Mysore Rain

The thing I like most about Mysore, is that it is the easiest weekend get-away from Bangalore. Mysore is probably Karnatka's second most important city (after Bangalore). It is 145 kms West off Bangalore. It has an airport, where I doubt a plane has ever landed.

The world knows Mysore as the city of palaces. The Main Palace, Jaganmohan palace, Lalitmahal Palace and God alone knows how many more! The nine day long Dassara celebrations sees the city bursting at its seems, with tourists.

The other places that a tourist might not want to miss are KRS, the zoo, Chamundi hills and the Railway Museum.

So much for the world, to me Mysore means much more. It is the place where I get to sleep all day. It is the place where I have seen Steam Locomotives co-exist with modern Diesel Locos, the place where I've had a million adventures as a kid.

The other features on the Mysore landscape are (This makes up most of Mysore's character I guess)
1) The Race course (The Poonawalla Derby was held today!)
2) The Star of Mysore, A daily evening newspaper thats been around from forever and carries most of the local gossip
3) The world's tallest cactus plant
4) A Bonsai garden (with a 101 year old bonsai)

This week's journy was good for several reasons. I'll list them out.
1) We did the Bangalore-Mysore stretch in 3 hours. This includes a 10 min railway crossing and a 15 minute tea stop.
2) I met Nitesh, Arjun and Lakshmi (All old Manipal pals) at SDM
3) We got back from Mysore in under 3 hours, yet got caught in the rain (last 10 minutes and that too inside Bangalore city!!)
4) My bike touched a new high speed. 115kmph.

The sad part, rains. It rained for 14 hours continuously Saturday night through Sunday morning. The Cauvery river breached its banks at a lot of places damaging homes, crops and a few bridges along the Mys-Blr route.

Mysore Rain