How this Blog came about:
When I left Singapore on a 5 month trip to India in 2008 (4 months of Ashtanga in Mysore then Pranayama in Lonavla), I started to send out weekly updates. it's now Sept 2010 and I have decided to post it all to a blog in case I have more things to share from this 2010 trip. So back to 2008 ...
Thanks to the Chan sleep-gene inherited from my mum’s side, I am pleased to announce that I slept practically all the way from s’pore to bangalore (3 ¾ hr), from bangalore to mysore (3 hr) and then, another 7 hr (I surprised myself!) to wake-up this morning with a slight headache (probably from too much sleep). And as I write this after lunch, I have to admit that I feel like lying down and taking a nap.
Flight was only ½ full .. so after discovering that Tiger airways emergency exit seats do not recline (versus Indian Airline seats which tease you by reclining and then springing back up), I found myself 3 seats to stretch out on.
The new airport looks impressive from the very short time I spent in it … clearing immigration, customs and retrieving baggage was so quick, I could not believe I was out of there 30 mins after touchdown. The driver was actually there waiting (knowing how things can go massively wrong in India) and he was a polite, safe (from what I could see before I went to sleep) and most importantly, looked wide awake (I’d told my landlord that whilst it was ok for me to fall asleep, I’d very much like for the driver to remain awake).
The car was smaller than the other cars I’ve been in (a little kanchil-type ie little more than a painted milo-can) but I was pleasantly surprised to find seat-belts in the back … although I had to clip it into the opposite side of the backseat, since the one on my side was missing (driver probably thought I was mad laughing to myself in the back!) still, it just meant that I could remain belted up (if that means anything safety-wise) whilst I was lying down.
All in all, it was one of the smoothest door-to-door trips I’d ever taken .. which just means i’ve set myself up to be sorely disappointed in my remaining travel legs in my time here.
Hooked up with my fave rickshaw driver here who got me an indian SIM, persuading his local connection to bypass the registration and photo requirements (because I’m not Pakistan and don’t look like a terrorist).
Mysore is definitely more built-up now; some of the WIP has actually been completed in the past year. The house nextdoor has been pulled down in order to build a small block of apartments and my local supermarket has been upgraded (I had to go search for things all over again).
Good news is my regular coconut man under his tree has not had to move to make way for more developments … so I’m looking forward to getting my 2 coconuts tomorrow morning.
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