Mysore

This was my second visit to Mysore after a weekend there on a psychology placement a couple of years ago. We were only really stopping out of convenience on our way to Wayanad, and we spent about a day and a half there which personally I think is perfect. 

Accommodation

We stayed at Sonder hostel, which was a little way out of the centre. It was a cool hostel and we decided on it from the advertisements of cooking classes and yoga. Turned out neither were running due to low season which was a shame. However we ended up getting our four bed dorm to ourselves which was nice. The hostel offered a free local breakfast and the staff were helpful though not very friendly.

Things to do

This is where I find Mysore a little boring... there just isn’t masses to do

Palace- the palace is definitely the main attraction, and is very impressive. It’s 70 rupees entry for foreigners to enter, and since my previous visit they have lifted a ban on all photography which is great as it’s stunning inside. Despite that people still wanted photos of the main event: us. 

I would definitely recommend visiting the palace at night. On a Sunday it remains lit up all night, but the rest of the week there is a sound and light show which we went to from 7-7.45pm. I’d avoid this as it was all in Hindi and we just sat understanding nothing. But from 7.45-8 it stays lit up and is truly beautiful, so was worth it.

Market- The market is kinda average in my opinion but worth a quick trip. It feels very touristy but aimed at richer tourists souvenir shopping. They have cool powdered paint and oil perfumes as well as flowers and fruit. Cool to see but easy to be tricked into buying something.

Food

As this wasn’t long after my food poisoning I was sticking to more plain, Western food so my experience of the food here was a bit limited. We enjoyed a lovely meal at Taco Bell lol. There is an alright vegetarian restaurant walking distance from the palace which was very popular with locals, though I can’t remember the name

Getting to/from

We took a night train from Hampi. This left around 9.30pm and got us to Mysore at around 9.30am the next morning. We were in 3A class and chose upper berth seats, which include a pillow, sheet and blanket. The journey was genuinely really comfortable and I had a great night’s sleep.

From Mysore we went to Wayanad. Buses run there regularly so we just went to the bus station, asked and caught a local bus there super easily. It wasn’t exactly luxurious- the windows have no glass so it’s breezy once the bus is moving and we had to have our bags under our seats so it’s pretty cramped. But it did the job and people told us when to get off which was helpful.