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Published: September 6th 2008
As the day light broke in, those who were sleeping on the bare floor rushed to the nearest tea shop and we sat near the ticket counter while sipping hot chai in little plastic cups. It was refreshing at this time of the day as the early morning chill is still surrounding the area. A sleepless night is over at the Mysore bus station but we have not found a place yet. I began to blame myself for not being more responsible. How ever I went through all the names of guest houses and hotels, which were mentioned in the guide book, but none of them were available for us last night.
finally, the man who took us to a couple of guest houses last night, came to rescue us again. This time, he took us to a two story buildings, near a shopping area. The room was neat, but no hot shower available during this chilly month. After a long & tiring conversation in broken Hindi and English, the receptionist commanded a boy who stood behind us to guide to our room. The young man with a dirty towel and a wet broom, agreed to gives a couple of
buckets of hot water. I did not bother to ask about the room services or anything else. I was half dead and I needed a shower.
Our room was furnished with two beds and a little table. There is no division between the toilet and the shower area. All in a small dark room, and the squatted toilet is located at one corner of this room. I heard a knock on the door, I opened it to answer the same cleaning boy sympathetically gave me a small metal basket. He told me that, it is for filling water.
We had our shower with lukewarm water, then we went out to find a decent place where we can have something to eat. It is almost mid-day and the city has turned itself so chaotic. We walked at the direction of the famous junction then turned right to Mahathma Gandhi Road which runs pass many saree and salwar shops. We had a nice dish of thali at a restaurant near the park where some people were taking shade under many huge trees and some of them are lying on the grass.
We walked through the park for a while
then we reached the main gate to Mysore Palace. My assumption was totally wrong when I was told by a guide that the palace is close for the public because of the king's anniversary. It was so hilarious for us, and we were completely taken back by what he said. I insisted to go & see the palace because that was the main reason why we were there for. This guide wanted us to go with him to a famous shop which sells sandalwood, perfumes, silk sarees, natural oils, stone carvings and many other expensive things. He said that it was a free city tour! So why not try this tour.
I did not think about this matter until we came out of the shop. We were utterly in bizarre situation while we were in this huge shop, which is only dedicated for rich tourists.
All I can see was, sales assistants were just staring at us, as we were released from a zoo. Of course, we could not afford to buy even a carved elephant, not a single tiny perfume bottle. The prices were rocket high and we were only backpackers. Our guide was happy because he
got some money from the shop after having taken some customers in. I am not really convinced about their business tactics here but we did not lose anything, neither our guide! Finally all of us are happy because we were back where we started our first day in Mysore.
This time, we are going to see the palace.
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