05.02.08 Mysore

I made the most of a good hot shower at this hotel and by 10:30 we were off to catch the bus to Mysore. The area was predominantly Muslim so very little English on the signage including the buses but fortunately "Mysore' appeared in English and we were on our way (the suicide seats again) but a better driver and better roads. We swapped buses 2/3 of the way onto a chock full bus but the conductor ensured we got seats by removing some Indians from theirs. Paul and i sat in the back seat with abot 6 others.. It was a 3hr trip and we were a short trip from our hotel, Hotel Dasaprakash, which would have been quite a select hotel in the 40's with the English one could imagine. A huge too much to eat lunch for 35R followed as we organised our plans for the next few days here.

Mysore (1M) has a regal heritage which is evident in it's grand streets and avenues and squares. The Mysore dynasty was founded in the 14th century by the Wodeyars who continued to rule until 1947 Independence. It's more well known claim to fame is its silk, sandalwood and incense production and more recently as an international centre for Ashtanga Yoga.

We found a great restaurant at the Parklane Hotel where we dined and spent a relaxing time checking out the sights. Amongst these were the Maharajas Palace which replace in 1912 the earlier one which was burnt down. It was designed by english artichoke Henry Irwin and the interior was a mass of colour with mirrors stained glass marbles and granites as well as amazing carved wooden doors and mosaic floors. It was a truly amazing building and the 'full-on' interior really just reflected the craftsmanship of the indian people of that period. The other great sight here is the Devaraja Market which is regarded as one of India's most colourful and lively bazaars and it didn't disappoint..in fact we went twice on separate days. Paul managed to buy himself 3 old sacks from a store vendor for 20R (he was taken by the graphic images on them) much to the amusement of adjoining store owners and Julia bought a lovely garland of fresh jasmine all woven together (7r..about 20c) which women sit there doing all day long until dusk as people buy them to adorn themselves. There were lots of great photo oppurtunities here. We also visited St Philomenas Cathedral and The Indira Ghandi gallery for an exhibition on folk and tribal art.

Our next port of call was to be Mangalore on the coast but we decided that the 7hr bus trip was too long and wouldn't get us there for a train to head north so Paul negotiated a taxi for the 250k trip at a rate of only about 300R ($10) less than the bus so that was booked in for the next day.

My overall impression of mysore was favourable in that the local powers that be had made real attempts to tidy the city up and to that end were providing a daily rubbish collection instead of the usual neighbourhood bonfire at dusk. It's altitude of 700m also meant it has a favourable climate and in fact we experienced our first drops (maybe 20) of rain here. It appeared also that cows were out of sight and I expect this was organised by providing them with feed away from the major traffic areas. The people here were also very proud of their city and actively promoted it's regal status.