The chronicles begin here.
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Day 1: Bangalore
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7AM. Bangalore International Airport.
A late night resulted from dinner with Eliza's parents, The Little's, who got in the day before. We feasted like kings and drank like fish. I painfully arose at 3:50AM, intending to jump on the 4:40 bus to the airport, which I was told would take around 2 hours. The brisk morning air kept me going as I sauntered through the darkness to the bus stop. Once I arrived, a different picture was painted than the one I imagined, the one that was bustling in motion with busses going to and fro. The bus stand was a graveyard, the air was still, and the busses were cold. Unsure what to do, I paced around the station. A weary auto driver spotted me from across the main road and came over to inquire if I needed a ride. Perhaps this is my first stroke of luck, he said the busses don't come here this early anymore, but he could take me to Mekri Circle, where all the airport-bound busses pass through. I agreed, and soon enough the still air transformed into a constant chill which seeped through every pore of my body. Fortunately enough, I had brought my headphones which doubled as ear muffs at the time. Without them, I would have become an oversized popsicle. Once I reached the circle, I was surrounded by taxi drivers who took shape as ravenous beasts ready for their first meal. After deterring their initial barrage, I found some solitude on a bench and looked into the bus timings and fares. Simultaneously, I began to lure a few drivers back my way with a look of uncertainty. I ended up sharing a cab with 4 others to the airport for the price of a bus ticket. I sat next to a man who specializes in selling deformed-brand-name clothing (such as the 'Nice' beanies in my Ooty post). We had some good conversation considering my mind was still determining that I was in fact not dreaming, but awake at this hour. Due to the unintentional foregoing of the bus in lieu of the quicker auto/cab combination, I arrived at the airport especially early. This airport has a 'no visitors inside' policy, so I set myself cooly on the metal benches in a state of stillness to conserve what little warmth I had pulsing around my core. An hour or so passed soon enough, and I then surprised my first visitor, Thi as she crossed the threshold into India!
(I previously informed her to simply 'jump on the #12 bus' to my local bus stop)
In the process of getting the taxi cab to the airport, I secured a fair price back with a trusty handshake. After some catching up and a phone call to the driver, Thi and I were in a cab on the way back to my neck of the woods.
I had not seen Thi in about 6 months, the last time we roamed Downtown San Diego. Prior to that, we both spoke at a conference about traveling abroad, and prior to that, our original meeting... was atop Lycabettus Hill in Athens. Quite a peculiar place for two San Diegians to meet, atop a mountain in Greece. She was traveling with her friend Chao, and I was traveling with my brother, Brent. We all hit it off and ended up spending the next 4 days together trekking through Greece and have been in touch ever since.
I expected her to be a bit exhausted from her 43 hour journey, but quite the contrary, she was ready to explore! I suppose I was banking on taking a nap, but I was forced to quickly change my mindset. Once we got back to the house, my roommates were rolling out of bed. Introductions and conversation soon took place, and shortly after the Little's came to the house. Eliza, Bevan, Britain and the Little's were headed to Hampi in a few hours.
In other news, this would be the last time I would see Britain, she decided to forego the rest of her Fulbright in order to live out her passion in Chile, where she has spent a good majority of the last years of her life. After all, she's a poet who focuses on Latin American works... it just did not make sense for her to be in India when her heart was in South America.
After parting, Thi and I headed into town for her first proper Indian meal... dosa and idly! The day truly was one of go-go-go, I showed her around my area a bit, and then we headed off to Lal Bagh, the botanical garden. We wandered around the park for a good amount of time, climbed a few trees, picked an 'Elephant Apple' (which we later cut open to taste and were sadly disappointed), and generally caught up on life.
Thi still had energy after the leisurely stroll, so I felt the most hectic and crowded part of Bangalore was needed, the City Market. Surely, after wading in the oscillating sea of people here, we could call it a day. As we walked around, it was uncanny the similarities Thi brought up between Vietnam and India, certain aspects appeared as mirrored culture.
To the joy of my tired eyes and empty stomach, we called it a day after indulging in Chicken Biryani, Panner Tikka Masala, and Garlic Naan. A hefty meal! After all, we had a 730AM train to Mysore in the morning to catch.
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Day 2: Mysore
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I am sure you all are familiar with one of the most loathsome sounds, the ghastly shock which yanks you from the blissful pleasantry of weightless sleep, the sound of an alarm clock. Unfortunately (or fortunately), this hellbent siren did not sing its song for me this morning. I woke up around 7AM, perhaps from my subconscious kicking me. We now had 30 minutes to go 40 minutes across the city to catch a train. I quickly geared up the time-machine, and we set off in timeless motion. Leaping into an auto as it was driving full bore ahead, telepathically communicating where we had to go. I used levitational abilities to hover over traffic jams, and freeze-guns to stop cross-hatched traffic at the intersections. Sure enough, we arrived at the train station as the clock inched to 730. I manifested the train tickets from the palm my right hand, and then starred in a stupefied gaze as I discovered the train leaves at 8am... 'boarding time' was 730.
We made it.
After leaping across the train cars as if we were robbers in the midwest, we found our platform, which indeed, did not yet contain our train. We were early! A laugh, and a cup of tea were enjoyed as we bided our time until the train arrived.
It is about a 3 hour ride from Bangalore to Mysore, and not a second of it was wasted. Thi brought animal crackers from none other than the San Diego Zoo, which, if not only the most delicious snack in the world, are also quite fun to play with.
I am not sure how this next shot is not blurry, as it was taken out of a speeding train window. Perhaps the man on the bike also has time-stopping capabilities.
Once we arrived in Mysore, we were quickly escorted by a good-natured auto driver. He came at us with a '500 rupee for all day' pitch. I thought, we are here for about 8 hours, not having to flag down autos, having an auto who knows the destinations ahead of time, and being the total would roughly approach 500 rupees anyway... why not! His name was Kumar, and he was a great auto driver and stand up guy. We were both very glad with this decision.
The first place on our list was the revered Mysore palace. As we purchased tickets for the foreigner price of 200 rupee, locals purchased their tickets for 20 rupee. A scam I tell you, a scam! If only I had brought my registration papers...! Alas, onward!
This isn't the palace, but the first thing you see as you enter from the right.
An entrance to a temple.
This... this is the palace.
The front entrance.
The front gate (yes, I know I chopped the eagles head off).
One perk of the absurdly priced 'foreigners ticket' is that we were given free audio guides. Which, Thi and I found very informative and enjoyable as we wandered around the glorified grounds.
One of the many towers
The stained glass windows
A grand hall
The windows
The palace was truly fun to walk around, the sheer amount of time dedicated to the intricate carving of doors, the ivory inlays, and the general architecture were incredible. I found out afterwards that every single door was gold plated until the British came and decided the gold was better off in Britain. I can't even imagine the palace being in more splendor than it already was, I really can't imagine how the Taj would compare...
After we finished up here, we walked to the original temple we saw upon entering... a quick in-and-out walk.
We left the palace in search of food, Kumar directed us, or rather drove us to a restaurant he recommended. We had Gobi Manchurian, which is fried cauliflower cooked with some spices (a favorite of mine), and a vegetable curry with Naan. I also had a glass of black coffee, which I had heard was quite delicious in Mysore, and delicious it was!
The meal was good, and the bathroom signs were funny.
From here, we headed up Chamundi Hills. This was quite a drive, and alone made the all-day auto worth it. Once we reached the top we went into 'the temple of the gods', or something to that nature. It was an interesting and good exhibition.
This guy was hungry.
On the very crest of the hill stands a temple. Intricate carving all the way to the top.
There was also a graveyard for coconuts.
and wee water buffalos (bull? carabao? calf? cow? cheeta?)
We finished up here and Kumar took us to 'Bull Temple'... this was the view on the way.
Near the center of the picture is a horse racing track!
This guy was carved out of one solid rock! Very impressive! It's huge! They paint him every year, and decorate him with garlands daily.
Sticking coins to the back side!
...I inquired and determined this to be equitable to flipping coins into wells.
Of course, there is always time for some sugarcane juice. Mm...
From here, we headed back into town to see some 'fine Mysore silks'. We spent quite a bit of time at the store, as the man was truly a salesman. Unfortunately, we weren't so much into buying as much as we were into looking. We parted on good terms, though.
Kumar then took us to a friend of his who specializes in incense and oils (at our request). This lady is an incense making machine. The oil-man informed us that these incenses are the ones they mass-produce to sell to tourists and souvenir shops. I got a laugh out of that, as surely he had to consider us tourists.
The oil-man himself. All gimmicks aside, I ended up purchasing a small vile of Lotus oil. Regardless if it truly does help during yoga/meditation, it smells good.
The true reason why we came to Mysore, however, was to eat Mysore Masala Dosas! (I kid, but seriously)... Dr. Ramanathan told me about the original place to go and get them, and for 18 rupees a pop, I had a few! They were so good and I ate them so fast that I failed to take a picture. Essentially, they are identical to Bangalore dosas, only the inside, the Masala part, is an explosion of flavor! Ah... so good.
We had about an hour left until our train headed back. I recalled from the audio tour at the palace something about Mysore's tallest church being St. Philomena. Kumar knew where this was and we went there!
We walked in, looked around, and walked out. It was nice. Outside three youngsters were playing catch with a tennis ball. Throwing it as high as the could and seeing who could catch it. Serendipitously, the ball came towards me, and I gave the notion that I would throw it high in the air for them to catch. I outdid my own expectations as I launched the yellow ball into orbit. They failed to catch it, so they wanted me to do it again. And then again... and again... until finally, on the 8th or so try, he caught it! The crowd went wild, and I went to the doctor for arm surgery.
BEES!!!
(I really didn't go to the doctor for arm surgery)
We took the train back home, grabbed a bite, and collapsed into deep sleep.
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Day 3: Bangalore
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Dr. Ramanathan invited Thi and I out to lunch at the Century Club. Which is a great place with some great food. We met at my work, talked for a bit, and then made our way over. It was a fun lunch, and we shared a few drinks before the event came to a close. He dropped us off near the city center, and Thi and I wandered around a few parks before deciding it was best that we get back. We were suppose to be meeting Kashyap for a grand seafood dinner before heading off to Pondicherry that night.
The found of the club (above) and the club (below).
Kashyap had different plans for us. We met up at an art gallery called Gallery Skye, as there was an opening taking place there. The plan was to stay for an hour or so, head off to dinner, and then Thi and I would head to the bus stand. But, plans change, we ended up indulging in the constant flow of finger food and free drinks amongst the fervent conversations. A friend of Kashyap and mine, Rohed, also came, which made the night even better. We struck up talk with many people throughout the night and were invited to 'the back' for dinner afterwards. Unfortunately, it was ticking after 9pm now, and our bus was set to leave at 930. Surely, we were at least 20 minutes away. Yet, we ventured in the back anyway. We were quickly grabbing a bite as I remembered we had placed our bags in Kashyaps car! We had to pull him away and then make our way to the car immediately. This went smoothly enough, however, now we had the daunting task of finding an auto to the bus stand! Each minute that went by resembled a pulled tooth, afraid that the further passing of time would leave us smile-less. Scurrying like mice, we managed to find an auto who promptly dropped us at the bus stand. Upon pulling out the tickets, once again I starred to find the departure time being 10pm, while the boarding time was 930. I attribute this to a 'mistake I knew I was making'. Yep, I'll take all the credit.
...Off to Pondicherry...
Part 2/4: Day 4-7 (Pondicherry/Auroville)... to be continued after the New Year...
Now, I am off to Kerala in 2 hours for Eliza's Birthday and New Years!
Hope everyone had a great Christmas, and happy New Year!
☮
&
♥
