Yesterday we had a fun Indian experience. Since we've been in the same city this whole time, we decided to go on a sight seeing tour to a city to the north called Mysore. We were supposed to meet the bus at around 6 or 6:15am, but got a call from the bus driver at 5:40am asking us where we were. This was extremely surprising because nothing happens on time here, and especially not early. We figured they had nothing else to do at 6am, so why not be early? That or the random tour guide that we found below the Middle Eastern restaurant told us the wrong time. We were for sure the only foreigners on the tour, which was fun because we realized that this is what people here do when they travel- not the fancy tours catered towards westerners. We took a non-AC bus (which we were nervous about but turned out to be fine because the weather was really cool and didn't rain) to different sites around the town.
One of my favorite's was the Maharaja's palace, which was absolutely beautiful inside. Sadly, you aren't allowed to take pictures inside, so you just have to take my word on it. But I have pictures of the outside. Funny side note: our tour guide explained that it cost 20 Rs (40 cents) for Indians to enter the palace, but foreigners had to pay 200 Rs. We all laughed because we thought he was joking, but he wasn't. I guess it makes sense since we don't pay taxes. But the way he said it was funny because he just been telling about the history of the place, how the English had come in and conquered the area and killed the leader, and then he says, "to get in, Indians pay 20 Rs, but English, pay 200 Rs." He added in "other foreigners" later, but it just seemed funny...
We also went to these gardens in the city that were amazing. It was our last stop, so we got there around dusk, right before they turned all the lights on. There were fountains everything that were great lit up. Sadly, you had to purchase an extra ticket to take pictures here and we didn't have time to wait in the line, so I again don't have pictures of it. I got frustrated over the different rules about photography, but I decided to submit and enjoy what I got to see. It was hard though to not pull out my camera at the gardens and just take a picture real fast- no one would have seen. But Watchman Nee's Spiritual Authority kept repeating in my mind...
The garden also had a "colorful, musical fountain" which was one of the main attractions. It was like a laser light show, but with water, timed to American techno that I remember from junior high and different Indian songs. It was great.
If I could go there again, I would have just gone to these places because the other places we went to were okay. We went to some different temples and shopping places and a cathedral as well. There were little funny moments that reminded us that we were on a random Indian sight seeing tour. Like when we were driving up a hill to go to a temple and the tour guide told all of us to shut the windows or else monkeys would jump in the bus. The tour guide on his own was pretty funny because none of us could really understand what he was saying, and he kinda reminded us of Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite. He had a pretty sweet mullet too, which you don't see too often in India.
The best part is that the whole bus ride, minus entry fees, cost 300 Rs, which is about $6 US. Everything together- bus ride, lunch, snacks, and entry fees- added up to less than 700 Rs. So I went on an all day tour to a city 2.5 hours away for about $14. If only vacations could cost that much in America. Only down side, we left Mysore at 8pm, but didn't get home until 1:30am because we were the last ones to get dropped off.
JC and I are excited you watched the soccer game. We are excited you are coming home soon.
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