Dear All,
Firstly, I owe a few late birthday wishes…SORRY!! Happy birthday Grandma. Happy Birthday Josh. Happy birthday Ken, Happy birthday Trent…I’m still worrying that I’ve forgotten someone…I’ll remember after I’ve loaded the blog..
Secondly, I have a little bit of catching up to do for this blog..where to begin..
Left Hampi and caught a overnight train for 8 hours to Bangalore to catch another connecting 2 hour train to Mysore. On the overnight train we sleep on bunks and every other train we have caught has been fine and I’ve been rocked to sleep. However on this train I was crammed into a tiny top bunk on the side barely big enough for a little Indian to sleep in let alone me. On top of that the man under me snored like a tractor and every hour or so choked and made little squeeling noises like a pig. It was horrible and by the time we got to Mysore I was wrecked. Some breakfasts we’ve had toast, butter and jam or fried eggs with coffee or tea. But a traditional Indian breakfast is a little spicier. We’ve had dosas, which are similar to pancakes but bigger and lighter and can be filled with potato and come with a dipping curry sauce. Idli are made of rice and look like flat muffins, it comes with a curry sauce too. As if curry wasn’t enough for dinner and lunch, we can even have it for breakfast now.
Talking of food we had an amazing meal in Mysore. At a little restaurant they served South Indian Thali. Thali is plain rice thats served with 3 or 4 small scoops of vegetable curries, pickles, curd and a few other sauces and then you mix it all together. Its all served on a banana leaf and they keep filling your leaf up until you have eaten enough. Its great food, the restaurant was packed and dan even tried eating it with his hands like a true Indian. I tried but wore most of it so I went back to my spoon.
There was plenty to see in Mysore and we really like the city; wide roads, parks, sunshine and clear air. We visited the Palace, with its huge halls, ivory inlaid rosewood and silver doorways, stained glass roof from Glasgow and a huge hall looking out at the city. The Palace was built in the 15th century however the originally wood building burnt down and was rebuilt in the 18th century. It was a beautiful palace however it is covered with 97,000 light bulbs which look a little strange in the daylight but come every Sunday night the lights are turned on giving the place a real Disneyland feel.
Mysore has a great market each section specialising in one type of food. Huge vegetable stalls with onions, garlic, potatoes, cucumber, pumpkin, everything, and fruit stalls with pineapples, coconuts, pomegranite, apples and more bananas than ever needed to feed a troop of monkeys. Stalls full of eggs, rope, buckets, soap everything. Although it made my hay fever go nuts there were stalls with huge piles of flowers including marigolds and jasmine. The flowers are strung together with string and used for as offerings or tied in the ladies hair.
We visited the rail museum that has a carriage that the Maharaja used which was definitely classier than the carriages I’ve travelled in. Caught a rickshaw up to the top of Chamundi Hill which overlooks Mysore. There’s a temple at the top and halfway down is a massive 5m high stone bull. Its huge and is covered in flowers and offerings, we stuck a coin on its side as an offering.
After 5 nights in Mysore we caught a 5 hour bus to Ooty also known as Udagallumallum (something like that anyway) but Ooty is a lot easier to say. It use to be a british hill station at 2,200m so there are gorgeous old buildings all over the town. However Ooty wasn’t very scenic, the surrounding forest was dry and dusty, hundreds of Indian tourists on daytrips and we had trouble finding anywhere decent to eat. We were followed by Indian tourists all day wanting photos..a few followed even followed us when we went on a paddle boat on the lake, we tried to escape and find a quiet corner in the Botanical Gardens but they found us there too, so adding up all the things we didn’t like about Ooty we decided to leave. The area had a heavy monsoon and the train line has been closed for months as they’ve had to build new bridges and clear the tracks. Luckily for us it had just reopened 3 days before we rode the train. it’s a beautiful scenic train ride through the mountains, past tea plantations and colourful villages. On the train we met 3 siblings all over 40 years old and living in Australia that had been born in Ooty. It was great listening to them telling stories about what the area use to be like when the British were there.
The train stops at Conoor and we shared a taxi with another couple to get 100km down the hills to Coimbatore where there is a major train and bus station. We were hoping to get there by early afternoon however halfway down the hill a truck had accidently driven off the side of the hill and 2 cranes had blocked the road and were trying to pull the truck back onto the road. Traffic was stopped both ways and everyone unloaded from the cars and crammed around the truck watching the activity like it was a movie. In Australia there would have been police..not in India..and barriers..not in India and noone would have been allowed to stand on the crane base as it was pulling up the truck..only in India.
Finally made it to Coimbatore but too late to make a bus to go onto Mannur. So we spent the night in Coimbatore and were ready to catch the first bus to Mannu..at 5am. Luckily it was a coach bus that was almost empty so we slept most of the way. The bus arrived at Mannur at 11am. Mannur is also in the hills at 1,700m. We drove through gorgeous wildlife reserves that house leopards and tigers..shame we didn’t spot any! The drive through the forest was beautiful and in between the forest are huge hillsides covered in tea plantations. The bushes are short with the tops fanned out flat covered in the fresh lime green leaves.
We’ve found a gorgeous room, its not a hotel, but more of a homestay. it’s a little hut with bathroom in a families backyard. We’ve already met the kids and our room includes breakfast..whatever time we wake up! Yay.
We’re planning on spending 3 nights here as there are some beautiful walks through the tea plantations and the forest.
Hope everyone is enjoying the summer holidays..and if not on holidays than still enjoying the sunshine.
Love always,
Jess xoxo
