Mysore trip

Cool breeze, partly cloudy skies and comfortable temperature made for an excellent start on Friday morning. We loaded our bags into the mini-van and were on our way by 10 in the morning. It had been a while since I vacationed with my family and was really looking forward to the trip. The plan was to spend most of the day at ‘Wonder-la’ a relative new but popular amusement park near Bangalore. We were in great mood but I wasn't expecting much from an amusement park, after all we were grown up now. Or, so I thought. As soon as we landed there we felt invigorated and quickly jumped on to the roller coaster. Getting rid of the early jitters we moved on to more terrifying rides; I particularly remember the twisting and somersaulting one called x-scream. The facilities at ‘wonder-la’ were amazing much to my surprise. The place was well maintained, clean and offered many eating, drinking and relaxing opportunities besides the rides. Done with the dry rides, it was time to get dirty or should I say "wet". We hit the water slides with races on the uphill racer, some tubing adventures and finally to the scary 'Vertical fall'. It was almost 2 pm and we were wondering where time flew by. After grabbing a quick bite we headed to the wave pool. Again it turned out to be more exciting than we anticipated. Tired, we ate some snacks at the restaurant and headed out. I speak for everyone when I say that we thoroughly enjoyed being kids again.

We journeyed onwards to Mysore and arrived at our posh hotel by 5 PM. After a quick shower we headed to ‘Planet X’ for some more entertainment. It was time for ‘Karting’ and though it was getting late and dark, we showed each other no mercy on the track. 'Olive garden' restaurant right next door lived up to its reputation in terms of cuisine. On this trip to India I have been trying out some Indian wines and Zinfandel from Nasik faired much better than others I had this past month. The dinner was great and prices were very reasonable.

Next morning we planned to head to 'Talakad' and 'Shiv Samudra'. The former is religious place on the banks of river Cauvery and latter a spectacular falls on the same river. We got lost on our way but had an insightful experience of rural Karnataka passing through dirt roads, villages and fields. We stopped several times to absorb the beautiful scenery on offer. Back on track, it was past noon by the time we arrived at 'TalaKad'. We didn't expect it to see anything impressive and this time weren't surprised even though the river was pretty full owing to heavy rains. The exciting part was the ride on the 'coracle', a small round makeshift boat that local fishermen use. Though the ride was relaxing there was a thrilling moment when the boatman does several fast 360 degree spin that almost makes you feel dizzy. Pretty soon we were on our way to our next destination, again enjoying every bit of scenery on route. ‘Shiv Shamudra’ falls were breathtaking and nothing close to what we expected of this little known tourist destination. The falls were split into 2, were quite reminiscent of the Niagara Falls and though not as voluminous they we still pretty comparable in terms of height. I think the excessive rain from this monsoon might have a huge role to play and they may not be the same spectacle a different time of the year. We spent some time there absorbing the scenery and taking pictures. But soon it was time to head back as we planned to reach Mysore before nightfall. We were back in Mysore by 7 pm. Exhausted from the day's outing we decided to stay at the hotel and spend some family time. There was some talk, some banter, some singing, dumb-charades and everything was captured on video. Nothing in the video, I hope, would ever make it public as it would be very embarrassing for some participants. Enough said on that topic.

Day 3 was supposed to be fairly simple and relaxed. On the list was ‘Mysore Palace’ and Infosys Mysore campus which has of late become quite a tourist attraction. We reached Mysore palace too early. It seems that it doesn't open till 11:30 am. We only caught a glimpse of the magnificent palace from outside before we had to skip ahead to the Infosys campus. Those who know me know that I used to work for Infosys not long back, my brothers (elder and younger) still do. So we got in and experienced first hand the spectacular architecture and facilities it had to offer. The office has in its campus a training center for over 5000 trainees along with hostel facilities for over 2000. It is also development center and has facilities such as multiplex, swimming pool, gymnasium, recreation center with pool, bowling alley, sauna, table tennis room, lawn tennis courts, badminton courts and the list goes on. It spans over 400 acres. I guess anyone who visits would be swept of their feet seeing such a spectacle. I recommend that you take any opportunity you get to see any of the Infosys campuses in Bangalore, Mysore, Pune or Chennai and you will see what I mean.
For more try ‘Infosys Mysore’ or ‘Infosys Bangalore’ image search on google
Or check out
http://www.infosys.com/gdm/gallery.asp
http://www.infosys.com/gdm/gallery2.asp

After some time enjoying the luxurious facilities we ate lunch at the on campus restaurant. Funny thing happened there. I met a colleague from a client side that I have worked with for the past year and a half and though he had mentioned earlier (before I quit my job) that he might be visiting India, I couldn't in my wildest dream imagine we might bump into each other. And there we were. It’s a small world! Isn’t it?

Relaxed and entertained, we headed back to Bangalore later that evening.