Suffering from a case of smog fever there is only one cure, no it is not more cowbell, it is in fact a day trip outside the city. Almost 5 months deep into my India adventure and I was yet to leave Bangalore. Clearly I have not been taking advantage of my new environment.
Doing no research I simply asked the office folks what there was to see in the City of Mysore. Showing Uday the notes I had scribed on a loose piece of paper we headed to pickup my new found friend Karin. Appearing to know where each item was I sat back and prepared to see something other than Bangalore.
As soon as we left city limits India turned green. Plush green rice fields and colorful trees lined the road on both sides. Having driven for about one and a half hours we pulled into our first destination, a small Muslim mosque. Deciding not to enter the building we opted for a walk around the small town in which we were visiting. Obvious that we did not belong here everyone stared as we strolled by but in an attempt to get us to purchase something several shop owners stopped us to ask our country of origin.
Before 1 pm we had visited a handful of mosques and Hindi Temples and we were beginning to become templed out and wear down from the intense summer heat. It wasn’t until we reached Tipu’s summer palace that things got real interesting. In the back corner of the property there is an old staircase that leads down to the river’s edge. Tired and hot we took a seat on a worn down stair and hid below the weeping tree branches. Following suit several couples and a family of 4 perched upon their own stairs. Making small talk Karin and I blankly stared into the slowly moving water trying our best to rest or weary feet.
That’s when it happened, an ear piercing scream cut through the stale air as all bystanders quickly perked up. Shortly after opening a family sized bag of chips a stealthy monkey scaled the railing, hurdled a young girl while snatching the bag of chips from her hand. This move had to be straight out of a Mission Impossible movie it was so smooth. Shortly after grabbing the lute he quickly executed his exit strategy and climbed a tree….smooth.
Rested and happy to have seen my first monkey we headed off to the rest of the tourist sites. It turned into a long day but seeing some local wildlife and some much needed greenery brought a smile to my face.
"Mysore" Pictures
Blake
No comments:
Post a Comment