Location: Mysore, Karnataka. Date: 15th May 2010.

Jared says: After a few bus rides up and down the steep and winding roads to the hill stations we were expecting the trip down from Ooty to be more of the same. And it was, just a far more severe version. There were 38 hairpin corners in total, each numbered as you go (and we counted down almost everyone). Although our bus was only in second or first gear the entire time, we must have gone down 1000 or so metres in about 45 minutes. The road was like a combination of some of the more hairy access roads up to some of NZ’s skifields and a ride on a roller coaster. Good fun, but happy when we made the bottom. And as we reached the flats and started to drive through National Park we were lucky enough to spot a couple of wild elephants, many wild dear and a species of monkey we had never seen.
A nice ride into town was followed by an arrival to a nice town. We were expecting Mysore to be similar to any other Indian city, but it wasn’t. The streets were clean (by Indian standards), the footpaths were wide and you could walk them with out having to worry about what or who you stood on, and the general feel of the pace was very cosmopolitan. Twice we went out for dinner and were happy to walk the 15-20 minutes home in the dark, something we had never considered before in a city. There were also shops like Levis, Nokia and Pizza Corner, the latter of which we had to try. We had one Indian and one standard vegetarian style pizza and over all they were pretty much like any average takeout pizza back home. But they were pretty expensive by Indian food standards at about 280rp ($9.50NZD) per pizza.
Also we managed to find another happy and helpful rickshaw driver to show us the sites. Julian was a super friendly guy and spoke good English as well as five other languages (he proclaimed), but at 24 he had never been to Bangalore (about three hours train away). He was super helpful while showing us the sites, and also really admired my long straight hair (as he called it), as he was trying to grow his own the same but it just wasn’t straight enough. If we are ever in Mysore again we will be getting Julian to show us around, and if anyone else is there his phone number is 09880240087
We got to see a few great temples and palaces in Mysore and also go a good dose of history of the area. Definitely the best city we have been in so far and somewhere very livable.

Tessa says: The wide streets and footpaths of Mysore was a welcome change to the dirt tracks we had previously experienced. Glittering majestic roundabouts and even signal men for crossing the road meant that we walked most places. Mysore is famous for three things, it's Palace, Sandalwood, and Incense.
Our accommodation “Hotel Roopa” on the first night was promising, being clean and with tidy décor. Unfortunately around 11pm the bugs crawled out from their hiding space. At first finding only a couple we thought we could deal with it, but 30 min later and they were crawling all over the bed. Jared spoke with reception and they changed us to another room, no upgrade, no discount just a new room but at least no bed bugs! During all our travels we have never experienced bed bugs (perhaps we are lucky!) we were disappointed that this particular Hotel had bed bugs as it is one of the more expensive hotels we have stayed in and it was recommended by the LP (Lonely Planet).
The highlight of Mysore for me was the Mysore Palace, a beautiful magical palace, situated in the heart of Mysore, at night lit up it almost looks like a mirage. Walking around the palace from grand room to hall to wrestling courtyard (that’s right!) I felt like a Princess. There are ivory inlaid doors and the soaring ceilings are stained glass. Mosaic tiles cover the floors, the over all style having an Indian-anglo-arabic influence. Mysore Palace construction was completed in 1912 for the Wodeyar maharajas.
The next highlight in Mysore was the array of food options. Three nights in a row we managed to spend a third of our budget on dinner. Having a Thai Grill (mutton, chicken, fish and prawns) on a roof top restaurant, was the first time I ate meat since being here, and didn’t have one little belly ache to complain about. We also had a delicious tandoori dish of paneer (cheese) stuffed mushrooms, potatoes and a huge family size naan which was the size of a double large pizza.


Acommo: Roopa Hotel. Bed bugs, bad service, bad time. 1106rp –
Luciya Hotel , a great view including the Palace but a little damp smelling. 700rp **

Eats: Roopa Restaurants, downstairs buffets had good options but were latish both times so a little cold and average service **1/2, upstairs fine-dining had awesome food and cocktails and location, but we paid for it ****
Café Armane, nice thali and curries ***1/2
Tiger Trail: Very expensive but ice cold beer and great tandoori mushrooms ***1/2