The Heniges Log Blog

Mysuru

We started out wandering around on our own, but when you don't speak the language it is a challenge to know what's going on around you, and at times whether or not you're being incredibly rude. Fortunately as a foreigner here we seem to be given immense amounts of grace. Well, usually.

So after our jaunt through the Kormangala neighborhood of Bengaluru, with its fancy BMW motorcycle cafes, we headed south to the city of Mysuru, previously known as Mysore. As one of our guides put it, India has a colonial hangover and many things that were British are still perceived as exotic and interesting. But they are working on reclaiming names, like Mysuru, or the more famous Mumbai which was Bombay. However numerous families wanted to take a picture of us with their child, which we obliged.

So in Mysuru we stayed at this excellent but very Indian hotel, the Yuvraj Landmark, where foriegn credit cards are not accepted. Given it's a block off the central palace grounds I was a bit surprised, but after emptying several ATMs we were in good shape cash-wise.


It's all about the Ghandis. Cash is king when you can't use the online payment system.

We opted to do a couple tours in Mysuru and with a little research were lucky to wind up with some really excellent guides and learned a lot about the history of the city and the kingdom of Mysore. Fun fact: one of Mysore's kings defeated the British twice after his people invented the first iron rockets. But after Cornwallis left the US in defeat he rallied a bunch of other kingdoms against Mysore and won.

A taxidermied elephant head and part of the Mysuru Palace
Mysuru Palace Ctd
Potentially photo of the year material. Tourists? ✅ Castle/Palace? ✅ Incredible exposure? ✅

The other tour was a food tour. Given that literally everyone has warned us against street food in India, we've stuck to clean looking restaurants (which are still incredibly cheap). Given poisoning your customers would likely be bad for business when you're giving foreigners food tours, we figured we'd be fine. And we were right! Our guide was the self-described engi-near (engineer dropout turned English major, much to his parents horror). The man may have had an unhealthy love of puns, but he was a great guide.

Alright enough rambling, it's time to talk about what you all came here for. On week two of our travels, this happened:

I will have more to say soon about our extreme birding paradise!

Comments

  1. Dirk
    p.s. the comments might work better now?
  2. Chelsea
    Eagerly awaiting bird content
  3. Sierra
    I’m convinced this is photoshopped. Or she’s looking at a fruit on a tree
  4. Sarah
    The largest bill here is worth $5 so takes a lot of cash to pay for a couple weeks of lodging.
  5. Jamie
    Sierra- She is looking for the next coffee stop!
  6. The British
    This is the first time in, I think, the last 270 years that the British have been described as 'exotic' or 'interesting'! I'd say more recently 'apologetic' would be more accurate...
  7. Dirk
    @The British - I only pass along what I am told. But I do recall certain someones dressed as the pope in a boat and a lobster, which I might dare call exotic.
  8. Sarah
    Jamie & Sierra — exactly! You never know when you might spot a guava or a latte in the distance!

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