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No more posts until I'm back in the USA

12/12/2010

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I've been planning on posting about our experience in Goa and Aurangabad prior to leaving India, but it's not going to happen.  Although I have a fantastic connection here in Mumbai, my card reader is acting up again and I'm not in a position to recover everything again.  So it will just have to wait!

In two evenings we will be flying home.  It's a 20 hour journey to Newark, NJ and then we'll spend a couple nights with our friends in Hoboken (thanks Tim and Carmela!) before heading to Mass.  Then a quick hello to mom and dad and off to visit Vermont, find a place to live, and catch up with Sue and Vanessa (who are so kindly assisting us in this process). 

I think I can speak for both of us and say that we are ready to go home. We are both looking forward to seeing our families and spending Christmas and New Year's together.  We're eager to start our new lives in Vermont and so proud to hear about Bernie Sanders' fiery speech the other day. 

On the flip side, it will be tough to leave  India.  It's taken 4+ months but I finally come around to really liking the country.  The adjustment period was a bit longer for me.  We'll miss the warm weather, the food, the friendly people, and the shocker -- the bargaining!!!

More later friends!  From stateside :)
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Mysore

12/1/2010

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For me, Mysore had all the positives I look for an Indian city.  
  • It's extremely walkable and the bus system is clearly marked and easy to utilize.
  • It seemed fairly clean.
  • There were lots of touristy things to do but the overall city didn't feel like it was overrun with tourists.
  • The food was fantastic and cheap.
Really, the only thing that we didn't like about Mysore was that we couldn't find any wifi.  Not a big issue but surprising given the size of the city. 

Brandon and I decided that we would love to come back sometime in the future and spend at least a month studying yoga here.  This is the home of Ashtanga yoga and there are lots of studios you can study at.
What is there to do in Mysore?  


We walked around Devaraja market a few times (didn't buy anything) and saw all the fruit and veg sellers, bangle, flower, oil, incense, woodcut, religious memorabilia sellers, etc.
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Bangle shop, Devaraja market
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Flower sales, Devaraja market
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Paint sales, Devaraja market
We were fortunate to be in Mysore on a Sunday evening, when the Mysore Palace is lit up with 100,000 lights and you can enter the grounds for free.
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Mysore Palace at night
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A gateway to the palace at night
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Donald Duck trashcan, Mysore Palace
We took the bus up to Chamundi Hill.  This is the spot, according to legend, where the Goddess Chamundi killed the Demon Mahishasura (below).  There are a few temples on the top of the hill, as well as lots of little shops.  We took the stairs down (1,000) and surprisingly, my legs felt jiggly.  So glad we didn't climb up.
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Demon Mahishasura
We also went to the zoo.  Our favorite animals were the jaguars, who were being really playful when we stopped by their cage.  The tigers were beautiful, although all of them except one were kept in small cages.  Two animals I hadn't heard of but thought were really cute were the Giant Squirrel and the Mouse Deer.  
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Jaguar fight!
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A Bengal Tiger, snoozing
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One of the many direct signs at the zoo
We also took a one hour tour to see how incense and oils were made.  It was really a ploy to get us to buy the stuff and it sort of worked.  We saw some women making incense and an older man who made beedis (cigarettes rolled with leaves).  We didn't get to see any oil production but I did cave and buy a "Black Jasmine" oil that smelled really nice.  Hopefully I'll get it home in one piece.
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Incense production
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Food!

12/1/2010

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Some of the food we're going to miss:
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Masala Dosa with Coconut Chutney
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From front: Mysore Pak, Rasmalai, Mysore Pak, and a plain lassi
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Papadam: this one is shaped like India!
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Plain soda: I swear by this stuff. Cold and bubbly.
More photos coming soon!  I lost my photo of idlis - a breakfast fav.
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    Val's Life and Travel Blog

    In April 2010 I left the security of my FT job to travel for eight months -- across the US, Europe, India, and SE Asia. I spent six weeks in Spain in Feb 2013 and experimented with working remotely for an extended period of time. (It worked!) This blog is mostly about my travels and occasional life updates.

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