Day 4 Mysore Palace

Today would be our last day in India. While  I would have preferred an extra day or two to head further south to visit Ooty, a popular hill station in Tamil Nadu, my body was already breaking down from both my virus made worse by the less than sanitised water supply. Although I only drank bottled water, the fact is that as long as you eat the local food, you won’t be able to escape the water issue.

The bacteria introduced into your body caused watery stool and continued to do so until after a week when we’re back in Singapore. Anyway, according to the Internet, it’s pretty common for first time travellers to India and would clear up in a couple of weeks so nothing really worrying.

The stately Mysore Palace, icon of the 600 year old Wodeyar Dynasty
The stately Mysore Palace, icon of the 600 year old Wodeyar Dynasty

This morning we went to visit the iconic Mysore Palace which was the seat of government for the kingdom of Mysore under the Wodeyar Dynasty that ruled Southern India for 600 years until 1947. Descendants of the family still live within the palace compounds but they are hardly seen or heard. Entrance fee is Rp200 for foreigners but we paid the extra for an audio guide and it was well worth it.

The palace grounds are very well maintained and the palace complex itself a treasure trove of interesting murals and royal practices of the dynasty. It was worth the money and the time to explore the palace completely. As it isn’t an overwhelmingly large area, one can complete the tour in about 1 – 1.5 hours. The most beautiful part of the palace is the throne room so called as it is a huge hall with many columns, overlooking the gardens below. One can almost imagine the number of attendees gathering at the courtyard below awaiting the king’s orders or seeking his audience.

Outside the palace, we were barraged by peddlers trying to sell tourists their wares. I made the uncanny mistake of buying 10 ‘sandalwood’ fans as souvenirs from one at Rp100 each, which caused the whole flock of them to chase after me all the way until the car park. By the time I reached the car, the most persistent of the peddlers was ready to sell me the fans at Rp50 each! I felt so stupid for buying things from peddlers without bargaining, a repeat of my Bali experience. Finally Mujib had to help shoo the peddler away so that we might continue on our journey.

Out of Mysore, I wanted to visit one last place Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary which is located 16 km north of Mysore and on the way back to Bangalore. Unlike the rest of the attractions, Mujib joined us to explore the sanctuary which is famous for the thousands of birds who migrate south annually to escape the wintery north. As per other tourist attractions, foreigners pay a huge differential in the entrance fees of Rp 300 each.

Storks
Storks
Bats
Bats
And crocodiles...
And crocodiles…

The park is relatively serene and makes for a good leisurely stroll. Other than several species of birds roosting and nesting on the bushes along the river, most notably storks and bats, we also spotted a couple of crocodiles basking under the sun along the banks. No way we’re going into the waters, though you could enjoy a river safari ride to get closer to the birds.

After the bird sanctuary, we started our journey northwards towards Bangalore to catch our night flight home. However I still hadn’t bought enough souvenirs for all my colleagues, so Mujib stopped us in a town enroute which is apparently famous for toys. Surprisingly, like Australia, the towns also try to differentiate and pride themselves for certain product or attributes.

Did a quick search on Google and discovered the town is called Channapatna, and has local factories churning out all types of interesting wooden toys. Toys that bring back reminiscence of our 1980s childhood. We stopped to buy a few but as we were running out of Rupees, I had to limit myself to only the smallest of toys. Finally stocked with just enough souvenirs to give away, Mujib dropped us off at Bengaluru International Airport for us to catch our SQ flight home, not before we made the balance payment to him.

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