The hotel we stayed at was OK. Not great, not horrible. The funny thing is that this is one of those places that look a lot better on the web! It is wonder what a little photoshop action can do!! Here is a picture from the front of the hotel
On Saturday we went out for our excursions. We started off with a trip to Chamundi Temple it is on the top of a hill. It was very nice. As with all temples, we had to take our shoes off. But here, the place where you remove your shoes is around 200 ft from the entrance to the temple. Needless to say, the ground was a little dirty. After the visit to the temple we quickly went to the car and used the wipes to clean our feet!! Check out some of the pictures below.
After the temple, we went to the Mysore Palace. It was very nice palace from the inside. There was a lot of beautiful architecture inside. Ornate doors and pillars, stained glass ceiling,... very nice. After the palace the kidS were getting a little tired and hungry. So next, we were off to lunch.
Devraj took us to a place for lunch... keep in mind we were on his turf (He lives in Mysore) so we let him be our guide. He stoped in front of this little place and we were a little leary. We walked in and the place was packed. We waited for a table. It did not take long for Vim to realize that there were no plates in this restaurant. All the food was served on a banana leaf. Yup... a leaf. And most of the people did not use any utensils... Vim was ready to skip out and head to another place. I gauged by the crowd inside and the steady stream of patrons behind us, that this place had to be good. I convinced Vim that we should stay. We found 2 older French ladies that walked in just after us. We ended up sitting with them. It turns out that this is one of the recommended places in the Lonely Planet book. Anyways, the food was awesome. We ordered vegetarian thali and they kept bringing out the food. Very yummy!! Check out the pics!! We started with the hands to eat, but after a while we had to ask for spoons!!
After lunch we decided to do a bit of shopping. We went to buy some sandalwood carvings. We purchased some really nice things. I am sure we paid too much, but the pieces were really nice. We also stopped at the city market. It was great! Wonderful sights and sound! Awesome colors of the fruit stands. Ladies making garlands from fresh jasmine! Check out the picture of the stall selling powder dye. It was so pretty all arranged in the mounds!
The last stop for the day was Brindavan Gardens. There is are fountains that are lit at night. It was really pretty. By the time we got there it was already dark so we did not get to see the full effect of the gardens, but the night show was great!
The next day (Sunday) we did not have much planned. I initially thought that we would invite Devaraj to lunch with us with his family. Well, it turned out, he made arrangements to have his wife make lunch for us at his house. I tried to convince him otherwise but he insisted. Keep in mind that he does not earn much. We pay him the equivalent of $200 per month. Yep, that is all. He told his that his house was very small, it is 1 bedroom with a small room and kitchen. He was very glad to have us at his place. We met his wife, mother and son. They all were very nice. They prepared a great meal. We really enjoyed ourselves. Before we got there, we made a trip to the store and picked up some things for Devaraj's son. He was grateful. Now, all of you that have been to India know that with this type of house comes a certain type of bathroom. No need to go into anymore detail. I whispered to Mira before lunch, 'hold it' you don't want to use the bathroom here. Of course both Vim and Milan had to go!! Mira and I held it till we got back home - 3 hours!!
All in all a great weekend trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment