1/6/11 - Journey to Mysore

The morning was ugly.  We were woken up at 4:45 a.m. when the houseboat’s motor was turned on; at 5:30 we were deposited on land, and embarked on a 2-hour drive to the Kochi airport.  At 8:30 our plane left for Bangalore.  We arrived in Bangalore at 9:40.  After retrieving our luggage, we found our new driver and started heading toward Mysore, a couple of hours away.

It took us forever to drive through Bangalore on little city streets.  It was strange that there didn’t seem to be any freeways that avoided the city center by looping around the edge of the city.  In any case, we finally fought our way through and headed through more rural areas.  We saw interesting rock formations and fields of sugar cane, which turned out to look like beautiful tall grass fronds.

On the way, our driver stopped to show us an auction house for silk cocoons.  It was very interesting.  We also saw racks for the cocoons in the front yards of family houses further along our drive – growing the cocoons is apparently largely a cottage industry.

The next day, we discovered a cocoon in the car that had hatched two moths!  The driver and guide were impressed – they said it was a sign of good luck.  The driver carefully put the moths on a bush.

Near Mysore, we visited the Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace.  Tipu Sultan, known as the Tiger of Mysore, was one of the fiercest fighters against British colonization, keeping them at bay for many years, until finally succumbing.  The palace, built in the late 1700s, is an open-air wooden structure with elaborate murals on the walls.  Taking photos of the murals was not permitted, but I found a couple on the internet.  The grounds were full of Indian tourists, who were quite interested in us.  Several groups asked Tricia and me to be in their pictures… which seemed only fair, since Tricia took lots of pictures of them!  In fact, throughout our trip, we had this experience of being asked to be in the pictures of Indian tourists.

1/7/11 - Mysore

Temple on Chamundi Hill

Tricia and I were on our own during the day, because Shobhana was attending the South Asian Languages Analysis conference (SALA).  First, our guide took us to the temple at the top of Chamundi Hill.  This is a structure from the 1600s that is a popular site for pilgrims.  To get there, you drive up a winding road with great views of the city.

Near the top of the hill, we had an exciting moment.  A policeman stopped us and had a conversation with the driver and guide.  The driver turned the car around.  The guide explained that a politician was going to visit the temple and therefore, no tourists were allowed to go there this morning.  We would have to go back.  The driver thought for a few minutes.  Then, he turned the car around again, floored the gas pedal, and roared up the road past the amazed and angry policeman.  Tricia and I stared at each other, astonished and elated.  Sure enough, there were tons of visitors at the top of the mountain and no sign of a politician.  Through later conversations with the driver and guide, I came to understand that the policeman probably just wanted some baksheesh.  We really admired our driver!

The Chamundi temple area was crowded with pilgrims and other visitors, as well as cows and monkeys.  The temple is dedicated to a goddess, Parvati, who slew a demon called Mahishasura.  The name Mysore means “abode of Mahishasura.”

On the way back down the mountain, we stopped and took pictures of the view.  We also visited Nandi, the black bull, halfway down the mountain.  Nandi is the god Siva’s vehicle.

Maharajah’s Palace

Next the guide took us to the Maharajah’s Palace, a structure that is only about a hundred years old.  It is a highly decorated venue.  Again, we were not allowed to take photos indoors.       

Tricia and I Take Control

Then the guide insisted on taking us to a store of his choice – he persuaded us by saying it had a much nicer bathroom than the Maharajah’s Palace.  This seemed plausible, as public restrooms in India tended to be rather minimal in their amenities.  By this time, however, Tricia and I recognized what we were in for:  another Kashmiri shop where the guide would get a commission.  So we “broke the code”: we used the restroom, made some polite small talk with the salespeople, and left fairly quickly.  In fact, when we returned to the car, the guide was still in the shop, no doubt getting paid and expecting us to spend more time shopping.  

We announced to the driver that we had selected a restaurant from our guidebook for lunch.  He tried to persuade us that he had a better idea.  We remained adamant.  Then the guide returned and we let him know that we had made plans for lunch.  

The lunch was at a fun kind of counter-cultural restaurant.  Near the end, Tricia noticed that the people at the next table a) had bags from a silk shop in Mysore and b) were speaking German.  Msyore is a center for the silk industry.  So Tricia asked me to strike up a conversation with the Germans about the store.  It turned out that they were yoga students spending three months in Mysore.  The store had been recommended by their teacher.  They liked it; they thought it offered competitive prices, and they appreciated that the prices were fixed.  We decided to go there in the afternoon.

After lunch, the guide took us to a government-run shopping emporium, and then arranged to leave us for the rest of the afternoon.  We sensed that he had given up on taking us to more stores of his choosing.

Shopping: Silk Shop and Produce Market

For the rest of the afternoon, we wandered around a prime shopping area of Mysore.  First destination:  the silk shop recommended by the German yoga students.  Score!  They had amazingly beautiful products for astoundingly low prices.  Tricia and I became immersed in the scarves.  I selected 6 and she bought 12 – some as presents, of course.  I have been wearing mine back in the US and am getting many compliments!

On our way to the next set of shops, we passed by a mosque just as the call for prayer sounded.  It was the first time I had experienced this!  So cool.

Then we went to an outdoor produce market.  It had a lot of covered stalls, mainly produce but also cheap bangles, incense, kitchen utensils, and so forth.  A lot of fun to walk around.

Odissi Dance

After our afternoon of shopping, Tricia and I rejoined Shobhana at the SALA conference.  Together, we viewed a lovely performance of Odissi dance.  Then we had an elegant dinner with friends of Shobhana who were celebrating their wedding anniversary.

1/8/11 - Train to Chennai

Godly Museum on Chamundi Hill

In the morning, Tricia and I took Shobhana to Chamundi Hill.  We also took the opportunity to visit the Godly Museum there, which the guide had skipped.  This museum advocated a particular kind of Hindu vision that was quite interesting.

The Tightrope Walker

On our way to the train, we happened to drive by some street performers and stopped to admire their act.  The star was a little girl who walked on a tightrope.  Her mother and brother provided musical accompaniment.  The girl was amazing!!!  Here are two videos of her performance.  Note how she casually chewed gum the whole time.

The Train Ride

Once at the train station, we hired two porters for 300 Rupees (less than $7) to carry our bulging suitcases from the curb to the train.  This meant walking a fair distance, and navigating two long staircases.  The guys were amazing!  They just loaded the suitcases onto their heads and headed off.

I was intrigued to experience an Indian train, since I love European trains and have spent so much time on them.  Our train was India’s top of the line.  It was quite pleasant inside – not as new as the equivalent European train would be, but quite comfortable.  Where it excelled was in the meals!  We kept being served food every couple of hours, more like business class on an airplane than anything else.

The main downside of the train was that it moved veeeeery slowly.  It took over 7 hours to go from Mysore to Chennai, and once we were underway I understood why!  It was the anti-Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train).

We arrived in Chennai at about 10 p.m. and drove straight to Shobhana’s mom’s house.