After some super-busy and super-tiring days in my routine , I decided to give myself a nice break and packed my bags and straightaway headed to Banglore. While I was checking out options for a day out near the city, I finalised on Mysore.
It was a road trip and we started for Mysore in the morning around 8 am. As Banglore is popular for its traffic, we were lucky enough to sneak out of the city without being traffucked. We took a halt for some Petpuja (err breakfast :P) at Adyar Anand Bhavan - Bidadi outlet. Typical southindian breakfast of Masala dosa and Filter Kaapi what a combination! Coconut palms on both the sides of the road, local vendors selling tender coconuts alongside on the streets, dividers decorated by colorful bougainvillea, smooth roads and some Bollywood-Punjabi remixes are just the right ingredients for a kickass roadtrip.
Our first stop was Chamundi Hill and Chamundeshwari temple. The temple is open for specific timings only and make sure you reach well before their closing time. The temple has a general queue which had a long waiting time. So we decided to buy the special pass for a quick darshan (Rs 100 per person) and purchased fresh flowers to offer in the pooja. As the time slot for morning darshan was about to end, the temple keepers were in a hurry to ensure all devotees take darshan. The temple is pretty and gives a fresh and positive vibe. On our way back from the temple, we stopped at the view point to have a panaromic view of the beautiful city of Mysore. What a sight!! Though the Hill is declared a plastic free zone,it was quite sad to see so much plastic waste not just by the tourists but by local vendors too!!
We were hunting some nice authentic southindian place for lunch but few of them were closed, so we skipped lunch and headed to our next stop.
Mysore jake koi Palace na dekhe, kya aisa ho sakta hai?! Ji nahi.. next stop.. The Royal Beauty.. the Palace looks huge from the outside. We hired a local guide at the entrance of the Palace. We did find his fees pricy compared to the time and information he offered about the tour (Rs 350 for 45mins..please bargain if you can). The Palace has impressive detailing in the Hall, the Diwan-e-khas , the Diwan-e-Aam, its classic ivory studded wooden doors, the golden pillars, the flooring.. are a proof of amazing taste the royalty has for the art and architecture. There is a souvenir shop in the palace which sells some amazing sandalwood items. The saffron and sandalwood soap which I bought smells divine! We went on a Sunday so there was no sound and light show on that day.
After the tiring day we treated ourselves at Hotel Sidhartha near the Palace. Guys, this is a must must visit (just like the palace).. i have eaten probably the softest idli ever at this place. The Maligey idli (not sure if i have spelled it right). The bonda soup was also good.
We had some plans for the following day, so we decided to go back to Bangalore and not stay in Mysore. All in all it was a perfect getaway and a nice trip for us!
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