Weekend trip to Srirangapatnam and Mysore

As mentioned in a previous post, I made a two-day trip to western Karnataka. It was the first time for me riding on trains. My first destination was Srirangapatnam: this village is an important Hindu pilgrimage and called after its tenth-century Sriranganathaswamy Vishnu temple. It is also famous for Haider Ali and son Tipu Sultan who desired to rid India of the hated British invaders. As the touristic sights in Srirangapatnam are quite spread, I accepted a rickshaw-driver's offer to show me around the town. He called himself "guide"; apart from some fragments in English he couldn't explain anything though. Still it was certainly not the worst option to get from on sight to the next.

After a refreshment consisting of ice cream and coconut milk I boarded a bus to get to nearby Mysore, one of the most important and appealing stops in Karnataka. It is well known for sandalwood, for strolling around, seeing the markets and especially for the famous Maharaja's Palace. The latter is magnificently illuminated on Sunday nights by some 100'000 light bulbs - what a spectacle! Before leaving Mysore by train on Monday afternoon I also drove to Chamundi Hill. This hill station features an impressive temple which is a well known center of pilgrimage. It was very interesting to observe the pilgrims worshipping and performing rites such as the smashing of coconuts. Seeing thousands of pilgrims, I just imagined how our churches would look like if they were so well frequented.

Before presenting you the photographs I would like to give you a summary with the most important findings of my trip:

Indian railway system: I would have never imagined that a railway "system" could be so complex. There are eight different classes as well as unreserved and reserved tickets. In my case the assistant at the counter recommended reserving a seat in the simple and dirt cheap "sleeper class". On Sunday in the train, I had to learn that "reserved" doesn't exactly has the same meaning as in Europe: Lots of people with unreserved tickets were sitting in the coach and finally I shared my sleeping berth of 0.5 x 2 m - which would have been mine only - with five Indians. The comparison with cattle-transportation in Switzerland is not over-exaggerated... Arriving at the destination and getting out of the coach was a great release. And please: Don't complain about delays of SBB trains anymore! The reservation of trains is also a difficult matter: It took me around one hour to do the reservation for a train from Mumbai to Goa which I plan to take with my brother at the end of the month. And this was only possible because two Spanish girls I got to know offered me their token (similar to Swiss post office system); otherwise it would have taken at least two hours.

Not only the trains are totally overcrowded: In a restaurant, which is well frequented by Mysore locals, it took me about 45 min to get a seat!

Another comment about the touristic facilities: hotels for 400 Indian Rupees (about 9 CHF) are on the borderline concerning hygienic standards. For one night this was ok but for a longer stay I will pay some Rupees more in future.

After two days of traveling on my own I definitely know how to do Indian small talk: A lot of Indian, mostly youngsters, asked for my name, nationality, job, place where I stay etc. Some even asked me to pose on a photograph together with them. This can be funny in the beginning and it is a good possibility to get to know people. After being interrogated about twenty times it definitely gets on the nerves though.

Some of my favorite photographs are shown below. Hopefully these will incite you to have a look at the more comprehensive selection including captions under this link. Enjoy the pictures!