Indian Epic Pt. ll: Mysore, Ooty, and Bangalore

Hello again, friends! Are you ready for the second episode of this saga? Our journey now continues in lovely Mysore, located in the region of Karnataka and birthplace of Ashtanga yoga, as well as home to beautiful palaces, temples, and tax-free spices, sandalwood oil and premium silk. Mysore takes its name from the demon Mahishasura, a half-breed of buffalo/human who was putatively slain here by the goddess Chamundi.

Our travels began with the most important meal of the day: third lunch. Just kidding, you guys! It was breakfast. Here is what I ate:

A dosa, or, as I mentioned in the previous post, a pancake/crepe-like bread filled with spiced potatoes and onions, and- a specialty of Mysore- smeared on the inside with a spicy chili chutney.

While we waited for our food we learned some interesting new ways to beat a hangover, courtesy of the back page of our menus. Surprisingly, Garrett had never heard of the Jewish remedy before...

After we’d gotten settled in our hotel we ventured forth to our first destination: the 1062 meter-high Chamundi Hill, upon which stands the looming Sri Chamundeswari Temple, able to be reached only after a climb of 1000 + stairs.

Maybe if we smile now, we'll notice the pain less later...

The climb is steep but the view as you get closer is worth it.

This statue of Shiva’s bull Nandi, carved out of solid rock, is located about ¾ of the way to the top. Nandi represents moral order, justice, power, and potency.

Heh

View from the top

Over the course of Garrett’s and my travels, we got very comfortable taking awkward pictures with strangers, who would see us and without even saying "hello," pull out their cameras and motion for a picture.

We made it!  

Our second stop of the day was the Maharaja's Palace. The old palace burned down in 1897, after which this extravagant stone structure was completed by English architect Henry Irwin over the course of the next 16 years at a cost of 41 lakhs ($4.1 million). The inside comprises elements of Mughal, Roman, and Gothic styles of architecture.

Always ready to get in another buddy pic

Expansive trees stretch over the grounds.

After the palace we had lunch with Shankar, our auto rickshaw friend, who taught us how to properly eat a thali, or a south Indian meal.

A thali is made up of papad— the large rice cracker you see in front, chapathi—a wheat-based flat bread I mentioned in the previous post, various kinds of soups/curry made with bases of tomato, chickpea, potato, or mint, pickled and spiced mango, curd, and a sweet, soupy dessert with pieces of dried fruit, almonds, cashews, and vermicelli noodles.

The entire meal is eaten with the right hand (left is reserved for other matters), the soups or curry poured over rice or bread which is then scooped up and shoveled into the mouth using the thumb. Curd is eaten last, and is combined with rice and a touch of salt to form a mild yogurt gruel which is spiced up with pickled mango. This meal cost about 60 rupees, or $1.18.

Garrett and I quickly got over our timidity of eating food with our hands, and left India thinking how gypped our toddler selves would have felt had they known there are cultures out there that get to eat with their hands their entire lives...

In the afternoon we went to an Ashtanga yoga class at this studio, where the teacher bent us into positions we weren't sure we'd ever get out of, forcing limbs to go in directions they flatly refused to go while assuring us that “pain was good.” It was unlike any yoga class I’ve ever been to.

Afterwards, though, we rested our aching muscles outside a lassi shop and drank these thick, sweet yogurt drinks, putting the past two hours into much kinder perspective now that they were behind us. I gulped mine down in about eight seconds after which Shankar informed me that the proper way to enjoy a lassi is to sip it. I maintained that we would simply have to agree to disagree on that one.

The next day, after another breakfast of steaming dosas and hot chai, we once again met up with Shankar to visit various bazaars and shops to buy spices and oils, and check out some of the IPI or "Intellectual Property India" stamped silk, which ensures it's of the highest quality.

At bazaars, goods are separated into different sections; for example, all the flowers are found in one aisle, all the bananas in another… It’s very organized and I'd imagine makes shopping a lot less chaotic than at Khmer markets.

Bindi powders are sorted into different piles based on color

After being in Mysore for two days and seeing much of what there is to see there, we decided to take  a day trip to nearby Ooty, a hill station about 120 km away, in the region of Tamil Nadu (where Chennai is located). Ooty is popular amongst tourists for its lakes, forest preserves, homemade chocolates, and, perhaps most intriguing to us, its cooler temperatures.

We left in the morning, after waiting at our hotel a mere two hours for the bus to come to pick us up... 

This door remained open the entire trip (~ three hours, driving up a steep mountain side).

Along the way we continuously curved around these terrifying hair pin bends, which are essentially 180 degree turns which require the driver to slow to a crawl so as not to risk hitting oncoming traffic.

First stop: Ooty Lake

What is this strange, tingly feeling? Oh yeah! I'm cold. Mmm...

Ewwww gross, I know. Sorry, everyone.

Tea plantations stretch up into the hills

Homemade chocolate! This was the fruit and nut

And this- omg!- was the (hopefully) not factually-named "choco finger"

If you haven’t figured it out by now, we really love food… Here is Garrett trying not to consume the entire bowl of candy-coated fennel seeds which are eaten after dinner to freshen breath and act as a digestive, but which- we were informed later- can act as a laxative if eaten in too great a quantity.

Goats are silly hehe

Our last stop of the day were the Government Botanical Gardens, laid out in 1848 and cascading over 22 well-manicured hectares.

Chili coated unripened mango slices. Nom nom nom

View of the town

The next stop on our journey through southern India was Bangalore. Bangalore is the IT capital of the country, referred to as the “Silicon Valley of India" by many, and coming in at one of the biggest Indian cities with a population of 8.4 million. This may not sound like the most ideal spot for a relaxing vacation, but we had a contact to meet up with- Kiran, who, like Garrett, works for Population Services International (PSI)- and who generously donated his time and energy to show us around and expose us to the best of Bangalore.

Here is Kiran and his lovely wife, Mona, on a toy train ride we took around the park. The four of us met in a 120-hectare garden called Cubbon Park the morning after Garrett and I arrived in Bangalore by night train. We walked and talked and learned a little bit about one another. One interesting thing about Kiran and Mona is that they had an arranged marriage, and were not shy or uncomfortable at all in talking with Garrett and me about it. They answered all of our curious but cautious questions warmly and openly, and seemed just as happy if not more than many couples I’ve met who have been married for several years already. Arranged marriage is still very strongly believed in and practiced in India, although "love marriages" are starting to gain popularity amongst younger generations. According to Mona and Kiran, however, most marriages that end in divorce in India are those that are begun out of love, not those that are arranged. Pretty interesting to consider, especially when thinking about our own situation in the States with over half of marriages ending in divorce and none of those being arranged.

After the park, we went to this ice cream shop, to cool off during the hottest part of the day. That styrofoam bowl is filled with about a million calories of a sickeningly rich ice cream concoction called “cake-a-mocha”: a slab of ooey gooey brownie topped with coffee ice cream, nuts, and hot fudge… #gainingtenlbsinonesitting

Close up. I had to concede to Garrett, who, disgustingly and impressively, was able to finish both his bowl and .25 of mine. #posticecreamstomacheaches

The next day we went to a temple Kiran recommended called “Bull Temple,” which dates to the 16th century.

It had similar architecture to the temple we visited in Mysore, with a big elaborate gateway and a granite monolith of Nandi inside.

 

Also, like the Nandi in Mysore, this bull had all its parts.

tehe

In the afternoon we relaxed at a botanical garden…

…And then saw the cheesiest and most amazing Bollywood film of all time: Himmatwala (be sure to watch the "Taki Taki" video on the sidebar if you want to see more...), which follows the escapades of this manly and courageous mustachioed man who fights for justice and peace, whether that means punching a tiger in the face or spontaneously breaking into a dance sequence...

Reenactment

In the evening we met up with Kiran to eat this...

 ...And take this buddy pic, which only took six previously failed attempts to capture.

The next morning Garrett and I made our way to the airport, where we would fly from Bangalore to Delhi to continue our adventures in the north…

"Tiffin" aka breakfast: the accurately if not creatively named “veg puff”

 Getting through the line for security was brutal

Aaaaaannnnddd we’re off! Off to meet with more friends and adventures, and discover more sites, smells, and foods in the north. Stay with me as I lead us onwards to Delhi, Agra, and beyond...