OH MYSORE!

Credits-mysore,ind.in

Mumbai-Mangalore-Madikeri-Mysore-Madikeri-Mangalore-Mumbai or the other way round. We had gone to the last Industrial Visit of our college, I was thrilled about it because for me South-India was not much explored.

Out of all the destinations the one which was my favourite was Mysore, and I shall try to inform my readers as much I can about Mysore and its culture, people and lifestyle.

To start with Mysore is small city situated in Karnataka which is also known as Palace city of India.This was probably the last bus ride with my classmates I was able to complete from Madikeri, Karnataka to Mysore which is approximately 117 Kilometres via State Highway -88.

We started from Madikeri at around 10 a.m. and reached Mysore at around 1.30p.m. The climate was sticky and it felt like summer in December. After reaching our Hotel, We had lunch which was a mixture of North and South maybe because everyone cannot have only Rice,Sambhar & Rasam for lunch. (I’m not being racist).

Soon after lunch we were allotted rooms which was all surrounded by coconut trees. The Hotel in which we were staying is named Regalis which had well-maintained rooms with a swimming-pool view which seem was designed to welcome the travellers. The bathrooms were large enough for at least a toddler to play football.

 The rooms had the mandatory television, safety-lockers and intercom. The interiors of room were mixture of old and modern world. The lobby was dark and warm, with a balcony view of the garden inside the premises of hotel.

After getting fresh, we headed towards Brindavan Garden, which is across Kaveri River. While travelling on the streets of Mysore which had light traffic and also most of the signboards were only in Kannada which could be a barrier for an outsider driving on the streets of Mysore.

Brindavan Garden.

The habit of using of public transport which is usually practiced in cities like Mumbai and Delhi was missing in Mysore because everyone had their swanky cars and bikes and the Karnataka State Road Tansport Corporation (KSRTC) buses ran less crowded or maybe I have the habit of living in highly populated city which is why I tend to generalize every cities population with Mumbai.

Coming back to the garden which was 25 minutes’ drive from my HOTEL after  reaching visitors are supposed to pay a nominal amount as entry fees. The garden is full with water fountains and one should visit there for peaceful atmosphere. Every evening the garden has a music concert which is viewed by hundreds of tourists coming from around the world. Brindavan Garden is like you should not miss, if you’re in Mysore.

It was 7p.m. by which we started to get back to our buses in order to back to our hotel. The weather again in the evening time became pleasant when it started to rain. It was a tiring day after travelling all the way from Madikeri to Mysore and the visit to garden in the evening. It took me two small pegs of rum with hot dinner of chicken with tandoori roti’s to calm my nerves and sleep peacefully.

The next day we visited the Mysore palace for which the city is called the city of palace. It is situated in the centre of the city and was the official residence of the royal family of Mysore, and also had royal offices inside it.

Mysore Palace.

The place is open 365 days from nine in the morning to six in the evening which is surrounded by foreigners as well as Indian tourists.

The evening was kept for our industrial visit after which we went back to the hotel had our dinner with excitement of visiting the Mysore Zoo, the other day.

The next morning we all had typical South-Indian breakfast which had Idli, Dosa, Sambhar, Chutney and also Chole-Bhaturas for those who had a different taste

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Next destination was Mysore Zoo, which was half hour drive from Regalis and also located in the outskirts of Mysore city. It is one of the  oldest and popular zoos in India which was built during the royal paronage in 1892 which sounds one the oldest zoo in  India.

Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, also knownas Mysore Zoo.

After paying a nominal amount for the entry you’re free to enjoy looking at the types of wild-life species inside the zoo. Animals like Elephant, Zebras, Gorilla, Giraffe and Tiger are spread all around two kilometres of the zoo which is its total length.

After spending four hours at the zoo we headed straight to the hotel and were out for exploring the city in the evening. And after roaming around as much as possible I would not suggest you to buy silk because that’s something we all know.

Here is my observation after my visit there.

--- The people around are kind to help you guide the way but they always speak in Kannada and the only way to communicated with them is usage of broken English which even a auto-driver will understand.

---The city people live a lazy and calm life as their day starts around 10 am and almost everything is shut by 7-8 p.m.

---Every street corner has a stall selling  Dosa, Idli or Medu-Vada in green leafs.

--- Don’t just buy silk and sandalwood from there because there’s also cheap coconut water and alcohol to drink.

The Route

---The Madikeri route to Mysore via SH-88 is better because directly from Mangalore to Mysore may take more time so a visit to Madikeri also becomes must.

---Mysore is also well connected via road,rail and airways.

Where to Stay

--- There are many hotels in the city of palace but Hotel Regalis is something I would suggest to be best for families. For more information (www.HotelRegalis.com)

While I plan my next trip it’s time for you to explore Mysore.