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Published: February 17th 2009
Mudumalai Mom
She was not tame, but was standing right by the road eating at dusk with her baby.12 Feb 2009. We took our first overnight train trip, this one to Mysore. It was a pleasant experience: clean, air conditioned, and quiet except for a small gaggle of Indian girls who chattered most of the night. No alcohol is allowed on Indian trains, so the guys pre-mixed rum and Pepsi and put it in their water bottles. Next day, we traveled from Mysore to a beautiful Vishnu temple, Somnathpur. Roads were dusty and bad, but it was definitely worth the trip. The whole temple is carved of soapstone, so the work is very detailed. Mysore is a smaller city with a maharajah’s (big king) palace, partly open to the public and partly still the home of the last maharajah’s son. It was impressive, with a lot of gold leaf and stained glass, completed in 1912, We were “taken” to some wood and silk shops, where we met a lot of really hopeful salespeople. We had the best meal so far at a local woman’s house.
13-14 Feb 2009. This afternoon, we drove a long way on horrible roads to the Mudamalai Tiger Preserve and great lodging at the Jungle Retreat. We had dorm accommodations, but the place was
Mysore
A maharajah's palace -- his son still lives in part of the palace squeaky clean, with cool night temperatures, a swimming pool, good food and pets (Toto the kid, Sylvester the cat, Goonda the dog …). We took a late afternoon safari ride into the park to watch the staff feed and wash tame (orphan) elephants, missed seeing some tigers crossing the road, and rode even more to see a wild mother and baby elephant feeding by the side of the road. Tom got some great video.
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Bala Bandipur
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Any more wildlife sightings?
Nice post Any more wildlife sightings? you can see some of my bandipur mudumalai wildlife / bird pictures at http://www.wildlifesanctuaryindia.com/wildlife/ Best regards Bala