer thinking of changing our plans. Phil cancelled the Bangalore to Mysore train that we didn't need and we got a refund then asked at the hotel about the toy train but they weren't too helpful either. Liz woke up and we both go showered and changedinto reasonably smart clohes for the wedding. Liz had got a couple of dresses in Thailand and Phil had got a dressy shirt so at least we looked a bit dressed for the wedding. Gerard had tolsd us not to bring anything and to come as we were anyway so we weren't too worried. We left the hotel to head in the direction of St Philomenas cathedral for the wedding but the hotel map was not anything like the actual streets so it took a while to locate ourselves on it. We eventually found a landmark called Krishnaraja Circle, a busy road island where we called into a small tea shop for a drink much to the locals amusement. Phils cake-dar went wild in there as there were all sorts of delights to choose from. We then decided to pop to a tour office recommended by LP to see if they had any info on the train. On the way to the offce a really persistant ricksha driver kept asking "where are you going?" until Liz had to push him back to stop him hassling us as Phil was ready to blow his top .Once at the office within the first ten seconds it was really obvious that no-one understood us but the Indians have an annoying habit of answering the question they think you're asking and not the one you are. We left there none the wiser and got a rickshaw to take us to the cathedral in time for the 3pm wedding. St Philomenas is Mysore largest cathedral but it was really empty whe we got there and it was just before three so we weren't sure we had the right place. There were a few church staff about setting up some speakers and they told us the wedding was at 3.30pm so we just sat and waited. Eventually Gerard arrived and enthusiastically introduced his lovely family to us. Several of them insisted that we join the family later at the hotel reception including the brides mother so we had to accept. When the wedding started Juliette and Dominic the wedding couple walked up the aisle together followed by many family members, the women all lokked fantastic in beautiful saris. Liz was feeling less than glamorous in her dress and flip flops !! Juliette was dressed in a sari style dress in ivory and gold with a train and veil and Dominic was dressed in a morning suit so it was a mix of traditional Indian and Western influences. The service was all in Hindi so we couldn't understand too much but the priest did say chastity a few times !! There was a group of male singers who sounded fab in the church and they sang Ave Maria at the end which was lovely. Abuot halfway through the service a hugegroup of noisy souting schoolchildren arrived runnig all around the church. Noone seemed to mind but they were making a real racket andit was quite distracting. There was no sign of a teacher and then another couple of school parties also arrived. The children were running up to the front and clambering between guests in the pews...unbelievable. In the end Gerard and another guest herded them all to the back but a few still slipped through but finally they all left and peace returned. Back to the wedding and at the point of exchanging rings Dominic tied a string around Juliettes neck to symbolise his taking care of her and her giving herself to him. They don't exchange rings. Gerard came over and told Phil he was welcome to go to the front and take some photos which he did along with other guests. After the service Gerard took us underneath the cathedral to see the crypt and stones carved with benefactors to the building (one name was Dr J Hyde) then out to the front of the cathedral again where we could see huge bees nests in the eaves. Gerard introduced to Dominic and Juliette who also said we must join them in the evening..how nice are these people? We met some more members of Gerards huge family and then said our goodbyes promising to go to the hotel for the reception later on. We went into another hotel fo a drink then go a tuk tuk back to our hotel where we realxed for a while then got ready for the evening. Liz changed dresses but Phil only had one good shirt so stayed as he was. At the hotel the staff looked a bit bemused that a white European couple were asking directions to the wedding but we eventually found out the way to the room upstairs, The family had said to come between 7.30 and 8 so we got there just before 8 only to find out from Gerard that we'd already missed the cake cutting and the wine...it seems they only have the one glass!!! Gerards brother came and sat us down at the front of the room which was full of people sat on rows of chairs looking at Juliette and Dominic at the front. We spent the next hour watching lines of people going to the front with their gifts and the getting formal photos taken with the happy couple. We were asked to go through to another room to get some food and found two rooms with buffets, one veg and one non veg. Auntie Jude would say it was a "hot buffet" of curries, rice, chapatis, pickles etc, really delicious and followed by a yummy sweet pudding. Phil happily tucked into mutton byriani and chicken hydrabad andof course pud while Liz had a small portion of each. While we were eating the present and photos thing was carrying on, not much of a party for the couple. After eating we went and had a photo taken too with Gerard and his family and the couple..all a bit weid but very nice of them to include the strangers from the train. Members of Gerards family were introduced and one of his brothers even invited us to stay with them in Bangalore but we had to decline as it was in the wrong direction. The party was all over by ten with most people leaving as did we after a different wedding experience than a Uk one. We got an autorickshaw back to the hotel alot more sober than we'd expected.

4/2/10 Mysore

We were up and about by 9.30. We first went to the train station to enquire about the train to Ooty. We found the enquiries window but when Phil asked if the man spoke English he got a big smirk and a "no" as his answer...very friendly and helpful we thought. Phil said well you obviously do understand me and the man said "well how many languages do you speak!" We asked him if he knew wether the train was running and he said he only had local train info there and there wasn't any way he could find out (in other words he couldn't be arsed). In a last ditched attempt to find out the train info before ditching the idea we went to the official tourist information office but the man there really didn't know either. None of the places have computers so we aren't really sure how they ever find out any information. After our extensive research we decided to not bother going to see Ooty and go to another place called Munnar instead. We could travel to Munnar from our next stop at Fort Cohin and we would get there a day earlier as the Ooty thing was now off. As we were chatting outside the office we were approached by a man offering us a really cheap trip in his rickshaw around Mysore for the day including the main sites we wanted to see. We agreed to go woth him but we first needed to sort out transport to Fort Cochin. There were two options, a 10 hr bus journey with possibly no room for our luggage or the more expensive option of a private car. The tour driver Kumar (at number 42) said he would help us sort it out. He offered to drive us to the bus station to ask abut luggage but then said he would ask his friend to give us a price for a taxi. The way the taxi fare works is you have to pay for the total kms the car does ie both ways in our case 900kms!! On top of that you pay for the driver and then they expect a tip too so it all adds up. After a bit of negotiating and refusing the first offer we came to a mutual agreed price and arranged to be picked up early the next morning after meeting the driver at a chai stand. Then we were able to relax knowing we had the next few days sorted out and start the tour. We drove out of Mysore 13kms to see Sri Chamundeswari Temple which sits high over Mysore on Chamundi Hill. When we got there it was really busy with Indian tourists who were all really smily and friendly saiyng hello and smiling for photos. We wandered towards the huge high temple and passed the usual cows and tat stalls along the way. There were a few monkeys running round and the cows were tucking into a lovely pile of rotting rubbish, their usual diet here. To go inside the temle we had to leave our shoes at the chattle stand outside then walk round the dirty floors bare foot. It was a nice temple but more impressive outside than in. The views over Mysore were good from up there though and once we'd picked up our shoes for a small donation we went back to find Kumar. He drove us down the hill a little way to see a huge Nandi statue. Nandi is the bull on which Shiva rode so is revered and is the reason the cow is so holy here. The statue is the largest Nandi statue in India and was carved from a solid piece of rock in 1659. Naughty Kumar then delivered us to a silk shop "just to have a look" otherwise known as getting some commision. We went inside and there was some really loved the silk stuff . We went to a nice restaurant next to get some lunch and Kumar picked us up just after 3 to take us to see Mysore Palace. We entered through the South gate and as we had a couple of hours to explore we spent about an hour looking around the outside and the grounds. On a Sunday the palace is lit up with 80000 lights which must look fantastic but it was pretty impressive anyway. The palace was designed by a British architect called Henry Irwin and it was completed in 1912 costing Rs4.5 million which is stacks. We passed by the Sri Shweta Varahaswary Temple into the formal grounds of manicured lawns and flower gardens. There were some beautiful cast lion sculptures guarding the palace and we walked as far round as we were allowed to. On close inspection the palace wasn't in a great state of repair on the outside with really rough paintwork and it was pretty dirty. We then went to look inside but had to leave shoes outside again then go through a security screening to get in. We hadn't got a ticket but Liz asked a security guard and he said we could buy the tickets inside so we went through. Suprise, suprise we couldn't buy any tickets inside and had been given the standard yes answer to our question..we should have guessed. Phil had to get his shoes back and walk to the main gate to get us two tickets then drop his shoes off and come through security again. While Phil wa saway Liz had an amusing time watching the farcical security taking place. There were two gates in to the palace and only one had a metal detector. People would randomly go through security or not and the guards didn't seem bothered. They would check some bags through and not others and were not looking at the queues half the time..crazy but just like security everywhere here . Phil arrived with the tickets and we went to get a free audio guide to tour the palace .We went inside and toured round the palace state rooms for the next hour and it was fantastic. There was the most elaborate decoration everywhere and amazing stained glass windows so the light was really unusual colours everywhere. There was one room which had murals all around the walls showing the festivals in the days of the Maharajas. there were parades of elephants and resplendent uniformed soldiers and courtiers. The colours were amazing and we got a real feel for the days of the Maharajas which would have been impressive to see. There was a portrait gallery showing all the royal portraits and also some of King George V and Queen Mary on their visits to India. There were mosaic floors and carved wooden doors. It was a really informative narrative on the building as we enjoyed it and wer glad we'd got the audio guide. The Indian tourists were running about the place as usual not really stopping to look at anything. As I said the palace is lit up on a Sunday but also provides an illuminated centrepiece to the Dussehra festivel held over ten days in Mysore. There are conmcerts, cultural performances and dancingand on the last day a huge procession of decorated elephants and cavalry parading through the streets. The festival ends with a huge firework display and we wished we could have seen it but the timing was off. After collecting our shoes and findong Kumar outside he took us to see an oil shop as Mysore is famous for its pure oils from plants and flowers and especially Sandalwood. They use them for medicine and skin care. We were shown into a tiny shop with loads of little glass bottles filled with the scented oils to smell. It was like an old apothacary shop and the people were very knowlegable but we didn't really want any and not for the expensive prices though alot cheaper than in the UK. We went with Kumar to see a craft shop where he must have got commission as it was really expensive stuff. After we walked out he offered to take us to a cheaper place but Liz said "no more shoppig" so he just dropped us off at the Devarajo Market near our hotel so we could mooch through the stalls. The market was a lovely covered market with many small local stalls selling none of the tourist tat we'd seen elsewhere. There were a few stalls selling the bright paint powders used for Tikas and for festival paintings. The Lonely Planet desribed it as a "kaleidoscopic tableau of powders" !! We took a few photos of one stall andf got chatting to the owner. He also sold essential oils and incense sticks and we spent ages testing them. His were really cheap (probably not too pure) and we got a few for our house. We stayed chatting to him for a while as he was quite an interesting chap. He was a sufi Muslim and talked to us about the differences between all the Muslim groups around the world. We made our excuses to leave when he started getting in a bit too deep for us and explored the rest of the market. We went to do some blog then ate a pretty dire meal at the restaurant next to our hotel. The meal was served on banana leaves which was novel but it didn't taste too good. After that we went to bed very tired.