Green Hotel Mysore

Mit dem Zug erreiche ich Pathankot und ein "Toy Train" bringt mich weiter durch die wunderschoene Landschaft des Kangra Valley. Am naechsten Tag nehme ich den Bus ueber Dharamsala nach McLeodGanj, um das Exil des 14. Dalai Lama zu besuchen. Der Tsuglagkhang mit einer 3m hohen Buddhastatue entspricht dem Jokhang Tempel in Lhasa, Tibet. Im Kalachakra Temple sind Wandgemaelde des Kalachakra Mandalas (Rad der Zeit) dargestellt. DasTibet Museum erzaehlt die traurige Geschichte der Tibeter, von den...

When in India always add at least an hour onto the journey time you're given. Our 3 hour journey from Ooty to Mysore naturally didn't take into account the hour it would take to drive around the whole town picking everyone up, plus the obligatory stop at a shop trying to sell you elephants carved out of coconut shells or that sari Jules has always wished for. The journey actually took 4 and a half hours. Due to some great forward planning/luck, we arrived in Mysore on a Sunday which is when t...

Stayed at the Green Hotel , an ecofriendly hotel, away from the hustle-and-bustle of town. Mysore is known across the country for its Palace and annual Festival of Dasara. We arrived right around the eve of this 10 day festival (not the best way to escape the crowds). Perhaps due to the increased number of visitors at this time, we were faced with an increased number of beggers, young touts (children "practicing their english" with you, while trying to convince you to go to their family's can...

We had plane tickets to fly to Kolkata (Calcutta) on the Sunday of our first weekend here, so we needed something to do on Saturday. We decided on a day trip to Mysore, a city about 4 hours away from Bangalore by bus. We invited a co-worker, Jithesh, to come along. The bus ride would have been unexceptional if there were a restroom, but as it turned out it was exceptionally uncomfortable for me (I had downed about 2 liters of water just before getting on the bus). I barely held out until we r...

The trip to Mysore was our first long distance bus trip in India. Besides the fact that it took almost five hours to go 160 kilometers, it was like many other bus trips. The roads in India are definitely slow going as the buses must constantly dodge cyclists, motorcycle drivers, pony carts, cows, other buses, delivery trucks and of course cars. Upon arrival we found a friendly rickshaw driver (I should say he found us), who agreed to take us to our hotel The Green Hotel for about 50 rupees (a...

This morning we left Amritsar on the train headed for Pathankot, about 2 1/2 hours away. As it was a short journey there was no choice of class and no reserved seats, so we were a little bit concerned about it, but it was no problem. The train was actually quite quiet most of the way, and the rather posh Indian lady sitting next to us took the liberty of stretching out full length on the bench seat. The train got a bit busier just before departure though and you should have seen the look of d...