The Kings go to Mysore!

I finally made the long overdue trip to the historic city of Mysore last Sunday. We set out from Bangalore at about 8am. The group known as the Mysore Kings consisted of Aditya, Clintson, Paritosh, Neeraj, Anoop, Dev, Gampa, Eldo and myself.

We first stopped for breakfast somewhere outside Bangalore. It was a 'drive in' restaurant, whatever that means. All I can say is it drove a hole in our wallets!! Our breakfast cost as much as a 5 star meal! But the food nor the ambiance was anything comparable to a 5 star place. But there were some hot chicks around. Was that the reason for the exorbitant cost?

From then on all roads led to Mysore for the Kings! First on the places-to-see list was Rangantitu Bird Sanctuary. Now we could actually do the real bird watching! No prizes for guessing the first bird we saw. It was the crow! I think the crow should be declared the national bird of India or at least of Karnataka! Then Clintson thought he had heard a humming bird. But it turned out to be Paritosh singing! We stepped into a boat and started paddling across the river. Anoop was lazily splashing the water when the boatman said that the crocs in the river were non vegetarian and he better keep his juicy arms to himself. We saw many bats who showed a lot of attitude because a joker like me had come near them. [:D]

Our next stop was the magnificent St. Philomena's church. It is built in neo-Gothic style. [picked that term from the net!] It is very beautiful. A must see if you go to Mysore. Next stop was for lunch. There i came across a guy selling hand fans made from sandalwood. At least what he claimed was sandalwood. He said Rs. 150 per piece. I said it was too much. He himself kept reducing the price until he came down to Rs 25 per piece. Now it was guaranteed that it was not sandalwood. Whew! One must be really careful when buying such stuff.


It was time for the highlight of the trip. The Kings had come to see their palace! It was enormous and beautiful. You could experience the opulence of the royalty first hand. Vast courtyards. Highly ornate architecture and beautifully carved furniture. For a moment I felt like a king. But then realized a freak like me could never be a king! But if I were a king, Himesh would be my court singer and Golden Star would be the dancer. [:D] Ok thats a little far fetched. Lets get back to reality. You can buy various souvenirs here. And everything seems to have some connection with sandalwood.

Next up was balmuri falls. The 'falls' turned out be a small dam with water flowing over it. All we could see where lots of pot bellied men frolicking in the water! Booze was flowing freely and many men came up to me asking if i wanted beer! Now neither do I look like a boozard nor do I have a beer belly. I wonder why they kept asking me. Oh BTW Kannada movies can be shot here for Rs 2750. Maybe one day i might return there as an actor!

The last stop was KRS dam and brindavan garden. We were not allowed to go on the top of the dam. That was a major let down as we expected to get beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. So we hung around the garden for a while waiting for the famed musical fountains show to begin. And boy, we were in for a major disappointment. The show was mediocre to say the least. I am sure the audience would have been more entertained if we had danced to the music instead of the fountains! We decided to leave after about 10min.

It was time to head home. The Mysore kings had a wonderful time. The palace and the church are the only worthwhile things to be seen in Mysore. But you have got to visit it if you are in Bangalore. And with this trip I have completed a hatrick of trips for the past three weekends!! Yo yo yo! Any suggestions for this weekend?