We arrived in Mysore, India very tired after a very long day of travel which seems to be the way we like to roll. It was so much easier to move around when we had our camper van in Mexico but on this trip we have to rely on schedules, connections and traffic conditions.
Our wakey came at 4:30am at to meet the taxi driver at 5am to take us to the airport in Goa for our 8am flight. It was a nail-biting dark drive north on the narrow 2 lane highway that passes through the grimy city of Margao to Dabolim. Our driver was very skilled, as most indian drivers are, at manoeuvring past massive trucks and busses even on blind corners and in the dark. Somehow they manage to swerve back into the proper lane just in the nick of time. It’s a dance that every driver knows how to do but still scares me half to death.
Our 1 1/2 hr flight landed in Bangalore where we needed to catch a train to Mysore. I guess no one ever thought about building an airport here back in the day when Mysore was the capitol city. Never mind, Indian trains are always an experience and this one was no exception. You would think an Indian train station would be the last place on earth you’d ever want to have to hang out but we love the people watching the chai drinking and the super cheap grub so it was easy to spend a few hours waiting.
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| Its incredible how much luggage these porters can carry! |
The trip itself was fun for all of us as there are no rules about hanging half your body out the totally open train doors to catch the scenery or take photos. High on about 6 cups of chai each we had fun with the camera. The scenery ranged from totally filthy, garbage filled rivers just outside of Bangalor to lush rice paddies and beautiful villages bordered by swaying coconut palms.
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| The river in Bangalore as seen from the train. It's so disgusting. |
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| Hollis looking out at the beauty of the rice paddies |
For the last 24 hours I had been bothered by a wisdom tooth that was so sensitive i couldn’t touch it with a toothbrush or even dental floss or it would send a zinger of intense pain right through my skull. I was hoping I could just avoid it and leave it until we got out of India into Thailand where I could see a dentist but it quickly became apparent it just couldn’t wait, this tooth needed to come out. NOW! We had such a great day planned too, I was super disappointed I had to see the dentist instead of Mysore Palace.
I put the call out on Facebook for some help getting the email address for my dentist in Calgary so I could consult with him- thanks brother Darren! Before I knew it I had friends messaging their friends who live in Bangalore and Mysore asking for a recommendation for a dentist. Unfortunately I didn’t get these messages until it was all over but I was so touched by the offers of help from far and wide. Thanks to all of you!
I’d heard horror stories of friends having wisdom teeth removed in Canada. The thought of having this same procedure done under less than perfectly hygienic conditions by a Dr that I didn’t know totally freaked me out. I was really scared. I didn’t want the whole day to be a write off so before finding the dentist we asked the tuk tuk driver, Sayed, to take us to a few of the sights we had planned for that day. First on the list was the famous restaurant ( famous in the travellers circles that is)- Vinayaka Mylari where they make a unique masala dosa. This tiny place serves up light and fluffy ( versus the crispy thin kind that other places make) dosa which are lentil flour pancakes, filled with a mild veggie curry, folded in half and topped with a warm pad of butter for 30 rupees ( $ .50c) If you add a cup of delicious chai for 10 rupees you can have a delicious breakfast for under 60 cents. Bowen refused of course but we all gobbled it up.
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After a quick visit to the ho hum friday veggie market - we visited Yam Herbals where the same family has been making natural incense and essential oils pre 1936. The dingy 2 room space was filled with the scent of sandalwood, frangipani, lotus, jasmine and every flower you could imagine. The incense are all hand rolled onto bamboo sticks by an 86 year old woman who pumps out 6000 sticks a day and has been for 60 years. How she can even sit on the hard floor all day is beyond me.
We made our purchase of world famous sandalwood oil and some neroli oil to help Bowen fall asleep easier and off we went to find a dentist recommended by the man who sold us the oils.
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| She sits here all day rolling 6,000 incense |
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| The dingy smelling room |
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| The great, great grandfather that started this family essential oil empire |
As we got closer to finding a suitable and available dentist the reality of what I was about to have done sunk in and I became very scared and emotional. This freaked out the boys who rallied around me and tried to cheer me up. What amazing kids we have! We stepped into the “office” which was below grade and not exactly sparkling clean. The dentist was sitting in his chair with a mask around his throat as if he had been expecting me all morning.
The dentist confirmed that his tools were sterile, the needles were one time use only and that he had done this sort of thing at least 10,000 times in his 15 years of practise. There was no waiting in line or filling out forms or making follow up appointments. I sat in the chair, blubbered my way through what the problem was, had an X-ray and got down to business in less than 15 minutes; all while my family and our tuk tuk driver watched from the foot of my chair.
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| I am terrified! |
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| Ahhhh, it's out! |
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| Sayed, our tuk tuk driver got an eyeful today |
As scared as I was the procedure actually went rather smoothly. It took less than 10 minutes to get it out of my skull and a few sutures later I was back in the tuk tuk ready to go see the Palace after all! I knew the pain would set in when the freezing wore off so thought I might as well take advantage of the novocaine while I could. It’s worth noting that the consult, x-ray, extraction, sutures and Rx for pain relief cost me a mere $60. I’ll need to check with my dentist friends back home as to how much the same procedure would have been in Canada but I’m pretty sure it would be at least 100x more expensive to have it done there.
The palace was incredible and it was fun that we became part of the attraction as Indian families asked to have their pictures taken with us. My “socket” has healed nicely and the added benefit is that I can chew on that side of my mouth again after about 2 years of sensitivity.
I will always remember Mysore as Mysore Tooth.
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| This family insisted on getting a photo with me. Something tells me she is way more fun than he is. |
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| Inside the palace where you are forbidden to take photos |
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| How many columns does one king need? |
The trip back into town would not have been complete without a stop at the sand museum. This is a strange attraction composed of an eclectic collection of sand sculptures that have been epoxied into place. Scenes from the Ramayana are mixed with Christmas tableaux and collections of African animals.
While we were visiting the site of Tipu’s Palace we met Kim and Simon from the UK who just happen to know people we know in Calgary! See, that’s why you should always ask even if the possibility is slim.
We also toured the old walls of the city, which included the dungeon where British prisoners were kept, chained to the walls, after the various Mysore wars. This dungeon was named after Colonel Bailey, who died here of disease while being kept prisoner.
One evening, the whole family trouped to the cinema for a Bollywood movie experience. Indians on the street insisted that we go to the ticket counter for the upper balcony, as the lower level was “too dirty”. We had to find the manager to unlock and run the snack counter. We watched the newly released episode of the “Action Jackson” (or AJ as he was referred to throughout) series. We could not understand the dialogue, but that was not necessary as the acting was so melodramatic, or campy, or slapstick, as the scene required. We and hoped that the theatre would be more crowded, as we had heard of how the audience involves itself in the experience, but there was still a fair bit of cheering and singing, particularly from the lower level. The movie was three hours long, with an intermission, and in the end was highly entertaining. Liz, however, encountered the worst bathrooms so far.
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| What? No DOORS?! |
Remy was able to indulge his interest in kushti, the Indian wrestling tradition. We just missed the tournament that had happened the weekend that we arrived, but an enquiry put to Sayed, our tuk tuk driver, revealed that he is very good friends with a past national champion and the coach of a local wrestling club. The practice room is filled with about a foot of the distinctive red clay and sand mixed with ghee on which kushti traditionally takes place. All the wrestlers were dressed in the traditional langot, a tiny strip of cloth that keeps the naughty bits tucked away and provides a point of purchase for their opponent. Everyone was covered in a film of sweat, ghee and clay, and Remy later had to wash it off every point that came into accidental contact with a wall or a wrestler. Outside in the yard, wrestlers were doing their exercises, doing all the movements and using the equipment that Remy had studied on the internet. The offer was made for Remy to work out with the club the following day, but unfortunately we were leaving for Sri Lanka. After months of traveling around with the rest of his slender, tall family, Remy was happy to be able to spend a short time amongst his own kind of people!
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| We need more sun |
During my whole tooth ordeal we discovered through a friend back in Calgary that we have a mutual friend living in Bangalore! Nasu and her family used to live in our neighbourhood about 7 years ago. It was awesome to hook up with her briefly at the airport and see how much her son has grown and catch up on what has been happening in each others lives.
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| Nice to see you Nasu! Thanks for the oranges. |
My birthday arrived 3 days later and I was so sick in bed from something I ate the night before I just couldn’t even get out of bed. My sweet husband went to a bunch of trouble to find a birthday cake and everything but my stomach would have none of it. All in all my time in Mysore was quite memorable but for all the wrong reasons. Let’s hope the next leg of our journey is a healthier one!
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| I'll blow these out then please let me sleep |
We are off to Sri Lanka where we will celebrate Christmas and New Years. We are all sad to leave India as it has been our very favourite place so far but we know we will be back sometime on another trip and we will plan to spend a good long time exploring more of this amazing country.
~ Liz
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