To break up the looong bus journey from Ooty to Pondicherry, we decided to stop in Mysore quickly.

Having heard from our friends in Kochi that the town was nothing special, but still wanting to see Mysore Palace and the seat of the Raj in the old capital we thought a few hours would suffice here.

We hopped off the train, which was a much pleasanter trip than our previous, which made us more optimistic for the onward overnight trip. We left our bags in the cloakroom and hopped in a rickshaw to the Palace, of course only after a thali in a local resaturant, which was one of the best yet, with several smaller dishes; loads of variety!

Having been stung once more by the ludicrious 'foreigner' prices which are usually 100 times the local price; usually about 10/20Rs for locals and 250 Rs for foreigners, we decided to take a leisurely stroll around the grounds and enjoy every moment, squeezing our money's worth! The palace itself is a marvel, really well preserved, and everything inside (if it is genuine) also massively well preserved. They even have a special room just for marriages. The stained glass panels and painted murals, probably not original and restored but it is impressive just the same.

Back to the same restaurant for an evening masala dosa before yet another bus....de ja vu...