Day 15
Today was a “free” day, though it was planned from early in
the morning. We boarded the bus at 6 AM
(remember we I got back to the dorms at 2), and headed for Mysore which is
about 4 hours away. The bus was
exceptionally quiet while we all slept or tried to sleep all the way. What’s a road trip without a stop at McDonald’s,
right? So we stopped at McD’s for
breakfast. Their menu is pretty limited,
but we all found something that worked for us.
I had, just the previous day, mentioned that I really wanted an orange
juice, so I was excited to be able to order one. Annnnd…it wasn’t actual OJ. It was a Minute Maid orange flavored water
like substance with “pulp” in it=I was disappointed and didn’t drink it
all.
We arrived in Mysore after some beautiful views as we turned
curves in the road, and roamed around a bit.
We did some shopping, visited a temple which we didn’t go inside of
because the lines were forever, had some fresh veggies, and then visited Mysore
Palace. It is beautiful, and Huge!! It belonged to one of the royalty of India
during the British rule in the mid or late 1800’s. We weren’t allowed to take pictures, and much
of the inside is replicated anyhow, but I can imagine that in its day, the
space was exquisite! Paintings on the
ceilings, intricate tiles lining the floors and walls, pillars in the wedding
hall painted a beautiful blue, a court surrounding the entrance where guests
and dignitaries would sit, expansive marble floors, hand carved wood ceilings
and doors, wood doors with inlaid ivory (which are sadly covered in plastic
panes so that no one digs out the ivory). It was very pretty: Despite the touristy feel, I’m glad we
went. Though I wasn’t too terribly fond
of wandering around without shoes, we got them back easily and none were
missing.
Following the Palace tour, we wound our way thru the exit
where, of course, there were items to buy and Animals To Ride!! You’d think this group had died and gone to
heaven. There were two elephants and two
camels. I, along with everyone else had
wanted to see an elephant while here, and we did get to see an elephant. Everyone ran to buy tickets and get in
line. I hung back not wanting to take
part. I knew that it was possible that
we’d have the opportunity to ride various animals while here, and I knew months
ago that I wouldn’t pay to do so. Just
as I expected, the animals are not well kept.
The camels looked better than the elephants, though that doesn’t say
much. There were uncombed with dead hair
visible on their necks, and it was hot and they likely had not had breaks in a
long time. The elephants are a little
more telling: They had tumors growing on
them; one on the side of a face, the other on the leg, at least one of them had
significant cataracts, his eyes white and blind. They would come to a stop at the loading
stand, lean their poor heads against the stand and wrap their trunks around the
bottom. Their eyes were so sad, and they
had little energy, using it all to try to fan themselves with their
trunks. I just wanted to go unfasten
everything and give them a good hosing off with cool water and then love on
them for as long as they’d let me.
Everyone wanted to know why I didn’t take part. My only answer was that I have a fundamental
issue with how the animals are treated and I won’t pay to support it. A couple of people told me after the ride that
the understood what I meant, one even mentioned that while sitting on top of
the elephant, she thought to herself, “This isn’t right.” And it’s not.
Please don’t pay to ride on animals.
They aren’t meant to be commodities, they are wild animals.
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