Mysore's big attraction is the Royal Palace, but it doesn't open until 10:00 am, so this morning we hoofed the 1.5 miles to the Railway Museum. The weather again, was beautiful, and we sure needed the exercise. So far, India has been remarkably free of scam attempts, but Mysore is proving to be the exception. On our way to the Railway Museum, I noticed a man hurriedly trying to catch up with us and then match our pace. Sure enough, he began a friendly, casual conversation and eventually asked us where we were going. When I replied that we were heading for the Railway Museum, he informed us that is was a very long way away, and we shouldn't walk there. Having heard this line many times before, I laughed it off and assured him that we could make it. He then looked surprised and informed us that the museum was closed today, which actually made me laugh out loud, since we've heard this one many times before as well. Seeing that he was getting nowhere with us, he stopped smiling, gave up, and left us to continue on our way.



Funnily enough, when we reached the museum, it was open, and it really wasn't that far. I'm sure if we had taken the bait, our new friend would have had a nice shop he could have taken us to instead. The Railway Museum had several steam engines and some vintage rail cars for us to climb in and on.



The centerpiece of the collection, however, was the Maharani's saloon. This car was built in 1899 to be used by the Maharani when she traveled and was a beautiful example of rail travel in a grander time. We are not train dorks, but we did thoroughly enjoy the museum.

Since it was nearing lunchtime, we walked back to the bazaar area for a thali lunch at a recommended restaurant. Re ordered the south Indian thali since she still is enjoying the hotter food. I however, went with the north Indian thali, figuring it would be less spicy. Oh, how wrong I was. Every individual dish was delicious, but Re was gracious enough to swap some of my bowls of magma for her delightfully mild ones. Tummies full, we made for the Royal Palace. On our way we ran into an autorickshaw driver who assured us it was at least two kilometers to the entrance, but he would be happy to charge us triple the going rate for a ride to the front gate. Since it wasn't two kilometers, and I'm not stupid, we declined his kind offer and soon found ourselves at the entrance.



The Mysore Palace was the former residence of the Wodeyar maharajas and is an awfully impressive piece of architecture. The old palace burned down around the turn of the last century, so the one we toured was built in 1912.



It's completely over the top, but while it's not my style, I can certainly appreciate the incredible craftsmanship and grand scale of the place. We spent several hours wandering the extensive grounds and oohing and aahing as we made our way through the palace itself. Later that evening, I saw that my parents were on Skype, so I chatted with them for an hour or so before Re and I headed out for dinner and then back to the room.


0 miles. It's good to be royalty.