Street Parade in Mysore - Nov 7 2014

Arriving in Mysore we got off on the wrong foot when we almost fell for one of India's infamous scams. We were taken by our rickshaw driver to a natural oil shop where, after some sweet talk and chai, they tried to coerce us into buying overpriced essential oils. We barely escaped and recuperated instead in a nice flower, fruit and vegetable market.

woman rolling incense at the fishy natural oil shop  

at the market:

Mysore is also famous for its palace, and it is quite impressive inside but unfortunately no photos were allowed.

We were not too impressed with the city and were ready to call Mysore a disappointment just as we stumbled upon a wonderfully crazy parade on the street which made the visit worth it.

unhappy peacocks

children on a float, not too impressed with 
the festivities

sugar-cane juice

temple at Charamundi Hill

                                   

Karanji lake

I was also hoping to do some yoga in Mysore as it is known as the home of Ashtanga yoga, but as it turns out most places only offer long term courses and not drop-in classes. so that didn't happen. We left Mysore after a few days and set out to explore the temples of Belur and Halebid.