We left Panaji, travelled south along the coast, turned inland at Mangalore and headed back into the hills, we were on our way to the coffee plantations in Coorg. Having left a little late and driven all day we decided to stop overnight at a small roadside hotel and enjoy the climb into the hills in daylight. We stopped at a village just east of Mangalore. The rooms were nothing special but the food was great:

The climb the next morning passed all too quickly punctuated only by chai and an omelette at a roadside cafe, here’s Leishia sampling the delights:

and here is our cook:

We booked into a room on a coffee plantation and enjoyed some lovely walks and  spectacular scenery:

 Coffee, almost ready!

Just outside the plantation was the Nalkand Palace (so called). A local King “Doddaveerarajendra” built the palace in 1792 in what was, at the time, a very remote jungle location so that he could hide from the British. Seems he was quite successful, he finally surrendered in 1834.

Here is the palace:

Elephants at the steps leading to the verandah:

A beautiful structure in the garden:

The palace was locked when we arrived but the caretaker appeared from nowhere and gave us a quick guided tour. As interesting as the palace was we were more taken by the little school next to it:

After a couple of days relaxing we were off again this time heading for Mysore, this was a typically Indian sight along the way:

 Washing the laundry and the car!

Our route to Mysore took us past Bylakuppe home to thousands of Tibetans who were given refuge in India after the 1959 Chinese invasion of Tibet. The area is truly Tibetan from the food to the purple and saffron robes to the prayer flags and the monasteries.

The highlight is the Namdroling monastery and the Golden Temple, the statues are very impressive. Lord Buddha sits in the centre, he is 60 feet tall. He is flanked by Guru Padmasambhava and Buddha Amitayus, both 58 feet tall:

The wall paintings around the temple are intricate and some of the detail is really strange:

Well worth a stop and reminded us of our time in Tibet.

We reached Mysore in good time and trotted off to the railway museum! Run down as it is (apparently they are building a new one) there were some great exhibits:

 Sadly only a picture!

 I still want to be a train driver if I grow up.

 The Mysore Maharani’s railway carriage.

 Her bedroom on board.

 A rail crane which apparently still works.

That was enough for one day! The next day we went to see Mysore Palace. The palace is the pride of Mysore and justifiably so:

 The entrance and the palace behind.

 The entrance at night.

 The main palace building.

 Leishia courting danger (as usual!).

Unfortunately photography was banned inside the palace which is a shame because the rooms and decor were well worth seeing. You’ll just have to imagine it or have a look at the virtual tour here:

http://www.mysorepalace.gov.in

After the palace we went to the zoo, Mysore zoo prides itself on not taking any animals from the wild. All the animals in the zoo have been rescued in one way or another or born in captivity. We especially liked the elephants:

The giraffes:

The crocodiles:

The signs:

 Dead peacock included for effect

and this particular example of Homo Sapiens spotted escaping from the zebra enclosure after he had rescued his daughter’s purse:

Good day out!

The next morning we had an early breakfast where we met Wilson and his boss Ranjiv. Wilson is the factory manager of a clothing factory, Ranjiv has a stake in a private equity firm which owns the company (30,000 employees and over 20 factories, no small concern) and is the deputy CEO. Ranjiv was apparently the Indian equivalent of Barry Sheene in his day! Here they are:

 Ranjiv (on the left) and Wilson

After breakfast we left Mysore headed for Munnar and the tea plantations but more of that next time!