Day 127: Mysore – the palace from a fairy tale

We came to Mysore to visit the Maharaja's Palace. Every Sunday night from 7pm to 8pm, 96,000 light bulbs illuminate the exterior of the Palace. It was fantastic as if we were back at Disneysea in Tokyo. There was a music band playing in front of the palace. Best of all, it was free. The five hour bumpy bus ride from Ooty was well worth it. At the entrance, there was a queue through a metal detector. After we passed it, we realized that the metal detector was not powered up at all, i.e. no sound and no LED, and I was carrying two cameras and one laptop. :) Makes you wonder why the police made everyone go through the metal detector.

the palace all lit up at night

The next morning we visited the interior of the palace. When entering the palace, we were told that cameras were not allowed inside the palace. The security guard told us that for a small fee (Rs 10) he could turn a blind eye. Later when strolling around the palace, another security guard told us that there was a special VIP entrance to the chamber of the maharaja family. It was not open to the public, but with a moderate fee (Rs 100) he could let us in for a peek. :) We did not take the deal. Too fishy. The interior of the palace was very grand. The stained glass on the ceiling with peacock figures in the main ballroom was spectacular. The doors and wood carvings were made of solid tik wood. Too bad no photos were allowed inside.

the palace during the day

One funny story outside the palace. Before we left our hotel to the palace, we read an article in The Hindu about the new ambulance service in Mysore. Prior to this, there were no ambulance service in Mysore, a city with one million population. Katy and I came up with various scenarios on how the locals would get to the hospitals for emergency without ambulance. Anyway, we were waiting in line for the palace to open. Then I saw one of the new ambulances - just like the photo in the paper - driving by. I quickly ran towards it to take a snapshot. The passenger next to the driver saw me and stopped the ambulance. We chatted a bit, and I told him about the article in the paper, which they were pleased about. So they invited us inside the ambulance and gave us a private tour. Of course, that naturally attracted a crowd in India. People were volunteering to be the "victim" for the stretcher and the defibrillator demonstration.

Katy getting a private demo inside the ambulance

look at this guy putting on his sunglasses for the stretcher demo

the newspaper article about the new ambulance service

the flower vendor on the street

from the spice market