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Published: January 20th 2011
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Mysore - 4th-5th January 2011
Day 11 - overnight train then Mysore
Arrived at Bangalore to change trains around 10am - quick spot of breakfast (I succumbed and had some vegemite on bread - really felt like it!) before train 2 to Mysore. Everyone has their own thing on the travel times - some read, sleep, watch movies, write travel blogs..,, we all have our own entertainment. I think we are lucky how good our group is - we are all quite different (except for Holly and I who seem to have been separated at birth) but we all get along very well and have had no issues - very lucky!!!
Mysore - very pretty city with quite wide streets, less rubbish and pollution - quite lovely in fact. We have a short time to freshen up before we head ip to see he temple on top o the hill - lots of cows everywhere plus you can feed them so we buy some fruits and start feeding, only to find out some get quite aggressive - very funny! Temple was really interesting as we were able to see people praying etc without being too intrusive, of course. We wandered around to see the monkeys, dogs and other assorted animals before starting the walk down to another Buddhist temple, a large bull, and our waiting car. We all crammed in (4 in boot, 3 middle and 2 in front) before selecting 'Mexican overdrive' on the way down the hill (aka car was turned off) and back to our accommodation. Dinner was then at the nearby Parkland Hotel Beer Garden do dinner - sign on menu saying "Guests are advised to be wary of strangers who might strike up conversations, as they may leas o unpleasant or risky consequences. "
Were going to head to a bar but due to elections the same day the whole place had been plunged into a dry state - no alcohol anywhere! Our fearless leader Charls went in search for us but to no avail.... 15 'secret local places' later and no luck. Oh well... one night without Kingfisher should be ok!!! Early night it is......
Day 12 - Mysore
Luxury lie in with 8.30am start for breakfast at same place as dinner last night - very western but I think we all needed a bit of a fix anyway. Off to the spectacular Mysore Palace with the lovely Samir as our tour guide, a friend of Charls and who's father used to work there for 40 years (Muslim). The palace itself is incredible - a blend of Muslim, English and Hindu influences on 64 acres and is still inhabited by a Maharaja (married 58 year old - damn!!!). Samir took us around inside and showed us all the incredible decor - lots of tile and stained glass, huge wooden hand carved doors made from wood from Burma, other doors made from silver - all amazingly ornate and 'stunning great'.
Next was a local market - good quality vegetables everywhere and a mix of colours that are just incredible.... hopefully he photos will do it justice!!!
Next off to a local Muslim home for lunch of chicken biriyani, eggplant curry, a salad of onion, yoghurt and coriander (which was amazing) and the piece de la resistance - dessert of deep-fried condensed milk in sugar syrup and fruit in custard - you don't understand how good it was!!! Best meal to date!!!
And now we start our next overnight train journey - train go Bangalore and then our next destination, Hampi. Overnight train here we come!!!
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