India Week #3 Mysore

We caught our Government run bus on time, thinking we would be starting our descent of the mountain. Instead we climbed even higher on a one lane paved road. We made a few stops in villages to pick up passengers (all men) and 2 boxes of bananas. Total of 12 people in a 45 seater.  The public buses were very crowded. At one point during our ascent there were 27 hairpin turns up the side of the mountain....view was nice if you didn't look at how close the bus tires were to cliff. As the bus made the tight turns, slowing down to almost a stall, the monkeys came out of the trees as the conductor on the bus had the door open and he was handing them each a banana, not for our benefit but for the monkeys. What a nice guy. Saw a sign that read "Elephant Crossing", but no animals. 

Arrived in Mysore and stayed at a great hotel with 2 restaurants, a bar and an outside swimming pool on roof. We visited the Zoo, saw my first giraffe and Bengal tigers, (no football helmets though). Next stop Maharaja's Palace. Had a tour guide who was very knowledgeable and passionate about the history and construction of this magnificent compound. There was a large Grandfather clock Queen Victoria had gifted to the Maharaja. She always gave clocks, reasoning that you could receive money and lose but earn it back, but time once lost was gone forever. That evening we watched a movie on TV, because there was one..TV! All Indian movies are in Hindu and no subtitles, but English movies had subtitles.....in English. 

We did another day of tourists' stops and then the overnight train to Hospet and taxi to our present destination of Hampi (pronounced Humpy, like our pillow :) ). Did I mention most of our beds are 2 singles pushed together, with 2" to 6" foam mattresses on plywood. Our present bed is about 4" of foam but the pillows are a wee bit hard. The restaurants are all outdoors and filled with kids that wish they had lived in the 60's. Lighting up a joint while waiting for your meal is acceptable. It's a groovy place for sure