Birds and a palace enroute to Mysore

Although the schedule for today was not too packed, we got up early to account for the atrophic speeds Douchemacher would be transporting us around at. We had a nice final breakfast, before Rani gave us some herbal gum for the fire and about three tonnes of black peppercorns; we’re now stacked with enough herbs and spices to keep us going for years! We met up with Boris and off we went, very slowly… still, an interesting drive with the usual cows all over the road, children walking to school in their uniforms and men sitting by the side of the road doing nothing all day.

First stop was the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, just on the outskirts of Mysore. After nearly 3 hours in the car, we were beginning to take Boris’ claims of 1-2 hours with a pinch of salt. Luckily, we managed to get in before midday. We then took a nice boat trip out onto the river; the boat was rowed by a fellow called Robin, who had the yellowest teeth we’d ever seen. Luckily, his rowing was better than his toothbrushing, and he managed to take us around a number of tree clad, tiny river islands. On these were huge amounts of heron, ibis, pelican, and so on. We saw a few chicks, which was great. There were also a number of marsh crocodiles sunning themselves on the available rocks. One enormous crocodile gave us a surprise as he suddenly jumped into the water and swum right under the boat – pretty scary stuff!

After meeting up with a guide for the next stop, we drove the 15 minutes (Douchemacher time, so actually nearly 40) to Mysore. It felt strange to be back in a major city again after the solitude of the Nilgiris and the Coorg. We parked and then headed to the Royal Mysore Palace with our guide. It was a great tour, and we saw up close the extent of the Majarajah’s excesses over the past few centuries. The teak wood ceilings, stained glass windows from Venice, elephants in the courtyard and huge solid silver doors were just some of the cash-fuelled sights we saw as we padded around in our bare feet.

Finally we bade farewell to Boris at the Windflower resort – our home for the next three days. Despite a bit of confusion over the booking at reception, compounded by a chatty cockatoo sitting next the receptionist, we were soon checked in and sat down to a quick lunch. The resort offered everything Hughes could dream of – air con, a gym and peace and quiet. It also offered everything one Batley could dream of – hot showers, big bed and the best Ayurveda spa in India. Nice stuff all round!

We decided to make the most of the rest of the day, so jumped into an auto rickshaw and headed into town. Despite almost being taken out by a bus and missing a woman by a gnats nadger, we made it to the town centre intact. Almost immediately Gaz got accosted by a local, who seemed keen to get hold of his ears. After a quick money change we headed up one of the main streets, trying again to avoid hawkers, until we found a hairdressers. As Gaz had not had a proper haircut in 15 years, this was a good time to get a serious chop. It ended up being more than expected! The barber, who had 40 years experience in haircutting (and the same amount in getting extra money out of tourists, for sure), got to work. After head hair was removed came the cut-throat razor, and there went the beard. Was it over? Negative. From there a series of facial steams, face packs, head massages and sprays were applied. All in full view of the shop window, so a lot of curious locals started watching! Given the result, it was fair to say that it was the best £6.00 spent this holiday, and it gave Rachel a good laugh for almost an hour, to boot.

We opted for dinner in the Tiger Trail restaurant in one of the plushest hotels in town. The food was good and we felt really relaxed as we sank a few beers. Some heavy bartering with the waiting tuk tuk drivers outside the hotel allowed us a rip-off free ride home, and we sank into our giant bed, thoroughly flooped.