Bearhugs Blog

Well, it’s been great, but time to go back home. We are not flying out until the middle of the night so time for one last day. We thought we’d better check if we had enough room in our cases or would we need to buy another one. It’s amazing how much shopping Maria has managed to do.

Luckily, with the weather being so nice, we had packed light, so there was enough room. John still had to go out and pick up the silk shirts he was having made, and of course once she’d seen there was a bit of space left, Maria decided she needed some more shopping. Apart from anything else Claire had decided she needed an elephant (honestly, just ‘cos I had one.)
We saw another of John’s famous scaffolds, This one made from METAL!!! Being used in a very safe manner.

We then packed and mooched around for a while. We decided to have our meal in Stir, outside under the palm trees. The meal was lovely, they made a special lamb curry for Maria, and we will miss all the different breads. Much as we have enjoyed the food here, it will be nice to have something other than a curry for a change.

The car picked us up in good time and we only had one near miss on the way to the airport. Now it’s just a long flight and then a short hop accross from Paris. We’re all looking forward to getting back home.

We are coming to the end of our stay, only one more day after today. Every morning when we wake up there are black kites circling outside our window. John reckons there are up to about 50 of them within sight.

They ride the thermals, rising higher and higher. We are one side of the hotel and the view is a sort of microcosm of India. You look in one direction and you see what you would imagine a typical Indian city would look like.

The other direction you get a much more 21st century look.

And then of course, straight down, you see the hidden India.

Yesterday and today there has been a transport strike, essentially by commercial vehicles, lorries etc. but taxi cabs have joined in. They are protesting against the fixing of speed governors to their vehicles in an attempt to make them obey speed limits. This does not appear to have left roads much emptier, the auto rickshaws and bikes seem to have filled any available spaces.

We went for a walk to Cauvery, one of John’s favourite stores, and apparently becoming one of Maria’s. Just how many sandalwood carvings, enamelled bowls and embroidered bags do we need?
John is totally fascinated by the bamboo scaffolding.

Mind you, even I was impressed by this one. To think people actually work up on those platforms!
We strolled back to the hotel and had a beer and lunch in the bar and then sat out by the pool for a while. I thought about taking a dip, but I haven’t got a cossy with me.

We had a late night last night and a late morning, we’re trying to start readjusting to UK time.
Maria’s mehindi has fully developed now,it is a great colour. She seems inordinately proud of it.

Mind you it does have it’s disadvantages. She can get it wet but is not supposed to get detergent on it, especially if she then rubs. So this morning John had to get in the shower and wash her hair.
Maria was a bit iffy again this morning, she is rather sensitive to strange food, water etc. So we left her in the bar, drinking lots of water, while John and I set off in an auto rickshaw to pick up some of her tops from the tailors around Commercial Street. It was ok but you do feel a lot closer to the traffic, noise, pollution and the heat than in a nice air conditioned car. Still it was an experience.
The tailors were in the side ’streets’ off Commercial Street.

They cram an awful lot into a tiny space, the man on the floor is hand embroidering a sari.

All Maria’s tops were ready and they had done a good job. There are only John’s shirts to pick up now and they won’t be ready until Monday.
When we got back Maria was feeling a bit better, so John and I grabbed some lunch and we decided to stroll up to one of the malls nearby. It is just past John’s offices. As we were walking along the ‘pavement’ we noticed there seemed to be a beggar lying in the middle of it. This was not unusual, we had seen similar before. However we found this was in fact 2 babies, there was a rag in the dust and lying on it a little girl of about 12 to 18 months, curled up and apparently asleep. Next to her lying on his back and grizzling a little a baby of about 3 months. This is by the roadside, in the dirt and dust, with people rushing along and the sun starting to shine down on that area. No sign of an associated adult. What can you do? Just walking by seems so terrible. Some people had tossed some money down, but surely that just makes you complicit in the action and encourages the parent to think this is a good way to obtain money. All this within a stones throw of a sparkling modern mall! It is upsetting, I think Maria was crying. I think we may have to make a donation to the Missionaries of Charity.
We mooched around for the rest of the afternoon and decided to go down to Karavalli for our tea, this is the restaurant in the gardens of the restaurant, specialising in South Indian cuisine. John had been telling Maria how nice the food was. The ambiance was certainly good.

The food was lovely, I particularly liked the bananas cooked in a masala, despite Maria making so called witty comments about monkeys being fond of bananas. We were even serenaded by a frogs chorus. My word they can make a lot of noise for a small body.

We were up early today, at breakfast by 6.30. That is only just after midnight in the UK so we were getting up as Claire was going to bed. We needed to make an early start so that we could beat the Bangalore traffic.
Being on the road is a terrifying experience. Cars overtake on both sides, usually at the same time. If the road is marked as 3 lanes they try to put at least 5 lanes in. If it is quicker to go the wrong way up a dual carriage way, they do. If one carriage way gets blocked by an accident everyone just transfers to the other carriage way, so without warning the road becomes 2 way.
In an attempt to slow the traffic down there are some really vicious sleeping policemen, no warning of course. Also unexpectedly you come across staggered barriers, so you have to slalom across the lanes, (together with everyone else, some possibly going in the opposite direction). And then of course, despite the fact that it is rush hour, there are women with brushes sweeping the road. We saw 3 or 4 accidents which seems an awful lot for a trip of this length. our record for the number of people on a motorbike is still 5 although we have been assured you can get 8 on. Today we saw a new best for a 2/3 seater auto rickshaw, 8!!
As well as terrifying the journey was fascinating. India is a country of contrasts. There are beautiful mosques, temples, shopping malls and houses. Right next to people living in hovels, tents made from banana leaves, selling a few bits of produce from a mat on the ground.
We saw people working in the rice paddies, ploughing with oxen and planting by hand. It looked back breaking work. We went through a sugar producing area, there were ox carts piled high with sugar cane, (an interesting addition to the already crowded road) delivering to the factory.
Anyway, the first stop was at Tipu Sultans summer palace.

He built it as a retreat from the cares of ruling. Very nice, in much better repair than the remains of his fort in Bangalore. Still made predominantly of wood, but every surface was painted. The painting is getting rather fragile so screens have been put up to protect it from the sun. This rather takes away from the cool, open look it must once have had, but it was still well worth seeing.
We then went onto his mausoleum, He built it when his father died and he and his mother are also buried there. Together with other members of his family and some of his best generals.

He was a Muslim and so there is also a mosque on the site. Both are truly beautiful. Almost totally white stone but so detailed.


We then went to a temple at the top of India’s eighth holiest mountain. It is dedicated to the great earth goddess. We were rather surprised at the amount of commerce going on in the area around the temple. There were understandably temple offerings being sold.

There were also a lot of beggars, I suppose their best chance of receiving something is near a temple. But there were also LOADS of stalls selling all sorts of things, VERY persistently.

It gets very wearing after a while, especially when they won’t take no for an answer. Maria got pretty shirty at one point.
Maria had said we might see some of my distant relations today, so I was pretty intrigued, and then insulted when I realised she meant this fellow.

She thought it pretty funny, I just kept a dignified silence.
After a stop for some cold beer and snacks in a hotels cool lounge, (much needed) and a bit more shopping (not needed), it was onto the main reason we came to Mysore. The Maharajahs palace. Well worth the trip. You are not allowed to photograph inside, a shame. I assure you it was beautiful.

Mind you Maria and John had plenty to whinge about. They are not used to walking around barefoot, and shoes have to be removed at the temple and the palace. Maria moaned about the odd small pebble, while John went on and on about how hot the ground was where the sun had been shinning on it. The should have tried spending the day wearing a fur coat.
It was 7.00pm before we got back, shattered. I think a quiet day is called for tomorrow.