Bangalore day 13

A blog by @mircwalsh

Bangalore day 13

Friday August 14

Today we went to Mysore. A three hour bus journey required yet another early start. Arriving there we quickly found some place to eat. The choice of eating places in mysore is pretty poor and so many are really not clean. We finally settled for some Mallinge Idli is a really dirty place. Luckily neither of us got sick.

After that we headed to the palace. As usual the auto guy tried to rip us off bringing us to the wrong entrance and convincing us that the palace was closed for lunch and asking if we wanted to go to see “his friends shop”. Puzzled by this and the fact our guide did not mention a lunch closing we quickly escaped and eventually found our way around to the right entrance.

The grounds of the palace were amazing. After paying entry (20 for Indians, 200 for tourists) going through security, deposting our shoes and handing over our camera (all for a fee of course).

Once inside we were greated with rooms full of vibrant mosaics, pillars and stain glass windows.

It was possible to imagine the turn back time seeing ladies in pretty dresses dancing in the wedding room.

After this we went into a fruit market. It was not as impressive as the lonely planet guide suggested but still worth visiting. Then we were chased by two street sellers who couldn’t seem to understand that 4 bracelets for 100 or 2 for 50 was the same thing and that 2 for 50 was not a better deal.

Then we went into yet another dodgy restaurant for some masala dosa. The conditions were the worst yet and the toilet not a safe place to go. After this we headed back to the palace to see the lights being turned on. We attracted Indian families and single guys each wanting their photos taken with us.

After waiting and waiting we had to abort the idea of the palace lights being turned on when there was a thunderstorm and the palace closed.

Instead we made our way back to the station and got on the first bus. It was an a/c bus this time so did cost twice as much but we were glad to get out of the city and back to Bangalore.

Arriving in bangalore we got an auto where the guy charged us double since it was after 10pm. The guide says an extra 10% is added after 10pm and not that it is double. We were also never charged double. And also the guy somehow made 87×2 into 190 yes that made sense. He also hurled abuse when we told him he was wrong.

That night there was a massive thunderstorm that lasted hours.