Ramanshree Comforts Mysore

... foreigners, we had to pay ten times as much as the Indian tourists, but then the silver lining came when we got a free audio guide, which was very informative and meant we got a lot more out of our visit.<br><br>On Tuesday morning we took a pre-arranged tuktuk up Chamundi Hill. There is an enormous temple at the top, and it is supposed to be one of the eight holiest hills in India. It didn't specify its exact ranking, but in the top ...

The Mudumalai National Park was closed because of fire risk and because they were carrying out the annual tiger census. That might have deterred lesser wanderers, but not Gill. Surely we could stay at the edge of the park and see what we could see. A very grateful hotelier fully agreed and promptly made ready his highest room come watch tower ready for our arrival. The place was wonderful and wild and I have no hesitation in ...

... your karma is good, obviously mine needs some work! We saw loads of monkeys on the way up and we fed them bananas and i even managed to stroke one without it thumping me like last time! The view wasn't as amazing as the lonely planet said but we met loads of friendly Indians on the way and we enjoyed walking down barefoot like the locals and seeing all the monkeys, cows, goats and puppies! We then went to the Maharajahs palace, it was designed by a British architect and ...

... Get a cup of tea, perhaps a coffee and maybe even a biscuit. Blog followers, this is a long one! <br><br>There is some old saying my Grandmother used to trot out about good intentions, or best laid plans, and the likelihood of them going astray, which escapes me just now but I'm quite sure it would prove relevant. Here at Field base, the best laid plans to do Monday's blog bright and early got waylaid. <br><br>Fortunately the departing buses carrying the 09C cohort to ...

... the palace's courts and gardens. The beautiful arches of the palace walls could also be seen from here. The walls had opulent mosaics of gold and blue tiles with beautiful, delicate detail throughout. It lent itself to day dreaming of having been there during a royal banquet on a balmy evening, jasmine oil burning and the candles lighting up the palace walls. Me, a romantic, not at all... Back to reality, and on leaving the palace after a few hours ...

... and about halfway down sits a monstrous stone bull carved out of one solid piece of granite. We then proceeded to check out some of the other historical buildings in the area, including a building that was once a guesthouse for friends of the Maharaja. It is now a swanky hotel, notably only because it bears an uncanny ...

... Here in Mysore, we live in Jayalaksmipuram. Often confused with it's sister neighborhood Laksmipuram. Soon enough we were clearly then going the wrong way. Ben and I tried to tell him this and even told him when to take a right. He kept up with the head bobble. This time the head bobble meant madam you don't know what you are talking about. And it was clear he was going to take us where HE thought we should go. When he stopped at the light we jumped out and ditched ...

... cartoon bear waking up from hibernation. You doze off and dream of flying down that sledding hill these past 3 weeks in the colonial Portuguese Christmas-crazy town of Cochin, and of the laid back beach town of Varkala, where I didn't lose my virginity, but I did lose a patch of skin on my knee body surfing (don't worry, it only replaces an old scar from where I had a wart removed, but now I have a much, MUCH, cooler story behind it, which will ...

saturdays are free days. and it is good, because that free day is sandwiched between 2 5am Primary led intensive class days. so, i relaxed, went into Mysore proper and braved the market. it reminds me a bit of the stock exchange trading floor, but in a much tighter space...and many more flowers.... i should have a story for you tomorrow. after class, i have an aruvedic massage scheduled from a woman who only uses her feet while hanging onto ropes attached to the ceiling. so, stay tuned...

... The first thing we did in Ooty was of rather small consequence. There was a 'botanical garden' which a lot of the Indians seemed to enjoy. Personally I believe that garden my mom maintains in the spring is of higher quality than most of the stuff that we saw. Luckily the admission price was negligable, so it really wasn't anything more than a big dissapointment. After the botanical garden, we proceeded to the highest peak in southern India, Dodabetta peak. I don't remember the ...