Day 9 - More temples, more Mysore

The day started relatively early and saw us boarding the bus out to visit a non-active temple 45 minutes  from central Mysore. The Keshava Temple at Somnathpur was built in the 12th century. It is built entirely of soapstone, local to the area. Soapstone is very soft when first mined so the temple is covered in the most intricate carving uf everything from Hindu deities, to elephants, tigers, swans, fish and on and on. Without a word of exaggeration there is not one square inch that is not carved with something. The temple became an inactive temple only 100 years after its 68 build when it was raided by the Muslims and parts of it destroyed. Hindu law says that if a temple is damaged it can no longer be used for worship. The structure was a delight to behold! Once again, I find myself in awe of the designers and builders of ancient structures.

The bus pulled in back at the hotel just after 11.00am. We noi had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves.  Since we had missed the Palace the day before our plan was to rectify that and the visit the nearby Devraja market. We stopped for a coffee at a local coffee stand and while there enjoying it the "owner" of the stall engaged us in conversation with the standard opening line, "Where you from?" Ah! Australia. I have a brother in Melbourne!..... or something similar. Any way he advised us that the Palace did not open until 2:00pm so instead we should visit the "old market" – the other market is just for tourists! There we could see hope incense sticks are made. Knowing what was going on, we jumped in a conveniently located tuk-tuk nevertheless and set off for an adventure. The "old market" was interesting and quite genuinely for locals, not tourists. After a 10 minute stroll our patient tuk-tuk driver took us to a little doorway where a woman was indeed making incense sticks. A young man came out to explain the process and before long we were in an adjoining room learning all about the essential oils he sold. To cut a long story short we ended up buying some of his product. Total cost less than AUDS$50.00. Hopefully it is genuine and hopefully we'll get it back into the country when we return.

Despite his insistence that he take us next to a silk store, our driver took us to the Mysore Palace, but only after I asked Kerry to hop out of the tuk-tuk. The Palace is quite magnificent and very, very large. I don't know much about its history but I'll find out to satisfy my own curiosity. The grounds surrounding it are huge, to match the size of the building. Gold and silver, exotic tiles and artifacts are everywhere. We spent about an hour following the prescribed pathway through the building and then out into the grounds to view the Palace from a distance. It was certainly worth the 100 rupee (AUD$2.00) entry fee for each of us. In need if some cash, we headed on foot to the hotel, stopping for a coconut water along the way, and then to an ATM just up the road. Finances sorted, we got a tuk-tuk to the Devraja Market (despite the advice received earlier in the day). This market was jumping and lively and noisy and colorful – all to the max! Most of the produce being sold was flowers, fruit and veg and spices. There were also some stores that sold hardware items, mostly related to cooking but also silks and sarees. Tourist market or not, it was still a fun place to spend an hour or so of our afternoon.

Getting tired, we took a tuk-tuk back to the hotel to make our final preparations for our departure this evening. At 6:00pm we boarded the bus and headed out to the suburbs for a Biriyani meal in the home of a local family. We all crammed into the tiny front room of his tiny home while he served a lovely meals that he and his wife had prepared. It was quite a unique experience, spending time in the front room of this Muslim gentleman's home.

After dinner, our next stop was the Mysore railway station for tonight we have and overnight journey toi Chennai. For the princely sum of 100 rupees (AUD$2.00) a porter carried Kerry's suitcase uo and down the stair and along the long platform all the way to her berth on the train. We all settled into our little bunk beds after stowing our luggage where ever we could find a hole. I'm on the top bunk of one compartment while Kerry has negotiated the bottom bunk of the adjacent compartment with the lovely Trudy from Belfast. She's assured me she'll look after Kerry, which I know she will. I'm sitting in my bunk writing as the train slowly makes its way to Chennai. I'm pretty tired and should be able to get a good night's sleep, despite my cramped and precarious position, if that baby stops crying!!

 

Day 8 - Mysore Adventure

Today we traveled to Mysore, the second largest city in Karnataka. It's big. Much bigger than I had imagined. We're staying at the President Hotel, which is much like any "normal" hotel one may have experienced in any big city ion the world. You know, the type with a nice reception area, chaps in nice uniforms to open the door for you, a dining room, lots of big comfy chair, conference rooms and a lift! We all though the driver had come to the wrong hotel. It was really central to the main things one would want to see in Mysore.

After we checked-in and dropped our bags we were back on the bus to visit the the Sri Chamundeshware Temple on a peak overlooking the city. It was from up here one got the best feel for how big the city is. The temple is an active temple. That is, it is still used for worship. Of course surrounding the temple were the ever-present little shops and "mobile" sellers of all sorts of merchandise from fruit to postcards to trinkets of all sorts. Kerry, and most of the girls, had a cotton band wrapped around their wrist bya chap doing a roaring trade. I'm not sure of it's significance. The visit inside the temple was under-whelming. The "icon" to whom all the Hindu were making offerings was way down the end of a narrow passage was, which could not be traversed by the visitors, only viewed from a distance. We saw that, got out of the way of the worshipers and that was that. Back down the hill we went to the hotel to rest for a short while before heading to the nearby Mysore Palace.

Kerry and Greg didn't get there! For the last couple of days my anxiety levels were through the roof. A lump near my sternum had appeared a few months back, a late impact of my fall from the ladder back in August 2021, I suspected. It hadn't ever giver me any grief at all until the last few days. Now I was feeling a constant uncomfortable pressure in that area. Being abroad and a long way from home my brain started to invent a whole bunch of really bad outcomes for me, including the lump putting undue pressure in my heart and dying of a heart attack over here! So, as the other were heading to the Palace, at Kerry's call she, Pooja and I hopped in a tuk-tuk and went to a nearby hospital for a check-up. Driven by Pooja's comment to the reception desk, "this man has chest pains", were immediately ushered into Emergency and attended to without delay. The Registrar did the usual preliminary tests – Pulse OK,  Blood pressure OK. Soon after came the on-duty doctor, who examined me and sent me off for a chest X-Ray. Back to Emergency and in came an ECG cart, That test was done promptly and the doctor came back to talk to me. All was fine in the vital signs front and with the ECG results. The X-ray showed that the lump was no where near my heart so there was no risk there. That was a real relief. Almost immediately my anxiety dissipated and my pulse was down from high eighties to low 70's where it normally is. All up, we were done in about an hour. My thanks to Kerry, Pooja and the Indian health care system for ensuring this holiday can be the best it can be.

I spent the afternoon relaxing and catching up on the blog while Kerry went for a visit to Saree store with some of the girls. They all tried on a saree and took plenty lots of photos to remember the fun afternoon they had. That evening we all visited the ope-air, rooftop restaurant of a nearby hotel for a lovely meal on a warm night. On the way back to the hotel we stopped to be amazed by a cow that was just standing in the middle of the road as if it were in the middle of a field, completely unfazed by the cars, scooters and buses whizzing by. Quintessential India!

Day 7 - Safari Adventure

Up early today to drive into the next state, Karnakata, to the north of Tamil Nadu. Breakfast was plentiful, as it was yesterday. On the menu were pancakes, fresh fruit, jam, honey and toast amongst a range of other Indian breakfast foods. I couldn't resist buttering a couple of pancakes, slicing up a banana and drizzling honey over it all. A couple of of our American friends thought it was quite a strange thing to do, tried it themselves and loved it. Soon they all partook of this "new" breakfast delight and a trend was started. One of them described me as a breakfast "influencer". LOL!

Clement took "the road less traveled" once we passed through Ooty, along a winding forest road that was relatively devoid of traffic. A few little towns popped up here and there and the road in between them was relatively free of litter. The eucalypt forests were more dense than ever as we descended to the plain below. By the bottom of the descent the landscape had changed to become quite dry and scrubby. After an hour or so we stopped at the entrance to the Mudumalai National Park for a coffee and to stretch the legs for 20 minutes. We didn't stop in the National Park as our objective was it neighbor – Bundipur National Park. This park has the largest population of wild tigers in India (so, therefore, the world). We crossed the Park and arrived at our accommodation in time to unload our luggage and prepare for our safari.

At 3:30pm we boarded a 20-people, open air troop carrier and headed deep in the park on rough and winding dirt tracks. What a jolting, jarring and bouncing ride that was but it was great fun. Over the next three hours we saw water buffalo, monkeys of different species by the score, spotted dear, sambar deer, peacocks, mongeese, wild boar, squirrels, sloth bears and elephants. The driver essentially took a path from one water hole to the next. There was not much action at most of them but the sloth bears at one of them was a rare sighting as was the squirrel. 

We thought we'd done pretty well when the driver got a call on his two-way radio from a colleague elsewhere, but nearby, in the park. He sped past some sambar deer, refused to stop for a photo and then cut his engine and rolled to a stop. There, lying just 20 metres from the track, hidden behind some tall grass was a magnificent female tiger. The cameras where buzzing and whirring and clicking ten to the dozen with photographers jostling for the best position to get the best shot.

She got bored with all of this, gave a big yawn, got to here feet and began to saunter down the track. To see her in the clear and in motion was a sight to behold. The driver followed her down the track, keeping a respectful distance and she remained unperturbed all the time. The cameras just kept on clicking. After 15 minutes she turned left and disappeared into the scrub. None of us had expected to actually see a tiger on this safari. How lucky were we! The day was getting on and a magnificent, dusty sunset told us it was time to head home when a call cam of another sighting so of we sped down another track. By the time we got to the location three other smaller 4WD vehicles were there. I just caught a brief glimpse of another tiger 100m further down the track. Too many trees were in the way to get a good camera shot. Two tigers in one day! Wow! And I never thought I would ever see one in the wild.

It was dark by the time we got back to the "resort", checked out our very comfortable digs, had a beer with our traveling companions under a little rotunda and then enjoyed another Indian feast.