I have had the privilege of visiting Mysore twice, once during each summer I lived in India. Mysore is about a 4 hour journey from Bangalore, and the original capital of Karnataka (the state I was staying in). Here are the details of my 2012 visit to Mysore.
Mysore Palace
Upon arrival in Mysore, we had lunch at a hotel, and then headed over to the Mysore Palace. The palace is amazing, with a lot of attention to detail in the woodwork and paintings that adorn the palace. Cameras are not allowed inside the palace, but here is what the outside looks like:
After checking out the palace, we headed to our hotel to check in, Hotel Regaalis. At that point we were all pretty tired, so opted for dinner in the hotel, drinks in the hotel bar, and turned in pretty early!
Chamundi Hill
The next morning, it was a 9:00am leave to head to Chamundi Hill, where we went into the Chamundeshwari Temple, and saw several statues. Here are some pictures from the stop:
Mysore Zoo
Following the stop at Chamundi Hill, we were given the option of stopping at the Mysore Zoo. 12 of us decided to check it out, and were thoroughly impressed. It was much bigger than we ever imagined it would be – we had to call and ask for the bus to pick us up 2 hours after our drop off time instead of the 1.5 hours originally given, and still had to rush to see all the animals. There were a ton of larger animals including giraffes, elephants, lions, hippos, leopards and tigers. The zoo is privately funded, and has provided most of the animals with a good amount of space, given the zoo environment.
Devaraja Market
Following the zoo visit, it was back to the hotel for a nap. That evening, one of the students and I walked around the center of town, where we walked through the Devaraja Market. The market was outdoors, with a row of vendors selling fruit, veggies, and spices. The 2nd isle we walked down had vendors selling wood works and jewelry. The third isle was full of saris and silk goods (Mysore is known for its silk). Walking through the market was a fabulous cultural experience. The colors were so rich and the people so kind.
Planet X
After visiting the market, we walked around town a little more, and then headed back to the hotel, where we ran into a group of students getting into rickshaws to head to Planet X to go go-carting. So, we opted to join in on the fun. While at Planet X, some went on the go-carts, some played mini-golf, some bowled and some hit the arcade. We had a lot of fun hanging out, and were the last ones to leave the park that night. As we were heading to bed, we were not very excited about the 9am leave time that we had the next morning. But, Kabini was in our future, and we were all excited!
