Cauvery Silk and More in Mysore
One of the most popular weekend getaways from Bangalore comes Mysore in the list. Known for the palace and the Mysore pak the city is around a 3 hour drive from Bangalore. So this weekend yours truly also decided to visit the city and its important and historical locales.
On a bright Saturday morning, we huddled up in our car and left Bangalore via the NICE road and were set for our journey after paying a toll of 90 bucks on the NICE road toll gate. We then moved forward listening to music and chatting up till we spotted something which made re-energised as it tickled the shopping bone in all of us. We spotted …DECATHLON around 30 kms in the drive and spent a full over one hour over there buying almost anything we laid eyes on and had some relevance in our lives. The place has an amazing collection at amazing prices. The place has all that u would require if you are a sports/hiking /camping freak. In short you name it and you have it.
After energizing ourselves with the shopping experience and trying out some of the merchandise immediately we continued on our journey. We reached Mysore in around 3 hours in total if we exclude the DECATHLON experience from the journey. And hence began our day.
Day 1:
Enroute Mysore one crosses the toy city , Chinnaptanam known for its wooden toys and items .after toys comes the dairy land ,Mandhya followed by the religious city of Sriranagpatnam. All have a different flavour and if you have time on your journey do try and explore the area. One thing noticeable about the path is the number of eating outlets, from CCD to road-side dhabas. Let’s put it this way, you will never go hungry to Mysore if you utilise the road properly J
Once reaching Mysore we checked in our hotel MB International in the heart of the city .Took some suggestions from the manager and we were off to our first destination. Being and Infy Employee had its perks-one being that you get to see the engineering and construction masterpiece that is Infosys Mysore. It has a multiplex inside, a floating restaurant on the side and a Vatican like structure right in the start of the building. The campus was full of proud parents who has come to visit their kids’ success.
The Multiplex, Infosys Mysore
After the Infosys Campus we went to the illuminated .Mysore Palace but as luck would have had it, the palace has the light show only on Sundays and public holidays at 7 pm. Disappointed we decided to move on that’s when we were approached by the horde of guides promising us genuine cauvery silk from a Govt of India shop. And for all this effort all he wanted was a meagre 20 bucks. Somehow we ended saying no to the guides but little did we know that it was a dangerous trap and we finally ended up at that shop, the only difference being that we didn’t go by any self-proclaimed guides.
One has to be cautious and good on bargaining while buying anything from the shops in the main market as many of them sell high prized products which may or may not be the correct prize. We didn’t buy anything and moved to the beautiful church made on the pattern of the European churches as far as I felt. That was the end of our enjoyable first day.
Day 2:
Day 2 started with the visit to Mysore Zoo as we found the zoo has an Anaconda, gureilla and a monkey which looks just like a human. We reached the zoo by 9.00 in the morning as it was a 10 minute drive from our hotel and took one of the golf cart tour which takes you around the zoo in one hour exact.
But first we had Mysore special Idlis which is a must have for anyone visiting Mysore
On our visit we found the reviews were not wrong , they had all the normal animals that you would expect to find in a zoo . But they actually have a monkey which looks just like an old fragile human. Seeing that we realised what we would be like if we were left alone on Earth without any other humans….Don’t believe me? See for yourself..
The Mysore Zoo
Post the Zoo we visited the Mysore Palace which is a huge structure and you would be left marvelling at the architectural designs and the exquisite interiors. The place is an architectural marvel but you have to visit the whole place bare footed:D
Mysore Palace
The palace is lightened on Sundays and public holidays after 7.00 in the night….so if you are there at that time…do make sure that you see it.
Our last stop for the day was the Silk factory but as that was closed on Sunday …we took a look at the KSIC showroom and made our way back to Bangalore.
Tip for people driving down there:: Leave Early in the evening else be ready to face traffic which will double your travel time J
Hope you have a good stay there!!!
