14th of January 2007

This was not the first time that we(Priyam and myself) visited mysore. Infact, over the last 4 years , there had been umpteen number of times when we would have passed through Mysore. So, what is it that made this visit particularly special? Hmm.. Warrants a thought …

Most of the earlier trips were places which were beyond Mysore and Mysoremysore if one is coming from Bangalore). This is how it all started. merely used to be a milestone during the course of the journey. This time, it was totally unplanned. We had started out with an intention of going to Srirangapatna (10kms before mysore if one is coming from Bangalore). Here's how it all started.

A casual thought of getting out for a long drive was just the beginning. We started out pretty late , around 11 AM and drove along the mysore road passing the familiar towns/villages en route. Our first stop was at Maddur (Tiffany’s) after an hour of driving, for a quick lunch. As it turned out, the lunch was anything but quick, so by the time we got back on the road it was over an hour of halt (I hate long halts in between). By the time we hit Ranganathittu, it was close to 2PM, a bit too hot to get out from the coziness of the car. Hence, we decided to move on further till Mysore and then come back to Ranganathittu after 2 hrs or so.

Once we hit Mysore, we headed straight to the Zoo. This is easily one of the biggest zoo that I had ever visited. One would require at least 2 hrs to do some amount of justice walking around the vast expanse. Oh, in case you feel tired to walk around or you are running short of time, you could always hop into one of the battery operated vehicle that will take you on a guided tour of the zoo in less than an hour. Of course, this comes at an extra price.(nothing comes for free save advice). Charges apply for entrance, Camera and vehicle parking.

By the time we came out of the zoo, we had changed our mind and planned to spend the night in Mysore. So , off we went , looking for an accommodation. One good thing about Mysore (or any popular tourist place) is that there is no dearth of accommodation. We managed to find a shelter for the night in Hotel Siddharth,one of the decent hotels within the vicinity of major landmarks in Mysore. If you are not familiar with the place and are not sure as to which hotel to goto, u can try Ginger hotels. For more details, check www.gingerhotels.com.

One thing to note in Mysore is that, during weekends the palace is lit with lights in the evening from 7PM to 8PM. It’s a magnificent sight to see. Since it was a Saturday when we went there, we decided to view the lit palace. A short ride in an auto-rickshaw brought us to the entrance of the palace. We spent an hour in the lit-palace posing for photographs. At 8PM sharp, the lights went out and it was total darkness all around. It took a minute t re-adjust to the darkness around and then we headed out to of the palace.

On the way back to the hotel , we decided to take a different for \m of transport. A kind od transport that is nearly non-existent these days,The Tonga, or the horse-cart. The rhythmic ride in the tonga,put my kid to sleep.

Day II

After a good-night sleep, we rose early to go up the Chamundi hills to have a darshan of Chamundeshwari. It’s a 30 minute drive from mysore up the hill. Once you reach the entrance, you would be greeted by the huge statue of "Mahishasura".

The layout of entire mysore city can be seen from top of this hill.

Since it was the day of Sankranti, it was heavily crowded. We somehow managed to finish the darshan. There are different categories of tickets available for darshan. we too the one that took us close to the sanctum sanctorum in a short time (Rs 100 ticket).

For going down to mysore there are tw options.One is to take the route that you take while going up or the other one ,where you come across the "Bull" temple. The bull here is a huge monolithic statue.

We stopped at the “Bull” temple for a couple of minutes and then headed down to Mysore.

It was time to head back home. Around 11 AM,we started from Mysore and after a brief stop at Maddur for chai-paani, we reached Bangalore around 1 PM.

Some points to remember

It’s a good idea to start early if going on Mysore road
Do stop at Kamat Lokaruchi for a meal. It’s a nice place to take a break
At Maddur Tiffany. Try the Maddur vada and masala dosa.

In Mysore, a good place to have a breakfast/lunch is Woodlands. Ask any localite for the directions.

GTG now..more later....

Ciao