It's one of the few times that I have had the liberty to travel alone. Being born to an Indian mum, Traveling alone is like a taboo since they are just too possessive over their kids.
But this is one of those times that she has let me travel alone. I did it last year and I'm doing it this year too.
Traveling alone is a really cool feeling especially because you go to an entirely new place, and you have to live on your own for the duration of your stay.
It makes me feel on top of the world because it feels like I'm all free and away from all the hue and cry of the city. At a place where you do not understand or speak the language,you have to survive for a few days/ week.
I've traveled quite a few places in the last week.
I first traveled to Coorg,Karnataka,India then went down to Mysore.
Cool Things About It
- I lived at a resort named "Virbhoomi" which literally means land of the brave or something similar. The place was awesome, the location of it was the best I'd say.
- The fact that I managed with my bit of broken Hindi and my English is something I should be proud of. Well, It was bad that most people did not understand my English Accent. They just kept saying "huh?" and neither could I understand their English since it was kinda rotten.
- The Swimming Pool there deserves special mention. The food sucked, the rooms weren't the greatest but the swimming pool nulls it all.
- The Climate was splendid. Since it had rained the night I arrived there,The climate was mostly cold and that made my stay there more pleasant. The colder, the better since it'd make the travel more fun
- The places I visited: The places I visited are as below..
1) Raja Seat: This place, looks dull at first. Well,I thought so at first too! It was a garden with a few beautiful flowers and a good view over the place. After 6.30,I stood in AWE for the next 30 minutes. It was time for the dancing fountain, which my cousin told me was the best part about the place. I didn't expect much out of it but I was completely taken aback by it. It was a feast to the eye. There were almost 200 hundred people and I can say that all of them went home satisfied.
2) Nisagardama: This is a kind of an amusement park kind. Coming from the city I do, I have seen a lot of big big parks and this one was equally good. Not the ideal amusement park, I'd rather call it an entertainment park. It has a bunch of animals such as Deer, Elephants, Various birds and the like. Its where we can feed the animals. I am not a fan of feeding animals,but at this place, they sell cucumbers and mango pieces which we can buy and feed the animals. Trust me, It is fun.
I don't really remember much of what I did in the other places I went.. The other places I went were Abbi Falls,where the water would have been faster had it been falling through a water pipe and Nagarhole,where there was Elephant Safari. Since I am this guy against cruelty towards Animal Safaris,I couldn't stand the sight of people sitting on Elephants and enjoying the travel. How many of us stop for a second to think about how the Elephant would feel when it gets beaten by the Mahut for not listening to him?!! It's something all of us should stop and think about.
I then traveled to Mysore which is about 3-4 hours by road from Coorg. Many of you readers,from India would know this place.
This was my first visit to the city, the Palace City as it is known still. The place still has an 19th Century India look to it.
The old style buildings, The people, The Palaces, everything adds an old look to the place. Especially the cows roaming around all over the city.
Being the photography enthusiast that I am,I had a great time photographing every nook and corner of the city.
The highlight of the city has to be the Mysore Palace, built by the King of the place back in the late 19th Century-Early 20th Century. The things I grasped from the Audio Guide that they gave me are that they had a wooden castle in the 19th century but it was burnt down somehow. Yeah,I would guess it is something like the Great Chicago Fire since its upto my imagination to imagine what happened.
The Architecture of the place was simply mind blowing. The blend of Indian and European Architecture can be seen in the domes and windows. You could stand and look at the place from the outside for almost 30 minutes and still look at it with your mouth open because it is so beautiful. I was lucky that I arrived at the city on a Sunday,because it is on Sunday that the Palace is illuminated completely for one hour between 1900-2000 hours. I got to know that the palace would be illuminated only at 1932hours when the Hotel Attendant told me. Thanks to the fact that the Hotel I stayed at was just 5 minutes from the Palace, I could reach the Palace before 1940 and could see the Illuminated Palace for 20 whole minutes. For the first 10 minutes,I had my mouth wide open looking at the beautiful sight without even blinking. And in the last 10 minutes,I realized that I hadn't clicked pictures of it and panicked and clicked a few pictures. And when I was taking pictures, The clock ticked 2000 but the lights weren't turned off. I'd say,Ideal Indian Attitude. No punctuality. But it favoured me this time because I could photograph most part of the palace from the outside.
On the inside, the interior designs are the best I have seen all my life. Bad luck that photography inside the palace is strictly prohibited, I couldn't click any pictures but I have it all embedded in my mind. I can still see it when I close my eyes.
The bad things are, Bad cell phone signal, I couldn't call home much all through my travel. Bad food, I was praying I don't have a bad stomach because it would ruin the travel. Bad roads, God.. My back still aches even though I'm lying in bed while typing that.
Over and Out for now
I want to go to Tibet for my next travel alone!
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