Beep, Beep, Whistle, Whistle
Mysuru
Our time in Mysuru was lovely and we hope to return for a longer stay in the future. We stayed in Gokulam Family Home, a lovely home that gave us room to spread out and had a small outdoor space we all enjoyed. We especially loved grabbing coffee around the corner. The coffee was amazing and the man running it quickly befriended A5, shouting out his name and hello each time we walked past. Our area felt authentic but was also full of yogis from aborad, giving the neighborhood a vibe we found fascinating.
While in Mysuru, we spent time relaxing in our personal space but also explored the town. We went shopping in Devaraja Market and nearby. We took in sites and smells, made some good purchases, ate good food, and learned about the making of incense. K got an outfit and managed to find a tailor to adjust the fit. A8 showed off her negotiation skills buying bangles. And we discovered that sugar cane juice was a tad too strong for the kids.
We went on a few good adventures in Mysuru, including visiting the Mysuru Railway Museum, climbing Chamundi Hill to Chamundeshwari Temple, exploring Mysuru Palace, travelling to Srirangapatna, touring the Tipu Sultan Summer Palace, and meeting animals at the zoo. We also enjoyed a variety of both India and western food available. Mysuru is high on the list of places to revisit and stay longer.
Kochi
From Mysuru, we took a train and car to get to the Kempegowda International Airport. After arriving in Cochin International Airport, we took a car to our home for the week, a waterfront condo that provided splendid views of sunset.
On our first day in Kochi, we took a ferry to the fort to explore. We were pleasantly surprised by an art exhibit where we were able to get our hands dirty creating our own art. We also enjoyed walking to sites in the town, seeing the chinese fishing nets, browsing the market, eating lunch by the water, and playing at the playground.
We were a little nervous about our houseboat experience on the Kerela backwaters. Would the kids get board? Would we get board? But our expectations were exceeded. We enjoyed lounging during our day aboard, taking in the views and eating a lovely lunch onboard. The experience even stuck in our three year old’s head, who would pretend he was a houseboat afterwards.
Another fun outing to Fort Kochin included a visit to the oldest synagogue in India, Paradesi Synagogue built in 1568, and a Kathakali performance. We also dropped into Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica.
Another worthwhile day trip we made was to Athirappilly Falls. We had a great guide who stopped when we desperately needed coffee. We were on our own for the short hike for the falls where we enjoyed a packed lunch and the mist from the falls. On our way home, we also stopped at Thumboormuzhi Hanging Bridge for a walk across the bridge and play on a large and empty playground.
One especially memorable experience from our stay in Kochi was our visit to the Bombay Circus. It was like no other circus experience of ours. Notable was that we went to a less attended performance so the tent was largely empty but the performance was not lacking. Our three older kids were all able to go up on stage at one point to participate in a jump roping activity that led to a tent wide prank on our oldest child.
Delhi and Agra
From Kochi, we flew to Delhi to stay two nights, spending our full day in Agra to see the Taj Mahal. We originally intended on more time in Delhi but the pollution felt too high for comfort so we cut the time down to that needed for a visit to Agra. We did have an amazing day. Despite staying very near the train station, we barely made the train to Agra. Once there, we were picked up for our private tour of the Taj Mahal. After, we were pulled into a visit to a rug shop that was an overall good experience. The kids experienced making and trimmed rugs and we learned much. After, we took the train to hear to Agra Fort. We grabbed lunch across from the fort and then managed to start our tour early. Our tour guide was amazing, especially with the kids. At the end we had time to let the kids run around before heading back to Delhi. Funny story: during our train ride we were contacted by our hotel. They wanted to do a photo shoot of the family for social media marketing of our hotel. The experience was a bit tempting but turned it down for a few reasons.
After Delhi, we boarded a plane to Singapore. We left feeling we better understood India and better understood how much we do not know. We hope to return one day to learn and experience more.
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