Visit to Mysore - Day 2

I described the first day of our trip to Mysore here. Now to talk about our second day. We got up kinda late - I got up around 8am. Did the regular morning duties, got dressed up, waited for Manu B and Shilpa B and headed down for breakfast, which was exhorbitantly priced and so, instead, we decided to check out, head out to the "city" center, grab a bite to eat and then go for some shopping - since the ladies were adamant about it. We had a buffet breakfast for Rs. 45 - not the best in the world, but it filled our stomachs - and then headed out to some store fronts. Bhabhi wanted to buy a table for her house, while Ma wanted to buy some stuff for hers. After wandering through a couple of handicraft emporiums, we ended up going about 2kms away from where we had our breakfast, to the official Govt. of Karnataka store.

That place was huge. They had clothes (and rolls of cloth to make clothes from) on the ground floor and the handicraft stuff on the first floor. We initially ended up going to the first floor where those guys took almost 1.5 hours to buy all they needed (I would describe the place, but it was like a run of the mill handicraft emporium you see in India). We then headed down where another 45 minutes or so were spent sifting through clothes. By the time we were done with all this, it was close to 1pm so we decided to head back to Bangalore.

I forgot to add that by now, Manu B and I were sick, We were both having trouble swallowing stuff, my nose was running and both of us were generally feeling pretty drained out. Nonetheless, the ladies decided to stop by at a place called Srirangapatna to see some historic parks/monuments built by Tipu Sultan. Though we never ended up going inside any of these, we drove past them and saw some lush green gardens inside. We did, however, stop at the Sangam of Kaveri. That was pretty tight. The water was nice and fresh, there wasn't too big a crowd and the view was pretty spectacular. A pretty serene place - one where I would want to have a house some day.

Anyway, that was the end of our trip. From there on out, we slept while bhabhi drove and ma talked till we reached the outskirts of B'lore. When we did finally reach there (~5pm) we decided to take the Hosur road - a new highway which connects the outskirts to the main city. It started off pretty well - it was quiet, had a good road, had entry and exit ramps, was away from everything and hence did not have people crossing from any-which-where and was in general a pleasure to drive on. Up until where the road ended. And beyond that, was nothing. No directions, no half broken road nor anybody to tell you which way to go. All there was, was a mud track, not even suitable for rally driving, with big stones and huge holes leading to nowhere (as far as I could see). Bhabhi was driving initially, and hence the underneath of the car got banged up pretty well, until Manu B took over. He drove more cautiously, and somehow or the other got us the hell out of there and onto a main (and I use that word liberally) road which we followed all the way back to their house. By the time we reached there, we were all pretty tired and I was royally pissed about that last part of the journey. I mean, how hard is it to tell people at the toll booths (which were manned, BTW) that this road leads nowhere, and that you're much better off taking the regular road into town. Also, why give directions to various parts of town when you know the road doesn't connect to them. If we hadn't had directions to a place close to our house, we would have taken a long past exit.

Anyway, to sum up the trip, it was pretty nice - though it didn't end quiet as well as it could have. Mysore was a nice place to visit - an enjoyable, quaint and nascent town. I have no doubt that soon it will be built up and busy just like B'lore - and that's just as well for the residents - but for us travellers, it will be a shame.