This is a continuation of the Coorg story posted here.

Even as we were planning our Nagarhole trip, we realised it was closer to Mysore than to Coorg. We decided to head to Mysore and the driver dropped us at a small town saying we’d get a lot of buses to Mysore and left. We stood there at the bus stop with the scorching sun above us. Given that we were (at least I was!) dressed for the 4am chill weather at Coorg, it wasn’t exactly pleasant to stand in the hot sun. We crossed the road and stood under the li’l bit of shade we could find.

When the first Mysore bus came by, I realised it wasn’t going to be easy getting to Mysore. It seemed like the entire world wanted to go to Mysore! Even before the bus came by, you could see the crowd rushing towards the bus to get in. After watching this scene repeat a couple of times, we decided we better try get in a bus. A couple more buses go by – but, every time we have a big crowd! Where on earth were these people coming from?!

Tired of standing in the sun, we decide we’d get in the next bus – no matter what. The next bus comes. Amir is the first one to get in, and then, out of the corner of my eye, I see baldie standing behind the crowd and watching!! This fellow was supposed to be getting into the bus – and that’s when I realise dude’s too polite to get into a crowded bus! Mind you, this is the same guy who said (at the beginning of the trip) that he can travel in any kinda bus [says he meant any type of bus - rickety to volvo - and not the crowd!]

Here we are – 3 of us outside and 1 inside the bus! We let Amir go – and baldie goes searching for a cab! Sadly, nothing works out – it’s a small town, you see And, we are back waiting for a bus. Another bus – another crowd – and baldie says no way! A few moments later, I realise the bus was still there, crowd gone (probably inside the bus) and there was some space. I try convincing these two guys with me – and before baldie moves, the bus is gone.

Finally, I had to resort to “we better get in to the next bus – no matter what” and thankfully, Bharath agrees. Baldie says he’d hold on to my bag to get in *grin* (imagine this tall, bald guy holding on to my backback)

The next bus came by – Bharath gets in, I get in too, and for all the holding my bag he did, baldie got in a dozen people later Well, at least, he managed to get in!! And, for me, it was a big sigh of relief having gotten this guy into a crowded bus!

My recent visit to Mysore Zoo was as unplanned as the visit to Mysore itself. I had planned to spend my weekend in Bangalore and ended up traveling to Mysore instead!

May be, that raised the expectations – seeing those huge animals wandering around in that enclosed space – so close I began to wonder if they could reach out and bite!

And then, there were all the birds in enclosures so small, you feel sorry for them. Especially, it was quite a pathetic sight to see the bigger birds in such small enclosures. And, then, we came upon a peacock, showing off his feathers – though behind a fine mesh. I could think of nothing other than beauty behind bars!

There were so many birds – I only wish they were in larger enclosures and not-so-fine mesh cages!

Just as we were walking along the tiger’s enclosure, we came upon
a large group of travelers. Well, there was some political conference in Mysore and a lot of people had come from other states. This group, I presume, was one of those groups come for the conference – with the tell-tale white-n-white of political parties, they stood out wherever they went. Among them, were these two men with big turbans. I couldn’t resist a couple of pictures of them. They went together all the time, pointing at animals, talking to each other, watching the crowd. I wonder if they were aware of the fact that they were turning quite a few heads!

There was this gorilla which was showing off – was seated on a tree like he owns the place, watching over the rest and was yawning every few minutes! And, there was the contemplative Rhino hiding away all that strength and looking like one of the docile creatures you’d ever see.

After the usual fare of zebras, deers, and baboons, we were heading towards the elephants. There were a lot of school children walking around with drawing boards and color pens. When one of those kids came and asked where the elephants are, we guessed there must be some competition out there. So, we also headed off towards the elephants. Along the way, we came across this very noisy tree – now, the tree wasn’t noisy; just that, we had to walk a li’l further and get to the other side to see the bats on the tree.

There were quite a few elephants out there – frolicking in the open space. Of all animals, they seemed to have the most freedom. In fact, you could walk into the enclosure -if you could ignore the ‘Do not cross this point’ board placed there. While elephants were wandering about, this side of the fence, children were immersed in their paintings.

After spending a li’l longer, watching the elephants, it was time to get back. On our way back, we came across another enclosure full of baboons – one naughty little one was so active, we just stood there watching him play

And, that was the morning at the zoo! Well, in some instances, I thought the Hyderabad Zoo a lot better – more space for the animals, not very far from our viewpoints, well maintained. My gripes about the Hyd Zoo remains though! How can I forget the way people behaved – growling and barking at the animals!!! Well, that is another story… another day…

For more pictures of my visit, visit my album