The past two days have been fun tourist days. Yesterday Jonah and I took the bus to tour Mysore Palace. This was my first bus ride and it wasn't all that bad. It is cheaper than the rickshaw, has cleaner air, but also much smellier. There are two things I would suggest to people traveling to India or even any where for that matter. I suggest to take the bus and also the train. Most people cannot afford cars or motorcycles and the locals use public transportation. It is a great way to get involved with and smell the culture.
Since I woke up feeling somewhat okay today, we decided to go on another bus adventure. Our destination for today was Srirangapatana. Srirangapatna is a historical island town 19 kms from Mysore and also was the scene of the last and decisive battle fought between Tippu Sultan and the British forces. The temples we visited today were predominantly Muslim. I wish I could write more about the history of the places, but I coudn't understand a single thing our rickshaw driver said. From what I read, Tippu Sultan lost the battle in 1799 and I didn't know this then, but one of the places we visited was his and his parent's mausoleum. I wasn't that oblivious that I missed the 3 tombs in the center of the room. I just didn't know who they belonged to and didn't bother to ask.
One of the other places we visited was the Daria Daulat Bagh aka the summer palace. The summer palace isn't as fancy as the Maharaja's Palace in Mysore, but I enjoyed this palace more. The interior is superbly preserved, with tiger-striped columns and hand painted decoration on every inch of the walls and ceiling. Inside the palace I was distracted with taking my "illegal" pictures and almost didn't notice this guy staring at me. I took a few more pictures and could see from the corner of my eye that he was still staring. He finally said "hello" or it is more like a "hah low". I walked over, said hello back and asked him how he was doing. He then gestured that he didn't know any English. I smiled and told him "well.. you can't pick up on girls if you can't speak English". I ran into him at a few more other places and the situation just got more uncomfortable. He would stare and I would ignore.
Everywhere Jonah and I would go, people are always staring or trying to sell us something. Jonah is your stereotype of a California blond hair, blue/green eyed surfer and sticks out like a sore thumb. People are always asking us to take pictures with them which isn't a big deal. At times, we are followed and haggled more than our fair share. One of the last places we visited today, I think I must of had my fill of the badgering. When we visit any holy site, shoes are not allowed and we usually leave them with a shoe valet. Our rickshaw driver was trying to save a few rupees so he suggested we leave our footwear in the rickshaw and walk over to the temple barefoot. At first I wasn't so keen on the idea and would have preferred to take my shoes off closer to the entrance and put my sandals in my backpack. Whether your shoes are in your hand or in your bag, they are not allowed inside period. I begrudgingly walk over barefoot and this was not a short distance. This was the longest I've walked in India without footwear. When we finally arrived at the entrance of the temple, the glass eyed shoe valet starts yelling at me to leave my shoes. I pointed at my feet and told him I didn't have any shoes. He shakes his head and points at my bag and precedes to tell me that this is a Muslim holy site and shoes aren't allowed inside. I tried to tell him again and he starts raising his voice and making a scene about my shoes in my bag. I was so frustrated that I raised my voice at him and said "my shoes aren't in my bag, they are in the car"! Jonah finally stepped in and opened his bag to show him. I did the same thing and the guy kept apologizing.
After the lake incident I haven't been too patient with the badgering and harassment. I can't even fathom the amount of grief if I had fair skin and light hair. I understand that even being unemployed, I'm probably well off then most of the people here. Raising my voice at the shoe valet through me a bit off guard. Not because he hit my last nerve and I lashed out at him. It was more of what I said that made me laugh. My shoes weren't really in the a car. They were in a rickshaw. Since I've been here I've been in a car 3 times and haven't driven one since mid August. The fact that I referred to a rickshaw as a car concludes that I have been here long enough to adjust to the way of life. Yesterday I locked myself out from my online credit card account and had to call customer support for assistance. The customer service rep was going through the regular protocol to verify my identity. He came to the question about my zip code and I completely drew a blank. I started saying numbers that came into my head and if I lived in Northern California it would of worked. I had to place the rep on hold and dig for my driver's license. I've never been more lost than I am now. Maybe it is a good thing and being lost is the only way I can find where it is I need to go.
Since I woke up feeling somewhat okay today, we decided to go on another bus adventure. Our destination for today was Srirangapatana. Srirangapatna is a historical island town 19 kms from Mysore and also was the scene of the last and decisive battle fought between Tippu Sultan and the British forces. The temples we visited today were predominantly Muslim. I wish I could write more about the history of the places, but I coudn't understand a single thing our rickshaw driver said. From what I read, Tippu Sultan lost the battle in 1799 and I didn't know this then, but one of the places we visited was his and his parent's mausoleum. I wasn't that oblivious that I missed the 3 tombs in the center of the room. I just didn't know who they belonged to and didn't bother to ask.
One of the other places we visited was the Daria Daulat Bagh aka the summer palace. The summer palace isn't as fancy as the Maharaja's Palace in Mysore, but I enjoyed this palace more. The interior is superbly preserved, with tiger-striped columns and hand painted decoration on every inch of the walls and ceiling. Inside the palace I was distracted with taking my "illegal" pictures and almost didn't notice this guy staring at me. I took a few more pictures and could see from the corner of my eye that he was still staring. He finally said "hello" or it is more like a "hah low". I walked over, said hello back and asked him how he was doing. He then gestured that he didn't know any English. I smiled and told him "well.. you can't pick up on girls if you can't speak English". I ran into him at a few more other places and the situation just got more uncomfortable. He would stare and I would ignore.
Everywhere Jonah and I would go, people are always staring or trying to sell us something. Jonah is your stereotype of a California blond hair, blue/green eyed surfer and sticks out like a sore thumb. People are always asking us to take pictures with them which isn't a big deal. At times, we are followed and haggled more than our fair share. One of the last places we visited today, I think I must of had my fill of the badgering. When we visit any holy site, shoes are not allowed and we usually leave them with a shoe valet. Our rickshaw driver was trying to save a few rupees so he suggested we leave our footwear in the rickshaw and walk over to the temple barefoot. At first I wasn't so keen on the idea and would have preferred to take my shoes off closer to the entrance and put my sandals in my backpack. Whether your shoes are in your hand or in your bag, they are not allowed inside period. I begrudgingly walk over barefoot and this was not a short distance. This was the longest I've walked in India without footwear. When we finally arrived at the entrance of the temple, the glass eyed shoe valet starts yelling at me to leave my shoes. I pointed at my feet and told him I didn't have any shoes. He shakes his head and points at my bag and precedes to tell me that this is a Muslim holy site and shoes aren't allowed inside. I tried to tell him again and he starts raising his voice and making a scene about my shoes in my bag. I was so frustrated that I raised my voice at him and said "my shoes aren't in my bag, they are in the car"! Jonah finally stepped in and opened his bag to show him. I did the same thing and the guy kept apologizing.
After the lake incident I haven't been too patient with the badgering and harassment. I can't even fathom the amount of grief if I had fair skin and light hair. I understand that even being unemployed, I'm probably well off then most of the people here. Raising my voice at the shoe valet through me a bit off guard. Not because he hit my last nerve and I lashed out at him. It was more of what I said that made me laugh. My shoes weren't really in the a car. They were in a rickshaw. Since I've been here I've been in a car 3 times and haven't driven one since mid August. The fact that I referred to a rickshaw as a car concludes that I have been here long enough to adjust to the way of life. Yesterday I locked myself out from my online credit card account and had to call customer support for assistance. The customer service rep was going through the regular protocol to verify my identity. He came to the question about my zip code and I completely drew a blank. I started saying numbers that came into my head and if I lived in Northern California it would of worked. I had to place the rep on hold and dig for my driver's license. I've never been more lost than I am now. Maybe it is a good thing and being lost is the only way I can find where it is I need to go.
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