Hello once again! It's been a busy week, and I've slowly been working on this adventure for you to read...
And now... what you've all been waiting for...! The weekend adventure update! By now, you've probably seen all 239 pictures on www.ellaanne.com - at least the small version anyway! That was only about 1/4 of all the pictures taken on our trip (900-something). We got a better feel for India, not just what is here in and out of Bangalore (Hey! That's that great OWC book's title -- In and Out of Bangalore!) We experienced other villages and cities, and everything in between, the Indian jungle (not quite what I had envisioned in my head), nice roads, not so nice roads, roads up to the top of foothills in the jungle, and much more.
It really does take traveling around for some distance to get a good understanding where we really are in this big world! What a beautiful place it is, and I feel so blessed that we are able to see what is here on this side of it! We're anxious to see much more!
Friday morning, I convinced Brian not to go into work, as he'd just have 2 wasted hours in the car (1 there, 1 back). Instead he worked from home. He also learned the proper procedure for taking time off here. It seems you must apply for the forms first, then fill them out to ask for permission to take vacation days.
We left here around 12 noon, stopped to get some cash (lots of rupees!), and then made a grocery stop for some bottled water and snacks for the car (Nature Valley granola bars! and others). Then it was off to school to pick up some excited girls, who had no idea where we were going (except the name of the first city, Mysore, which had no meaning for them). It then took over 2 hours to just get out of Bangalore, not that traffic was terrible, just that it is an absolutely huge city (especially with no Interstate highways to fly past...).
At some point on the road, there is a well-known coffee shop that is the last good place to stop for restrooms (and coffee, etc.), Coffee Day. We enjoyed some chocolate covered doughnuts (medium mistake!--chocolate, especially warm runny chocolate, is hardly ever a great idea with kids!) and some frappes and drinks. Of course, the kids were adored by everyone, especially Zachary. Everyone here just LOVES him! He enjoys all the attention as well.
Eventually we made good use of the built-in DVD player in our Toyota Innova, and the kids enjoyed some movies from home, "Fantasia" and "Toddler Tunes." They were great, being just music and songs, so Zach could enjoy and be entertained as well.
AFter the CoffeeDay stop, it was back on the road again, for another 1 1/2 hours or so. We arrived at the Lalitha Mahal Palace, where some friends had recommended staying. The very large parking lot was totally EMPTY! It was a bit strange, but then again, nice to have the place so quiet and relaxing. The kids enjoyed exploring all the different areas, especially the large terrace outside our room on the first level. We had bought Ella a pink outfit to match Sacia's blue one from International Day, and the girls paraded around the palace like royalty!
We didn't eat at the restaurant there, as dinner didn't start until 8pm, as is very common all around here. Instead, we drove into town (that is, Murthi took us!) to another hotel restaurant to eat. After that, it was bedtime for the kids. The only downside to the hotel was that we thought there would be 2 beds, being a "double suite." Well, the one beautiful 4 poster bed worked just fine, especially once Ella was moved over to the chaise.
In Mysore, we visited the stunning Maharaja's Palace, but were sad to have to leave the camera with our driver. No cameras allowed inside. Zach tried a few times to go under the guide rope to more interesting places... It was very much like a museum in many ways, lots of artwork on the walls, carved walls and pillars, painted murals on ceilings, and beauty all around.
We decided to start off to Bandipur, so we could arrive in time for the 4 pm safari. We saw lots of beautiful countryside scenery, workers in the fields, herds of sheep/goats/cattle in the road, coconut vendors, and so many gorgeously painted bullock carts. As we headed up into the foothills, we were greeted by 3 elephants, who were chained to something near the road, so as to welcome all the visitors to the National Forest.
We finally found Tusker Trails, and moved into our cottage, then changed into our safari gear -- green tops with jeans. We had been read that we shouldn't wear white or red, as it would attract unwanted attention from the animals, and elephants didn't like one of the colors... Our evening safari was pretty uneventful, (that is, after a monkey climbed up the side of our vehicle to the canopy, then eventually into the tree) -- only seeing a few animals every 20 minutes or more.
We saw gaurs (Indian bison), some black-faced langur monkeys, a few other small animals, and FINALLY, as the safari drew to an end, our first real wild ELEPHANT!! We were glad to be up in a large vehicle, as we were only 20 feet away from this magnificent creature in its habitat! It was a great end to the first jungle safari.
We had read that the best time to see elephants and other wildlife here is in the dry season, springtime, when the greenery is not so abundant. As we were driving through the jungle, there were these massive bushes of flowers everywhere, very much looking like lantana at home, and it really did make it difficult to see any further.
In the morning was another safari, so we awoke nice and early (6 am) to go again, this time on a smaller vehicle, a "Gypsy." Our family and a couple from France were the only passengers this time, compared to maybe 15 people the night before. We saw wild boars, eagles, and several elephants this time, but from a farther distance. We drove up the steep, winding road to the top of a nice hill, where the view was absolutely spectacular. And, we were even allowed to get out and walk around, so we spent a good 20 - 30 minutes there. From the top on one side, we saw a small group of elephants, perhaps 200 meters away. The nice man from France took several great shots of our family for us, very nice!
We ate breakfast, then decided we better enjoy the pool and go for a quick swim before we get back into the car to head back to Mysore, then "home". I do have to say it is very strange calling this home now. Well, our bed is here! It's always nice to sleep in one's own bed after traveling! Anyhow, the pool was lots of fun, a little cool, but great! And it ranked WAY up there on the kids' best parts of the weekend -- even perhaps higher than the elephant-sightings and palace stay. It's like when we took the girls to Hawaii years ago -- and they didn't want anything to do with the beach or ocean, only the POOL!
The kids luckily slept most of the drive back to Mysore, where we visited a nice zoo, though with crabby kids... who wanted to be carried. Murthi came along with us inside the zoo, and helped to carry a tired child when needed. And he was our photographer, and our 'manager', as people would want to take pictures of us and with us, and he fielded the questions... they would go on in Kannada...!
Having Murthi along was great. He could speak everyone's language, and tell us what people were saying about us as we walked by... ! He'd tell us that those people were just saying that our children looked like dolls, or that everyone was talking about that baby! Or how tall we were... It was fun to have a translator!
As we drove back to Bangalore, especially when we were driving through Bangalore, I had many interesting insights/realizations. Here we were, comfortably reclined in our seats in the air-conditioned Innova, with the kids watching a movie. All around us were people crowded into buses, or stuffed in tractor-pulled carts. How incredibly spoiled (though thankful!) I felt. All over the world, things are done so differently, it's really inspiring to see!
Here ends the Bandipur - Mysore adventure! More to come again soon!
Heather
