A Trip to Mysore with a Bit of Off-Roading

pahujaamit · Nov 2, 2011

Folks,

I recently did Bangalore Mysore trip and here is the travelogue with loads of pictures.

Route: Bangalore -> NICE Road -> Mysore Road -> Savandurga -> Mysore road -> Mandya -> Srirangapatna -> Mysore

Distance: 320km
Car: Scorpio MHawk

Details
So, it was another fine day and we decided to go for long drive and the obvious choice was to go towards Mysore and hunt for some good places which we haven't seen earlier. So we started around 8am from our home and headed towards Mysore road from NICE road. Here are few pictures on the way

On the way we saw a sign for Savandurga and decided to check this place out as we've never been there. It was an amazing drive on village internal roads and we loved the entire stretch. The roads were fantastic excepts few places.

A small pond on the way

Village road

On the way we stopped for a photoshoot

The local village folks doing silk farming

The local village folks doing silk farming and posing for us

After driving for about 12~15kms, we saw one rock mountain which was accessible to us and we immediately decided to test our beast's off-roading capabilities. The mountain was not very steep so I could get the car onto it and climb to an extent. As this was my first time off-roading on a mountain on a slippery rocky surface, I was a little nervous and very cautious of it. So I slowly, started climbing the mountain in my Scorpio MHawk 2x4 and believe me it was an experience cannot describe in words. The beast is so powerful that it started climbing the rocky mountain with no stress.. but after a little climb the tyres started skidding as there were lots of loose small stones as the labourers on site were working there and breaking the rocks and that's where I realised that I should have 4x4 instead of 2x4 for such climbs. But anyway we enjoyed the act for a while and parked the beast to take some pictures.

After about half an hour we started towards Savandurga and in about 30mins time we reached there. Once we reached there we realised that there is a steep hill which has a temple over there. We were in no mood to climb the hill till the top, so we just relaxed a bit, had some refreshments and took some pictures and then returned towards Mysore road for our onward journey.

some local plant caught my attention and deserved to be shot :)

The temple atop the hill for which the people come here

end of part 1

to be continued

pahujaamit · Nov 2, 2011

A trip to Mysore with a bit of off-roading: Part 2

A trip to Mysore with a bit of off-roading: Part 2

The temple at the site

This mountain needs to be climbed if you would like to see the temple atop the hill. We didn't had time in hand so we did not go uphill but just visited the place and continued our journey.

Tender coconut cream

Entrance for the uphill temple

Bhelpuri in making (Indian snack)

On the way we decided to stop by at Kamat on Mysore road for a quick lunch/late breakfast. When we reached there, we noticed some folks dressed like tribals standing outside JanaPadaLoka. When we approached them they started a dance performance for us and which was a great experience. We joined the party, danced a little with them and had fun. The dance was really good and energetic.

Entrance to JanaPadaLoka, Art and Cultural village

Kids after the ducks at JanaPadaLoka

After their dance performance, we then had lunch at Kamat and then continued our onward journey. Some pictures of the food served at Kamat

sandip24 · Nov 2, 2011

Excellent color of scorpio.. which model is it ? is it sle ?

Nice photos.. [:)]

pahujaamit · Nov 2, 2011

Part 3: A trip to Mysore with a bit of off-roading

Notice the old women sleeping at the back of the vehicle in between the carates

Ganpati procession on the road

Notice the bike guy on the left side coming from wrong side on the highway :((
This is what I love about Indian roads :)

So the next stop for us was Mysore palace but as I expected, kids saw McD on the way and we had to halt there for a quick pickup of burgers etc. So we drove in and drove out of McD with the snacks and moved towards Mysore palace.

So the first stop in Mysore was St. Phelomena Church. We stopped by at the church as my cousin who was with us wanted to see it. So as we waited outside and stretched our legs, he and my kids went inside for a quick glance at the church.

The Church

A Mosque on the way to the Mysore Palace

After a quick stopover, we then moved on towards Mysore palace. In about 10mins drive we reached at the palace, parked the beast, took the camera and went inside the palace. As I and Wifey has seen the palace almost 10times now, we decided to stay out but within the palace premises, and sent the kids with my cousin inside to see the palace. We took some pictures as usual and savoured "Amla fruit" sold by local vendors out there.

Once the kids and cousin came out, we then moved back towards "Kokre bellur - Bird sanctuary". After about 30mins drive, we reached the sanctuary but realised it was too late for us to be there and everything is dried out now. So we proceeded towards Daria Daulat bagh and Sangam.. but again it was also too late. So we just relaxed a bit there, had some refreshments and then moved back to Bangalore. On the way we again stopped for taking some more pictures.

pahujaamit · Nov 2, 2011

Part 4: Final - A trip to Mysore with a bit of off-roading

Part 4: Final - A trip to Mysore with a bit of off-roading

As it was a Saturday night, the traffic on Mysore road was a little heavy but not too heavy as it is normally on sundays. So in about 3hrs time with 2 breaks, we managed to reach home.

Summary of the trip
Was a good short trip with loads of fun. Had good fun while off-roading and taking pictures.

Places we ate and review
McDonalds, Mandya - Good as always :)
Outside Mysore palace - Had BhelPuri - Pathetic taste, extremely spicy
Ouside Dariya Daulat Bagh - Tea - Pathetic and was more of a sugar syrup than a tea. So switched to Coke etc
Adiga's - Mysore road - North Indian food was good

sandip24 · Nov 2, 2011

If you could share the pics of interior as well as few more exteriors of ur mhawk, it would be really gr8. Also if you could confirm if its a Sle or some other model ?

Thanks in advance

shailinder · Nov 2, 2011

Great set of pictures Amit. Keep them coming. As I see you have a knack of taking breath taking pictures. You are requested to add details to each picture (if possible) so that people can read and look at the same time and appreciate your efforts on a different / higher level.

pahujaamit · Nov 2, 2011

shailinder said:

Thanks Shalinder for appreciating the pictures. What do you mean by details of the pictures? Are you referring to captions or the EXIF data? If latter, I normally post them on my NatGeo Account or other Photography sites. It will be very difficult to replicate the info here. Sorry buddy.

pahujaamit · Nov 2, 2011

sandip24 said:

Sandip. I will share the pics later on as I'm working on few more blogs (travelogues). You can check my other posts as well where I have some interior/exterior pics as well.

And yes this is a SLE variant.

sandip24 · Nov 2, 2011

Whats the color of ur scorpio? Its looks owsome.. [:)]

Is it fiery black / rocky biege / java brown / Mystique Purple ?

mukeshus · Nov 3, 2011

sandip24 said:

The color is Rocky beige.

pahujaamit said:

Amith that was a fantastic pics of the trip & hawk.
You said you missed Dariya daulat bagh, there was tippu's sword and ruins of the palace.
I will post the pics during my visit to this place.
Dariya Daulat Bagh

Thetraveller · Nov 3, 2011

Great pictures and travelogue buddy! Really loved looking those neat pictures with write up.

Everything looks so tempting in the pictures. Nice set of wheels you have got there too [:)]

pahujaamit · Nov 3, 2011

mukeshus said:

Mukesh, thanks for this but I've been to DDB couple of times. Its just that in this trip we couldn't make it :) But thanks anyway for sharing the pics.

A Trip to Mysore with a Bit of Off-Roading

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