So today was departure time from Bangalore and off to Mysore. We slept until around 8:30, then got up, packed, showered and then had yet another great breakfast in Laika with cereal, fruit and Indian specialties.
I had lost a T-shirt so we went off shopping for a couple of them in Galuda Mall, specifically Esprit, which had a 40% off flat sale. We also found a box of chocolates for our hosts as thank you for such a great time and assistance that they had provided.
We then returned back to the guest house where Laika and Ajith had arranged a really nice departure lunch for us in the guest house. They talked us through all the stuff, including the mutton and mulligatawny soup, really nice. Only downside was that I suffered badly from congestion, which had manifested itself earlier, so I had to be very careful with volumes, reducing my experience to tasters, while Claire tucked in.
After talking with them for a while and settling the bill it was time for goodbyes, which was a bit hard given how nice they were and how well we had gotten to know them. Just before leaving Claire showed them some Irish culture on YouTube, including the Dubliners and river dancing, as well as the long way to Tipperary.
Finally she showed Laika some clips of Friesian horses, which certainly had her attention!
Anyway we went off in a pre-booked cab to the railway station and found our train and carriage no problem, although we had to wait 20 min to board as they were cleaning the 1st class carriage.
That's when the fun started - after we quickly got into our seats, the rest of the carriage was in complete chaos while people were arguing over seats, attempting to find them and negotiating their way past others in the aisle.
I actually ended up coordinating Indians and their luggage around the place, including compacting (for space) and lifting bags that they had brought but couldn't themselves lift to the overhead spaces. It was absolutely hilarious while Claire was sitting in her seat in equal amounts of fascination and horror :-)
One Indian even chipped in that "You're very well coordinated" - I chose to take that as a compliment, while at the same time wondering whether it was a stab at his fellow Indians :-)
So anyway we got on the way and passed time reading and listening to music - the trip went without incident and we arrived on time at 17:30 in Mysore.
We got an old cab from the station, which looked like a vintage Morris, and got to the Green Hotel at around 18:00. The hotel is very nice looking - it's a colonial style hotel in a small palace (Chittaranjan Palace, built for princesses) with separate living quarters, a large open area, now converted to eating area, and what seems like old horse stables, which have now been re-purposed for cooking, plants etc.
We went down for some dinner and discovered that the full evening meals don't start until 19:30 - so instead we had "snacks" (which did include curries) - Claire had a dry mutton, raita, plain rice and naan, while I stuck to a plain ol' toasted chicken sandwich because of my stomach trouble.
Afterwards we just went back up to the room where we watched In Time and a few episodes of the Big Bang theory, before going to sleep.
I had lost a T-shirt so we went off shopping for a couple of them in Galuda Mall, specifically Esprit, which had a 40% off flat sale. We also found a box of chocolates for our hosts as thank you for such a great time and assistance that they had provided.
We then returned back to the guest house where Laika and Ajith had arranged a really nice departure lunch for us in the guest house. They talked us through all the stuff, including the mutton and mulligatawny soup, really nice. Only downside was that I suffered badly from congestion, which had manifested itself earlier, so I had to be very careful with volumes, reducing my experience to tasters, while Claire tucked in.
After talking with them for a while and settling the bill it was time for goodbyes, which was a bit hard given how nice they were and how well we had gotten to know them. Just before leaving Claire showed them some Irish culture on YouTube, including the Dubliners and river dancing, as well as the long way to Tipperary.
Finally she showed Laika some clips of Friesian horses, which certainly had her attention!
Anyway we went off in a pre-booked cab to the railway station and found our train and carriage no problem, although we had to wait 20 min to board as they were cleaning the 1st class carriage.
That's when the fun started - after we quickly got into our seats, the rest of the carriage was in complete chaos while people were arguing over seats, attempting to find them and negotiating their way past others in the aisle.
I actually ended up coordinating Indians and their luggage around the place, including compacting (for space) and lifting bags that they had brought but couldn't themselves lift to the overhead spaces. It was absolutely hilarious while Claire was sitting in her seat in equal amounts of fascination and horror :-)
One Indian even chipped in that "You're very well coordinated" - I chose to take that as a compliment, while at the same time wondering whether it was a stab at his fellow Indians :-)
So anyway we got on the way and passed time reading and listening to music - the trip went without incident and we arrived on time at 17:30 in Mysore.
We got an old cab from the station, which looked like a vintage Morris, and got to the Green Hotel at around 18:00. The hotel is very nice looking - it's a colonial style hotel in a small palace (Chittaranjan Palace, built for princesses) with separate living quarters, a large open area, now converted to eating area, and what seems like old horse stables, which have now been re-purposed for cooking, plants etc.
We went down for some dinner and discovered that the full evening meals don't start until 19:30 - so instead we had "snacks" (which did include curries) - Claire had a dry mutton, raita, plain rice and naan, while I stuck to a plain ol' toasted chicken sandwich because of my stomach trouble.
Afterwards we just went back up to the room where we watched In Time and a few episodes of the Big Bang theory, before going to sleep.
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| The Green Hotel - view from our shared living quarters balcony |
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