Dubai to Gokulam (Mysore)

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Whatever I saved with the cheap plane ticket, I made up for by finding the most expensive way to get from the modern sparkly new airport in Bangalore (India's silicon valley) to our apartment in Gokulam, Mysore.
I took a car, and I probably got ripped off, it's a long story. But the car was convenient.

But only convenient until we got to Mysore, when I figured out that my driver (Bharat) had no idea how to get around Mysore or find the neighborhood, let alone address, that I was going. I’m not sure he even knew how to get to Mysore the most direct way possible, since it took us well over 2 hours just to get out of Bangalore (this may have been due in part to the utter mayhem on the roads). The trip was harrowing, getting insanely close to huge speeding trucks, people, motorcyles, cows, etc. (Driving in India will certainly be the subject of it’s own entry at some point.)

We drove around Mysore for a while, when we passed the huge Palace grounds for the 3rd time, I figured we weren’t making progress. I wondered how the “men refuse to ask directions” cliche would play out in India. After we approached the central part of town for the 4th time, I think Bharat was getting frustrated, so he broke down and sought directions. He got pointing directions that inched us in a direction towards the neighborhood, we finally got to the neighborhood, he got for more directions, a little closer, more directions, a little closer. FINALLY we got to Srivara Apartments, which matched the name I had written down. So I took my bags, tipped frustrated Bharat (he still had the harrowing drive back), and off I went to say hello to Lillie & Jess, at last! But the apartments were numbered by letters (G-1, F-2, etc), and we’re in Apt 25.... Bharat was long gone, I had all my “worldly possessions” strapped to me, middle of a hot afternoon, wandering the street of Gokulam looking for L&J. Long annoying story, I wondered around for about 45 minutes, found some help, took the offer of a scooter ride (side-saddle, backpack & stuff attached) and found L&J an hour or so later. Hugs & happiness all around!

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