Blogs from Karnataka, India, Asia - page 4

Top of the list of things to see in Mysore has to be its palace. Built in 1912 by British architect Henry Irvin to replace the previous palace which had burnt down. It’s on the sight of a fort which was first constructed in the 14th century. It’s relatively cheap at 50 ruppees to enter. The outer grounds open from 10am and the residential part from 11am. The crowds definitely got heavier later on so I’d recommend getting there early. We started by wondering around the grounds, going into the Hindu temples flanking either side of the palace, along the walls, and into the palace elephant stables (where you can say hello to them for free). We decided that if we weren’t told off then it was probably ok to go to, in this way we ... read more

Woolly says – We were up bright and early and having found probably the worse tea in the world, breakfast hadn’t been a great success, we’re in India home of tea growing, how can they make such a bad cuppa? Having left the barely consumed cups we headed outside where our driver, Winkie, was ready for us with his three wheeled chariot. As we bounced and bumped our way back to Hampi, we again enjoyed watching the scenic views and working animals going about their daily tasks. Flying past some of yesterdays temples we pulled up at the Zanana Enclosure, which housed a couple of things that couldn’t be missed on a visit to Hampi. Having walked past the base of where the Queens Palace would have once stood my eye was instantly drawn to the ... read more

Woolly says – Having someone hammering on your door at 6am in the morning doesn’t make for a great start to the day, I opened one eye and tried to ignore the disturbance and left Zoe to get up and see what the problem was. I heard the words ‘check out’ and thought I might need to open the second eye, as I rolled over both women vanished from the room and I could hear their voices in the reception area, this didn’t seem good. We were being told that we had to check out, having shown them our booking which clearly said we could leave anywhere up to 8pm that day as well as the advert on Booking dot com that we had used, which said the same, the man on reception kept telling us ... read more

Woolly says – It had seemed like a good idea, in fact a brilliant idea and although tired from our overnight journey to Bangalore having dropped off our belongings, changed and found some breakfast we took our first trip on the Indian Metro. It proved simple and easy to use and after two trains that took us through the city below ground we popped up at the central train station, managed to find a ticket office before realising that the next train wasn’t until 1.30pm, not a problem, to use up the two hours we can join a queue to sort out our next train tickets we thought. Having stood in the foreigner’s queue with our completed paperwork it all seemed to be going well and just as our tickets were about to pop out of ... read more

A small abode in a dense forest. Environment is so pure that sunlight prays to the goddess to kiss the ground. Green woods wherever I stare. Chirping of birds and sound of animals barking emanate from the woods. A stream originated from nearby mountains, flows downhill not far away. Not visible, but I can hear its roaring sound. Steps for reaching the stream starts just adjacent to my hut. Knee-deep water is so crystal and transparent, I could see the bottom of it. A place of everlasting peace and quietness. This is what I dream closing my eyes, craving for a respite from the urban concrete jungle. Could I ever find that place? Yes, to a large extent, in our visit and stay in Muthodi Forest Nature Camp, Bhadra Tiger Reserve. Location of the cottage ... read more