The Green Hotel in Mysore

This place use to be a palace for a princess (an immediate draw for me). Then it became Premier Movie Studio with a giant sound stage built next to the palace and a double high row of rooms for the actors to live versus trailers used today. That row is now called 'traveler's rooms' and that is where I'm staying. It's very nice and atmospheric, the rooms are not ac, but the weather cools down at night and the ceiling fans make things comfortable. The hotel is operated mostly by solar power and the soap is locally made with lentils, honey and coconut (very nice) and they've painted murals on the doors, mirror and bed frames, in a similar style to how they decorate the trucks, maybe a bit more pastoral. It's nicer here than when I visited in 2004.

There are more cars, less beggars and the dogs are mangy, but not as many of them have their ribs sticking out. The roads are better, the buses newer and there are a good number of new buildings. TIna who had a patio where she served breakfast, the occasional dinner and cooking classes has expanded. She has a cafe that has lunch and dinner out on one of the main streets, a small free lending library, and the cooking classes too. One place has gone through several change of hands, expanded the dining area out to a front garden and still has a great breakfast. Now it has more rooms to rent (all booked for the month) and free wifi (which makes me growl, I am paying a lot for not a lot of wifi, addiction has it's price I guess). The tailor shops seem to be doing really well too. Going to the tailor when I was here in '04 seemed to be my hobby here. I had a nostalgic return and got a couple of things 'stitched'. Good results! Yay! Sadly, one of the tailors, Krishna passed away, it seems he had a heart attack. Was he even 40? His brother has taken over the business, yet to visit there, but see some of the gold threaded yoga bags around Gokulum where the yoga shala is.

It's pretty ok. India has a way of 'giving you your lessons' right between the eyes. Today's aggravation is the wifi connection is not that solid and I went to the train station for 1.5 hours to get a 'tourist ticket', I got a ticket and saw some of the back offices, but I came back without the ticket I really need. The travel agent here was a bit exasperated asking me why I didn't tell them I was going and they would have sent someone with me....I thought I knew what to do. The rickshaw driver brought a friend who had excellent english language skills and he seemed to know his way around the place.....What I did get out of it were more gifts from a crafts emporioum and the fellow I just mentioned telling me how G-O-D got it's name.

So  I have more to say about yoga and other things, but the wifi went off due to a power outage. It's a daily occurance, around 8 for about an hour, so a late start to the blogging. I have to get my yoga rest, even though I'm not admitted inside the shala till 9:15. Wow! Not the usual rising at 5:30 am. It's a novelty for me here, but kind of nice.

Weather 64-82 Farenheit. Clear blue skies, sunrise around 7am. Not too bad.