Mysuru (Mysore)

My plan to catch up writing did not work out, I definitely have to get faster at this. I promise to improve :). From now on I will also put the dates in the beginning so you have an idea how far behind I am :D.

Dec 17th - Dec 19th

On the next day I leave Kalpetta and take a 4 hour bus ride to Mysuru  (Mysore - so many cities have new names in India ...). Mysuru is mainly known for its palaces. On the way there the bus goes through a huge nature reserve. To minimise collisions with animals lots of speed bumps are integrated in the road. This is the main tool in India to enforce the speed limit and it's a lot of fun (not) if you sit in a public bus with bad suspension ;).

When I arrive I almost directly leave the hotel to roam in the city. I will again only stay 2 nights and want to make the most of it. On my way a Rikscha driver offers me to drive me around for a very cheap price and to show me three different "markets".  As usual I don't really trust it, but I don't want to walk again all day like in Kalpetta and decide to find out what the hitch is. The first market is a spice market and really small. It takes me 2-3 min to see it all. After that we drive to a "market" for incense and essential oils which is basically a shop. Later I will find out that this is the typical local scam. I don't mind though. I get a demonstration how incense sticks are made by hand and I get to try lots of the oils. I even get a head massage :). In the end I buy one oil (their strategy worked on me) which is way over market price but still so cheap that it doesn't really matter. I also meet a girl from China in th shop who works in Bangalore. She also ran into a Rikscha driver who made an offer she could not refuse ;). We plan to meet up later, which will not work out, at least not in Mysuru.

I decide to skip the last "market" and ask the Rikscha driver to drop me off a the Mysore Palace. It's an impressive Palace but the place is packed because it's weekend. It's the main attraction so I just have to push my way through.

After this I check out the local market called Devaraja, finally a huge and real market :). While I walk through the narrow alleys I suddenly hear some girls calling me from the back of one of the stores. I look closer and discover 5 girls hanging out in the back. 4 from Germany and 1 from France. It turns out to be the local meeting point for volunteers in this area. I join them and we talk about our experiences and this is also how I find out about the "scam", since some of them also went through it. The indian shop owner Adil also tells me about it and in the process sells me another 2 oils for 1/3 of the price of the other shop. Here I only get a free tee though. I wonder if this is the real price now or just a more advanced scam :). It doesn't really mater because I enjoy this situation.

On the next morning I get up early to walk up the 1000 stairs to Chamundi hills. It's really cold in the morning especially with the wind on the Rikscha but it's the best time to walk up :). On the way up people put candles and holy paint on each step, I wonder if they do it for all 1000. One guy sings a mantra on each step and some just use this as a good workout. On the top the sun and a great view awaits me and I line up to get into the temple. On the way down I encounter lots of monkeys who get fed by a guy up here.

Later that day I am bored and once again visit the local zoo which once again is a super green and cool oasis inside the city. Still I probably should try to not support zoos. It's the first time I see an ape almost human like and that totally reminds me of the movie Planet of the apes. Almost a little bit scary.

A more funny encounter is again with monkeys but this time not behind a fence. This one monkey stole a bag from a woman and especially searched through it for the mobile phone and took it hostage.

In the evening I again go to the palace which gets litten up every Sunday evening and afterwards I check out a ferry close by. It's super crowded but also interesting to see how it's done in India.

On the next day it's time to pack my bags and move on to the 3rd largest city of India.