After our overnight train, we arrived in to Mysore. According to the lady on the bunk below me, there is a speech therapy institute here. We found a hotel recommended in lp, and went to check in. The place was reminiscent of an old hospital/jail/records office. We headed out to the palace down the road. We were told that it was children's day that particular day, and so entry was free for kids, hence the huge number of school trips. In our foreigner price was an included audio guide. Whilst it is very grand on the outside, the inside is even more spectacular, but no photography was allowed, so you'll just have to believe us! The old palace had burnt down, and a new one was ordered to be built on the same site at the end of the 19th century, just 6 months after the fire. It wasn't, however, finished until 1912, and so had electricity and lifts. Its design was by British architects, and was a mix of Victorian, mughal and Islamic design. The colours inside are vivid, with large stained glass windows and amazing murals. One attraction that was worth our £2 each, even if the audio guide was in a random order, and we got bamboozled by kids, and adults, shouting hello at us, to which I just pointed at my earphones and went shhhhh! After lunch, we went to the zoo, which again was full of kids, and adults acting like kids. It was actually a pretty good zoo. We saw the majestic royal Bengal tiger, and plenty of other animals. As we went round, we were bemused by the Indians' tendency to make random animal noises in a bid to attract the attention of the animals. One man did a full on baboon impression, another did a 'hey', and another tried jazz hands; the lion did not look impressed. Don't they know they're not Dr Doolittle! With it being children's day, someone had told us that the palace would be lit up, as it is on Sundays and other national holidays. However, they must have thought 'can't be arsed', as it failed to illuminate. Classic Indians. Instead, I went and had a dominos pizza for 85p, and then we found an internet place to look up the directions to our next place. and its a good thing we did...