I want to apologize in advance for not providing photos of food. The two meals I ate yesterday were awesome, and I will describe them, but I was too hungry to pause and photograph them.
By coincidence, Michael, a guy I know from New York, was also traveling to Mysore around the same time as me. By super amazing coincidence, his flight landed on the same day about 50 minutes apart from mine! We had arranged for him to wait for me so we could share a taxi from Bangalore to Mysore. This is Michael's 3rd visit to India and 2nd to Mysore so I felt quite lucky! He and I worked at the same studio in New York (The Yoga Room in Astoria, Queens) and he actually introduced me to Ashtanga yoga 3 years ago.
We arrived super early in the morning so I dropped my stuff at Michael's place, as it was too early to check into my hotel. He showed me around and introduced me to some people and we got dosas and coconut stuff to eat with it (what's that stuff called?) and coffee. Everything was super cheap, fresh, and delicious. Later I Rubin'ed my way into the hotel early (they told me to check in at 7pm, I stopped by around 8am and let them know I was here and that I would like to check in sooner. They told me to come back at 11am so I showed up at 10:15am with all of my stuff and sweetly requested to check in as soon as possible, which I did) and had a nap. I have air conditioning and wifi and cable TV, so more amenities than home!
My hotel is cute and clean and simple. I don't have the best room, ground floor right next to reception, but I don't mind. Sorry if it seems tacky to talk about money in this blog, but I'm going to in hopes that perhaps it will be helpful for anyone else planning a visit. I am staying at the Good Touch Service Apartments. It is $400 US for the entire month. I'm pretty happy with that price.
I registered at the Shala in the afternoon. I was so nervous and awkward. I still remember my first day of Kindergarten, 25 years ago. I was so anxious and nervous I remember drawing a picture and the picture was done but I just kept drawing over it so I could stay at the drawing station because I didn't know what to do next. Anyway, I felt like that. I got a 9:45am start time. That's late. It's "cool" here to have an early start time; the earlier the better! I am so freaking excited and nervous for my first practice today. Shala fees were very expensive, but I knew they would be. Let's just say it cost more than my hotel. They charge a lot because they can, and people from all over the world are still going to come.
I've done a lot of wandering around, trying to learn my way around Gokulam, the little suburb in the city of Mysore where I am staying and practicing for the next 5 1/2 weeks. Not sure if it a suburb or part of the city, but I am really looking forward to checking out downtown Mysore. I had dinner at Tina's Cafe and accidentally ordered a biryani for two people. With a side dish and bottle of water about $2.50 US.
I also blew up my tooth brush charger by using an adapter but not voltage converter. Oops. There was a big popping sound and sparks and it seriously blew up. So I guess once the batter runs out, it will just be a regular tooth brush. My iPhone charger should be fine because Apple makes their products so they work with both voltage sets, and I hope my Chrome book charger will be OK because it is 3 pronged. If anyone has any advice or insight on this, please let me know. I haven't charged either of them yet.
I am very happy to be here.
Also, there are dogs and cows everywhere, but I've only seen one cat- a rough looking kitten. I am trying my best not to touch the dogs, even when they come up to me and look all cute.
If you didn't catch them on instagram, here are some photos; the view from the roof of my hotel, and a cow in the city street.
Namaste y'all
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By coincidence, Michael, a guy I know from New York, was also traveling to Mysore around the same time as me. By super amazing coincidence, his flight landed on the same day about 50 minutes apart from mine! We had arranged for him to wait for me so we could share a taxi from Bangalore to Mysore. This is Michael's 3rd visit to India and 2nd to Mysore so I felt quite lucky! He and I worked at the same studio in New York (The Yoga Room in Astoria, Queens) and he actually introduced me to Ashtanga yoga 3 years ago.
We arrived super early in the morning so I dropped my stuff at Michael's place, as it was too early to check into my hotel. He showed me around and introduced me to some people and we got dosas and coconut stuff to eat with it (what's that stuff called?) and coffee. Everything was super cheap, fresh, and delicious. Later I Rubin'ed my way into the hotel early (they told me to check in at 7pm, I stopped by around 8am and let them know I was here and that I would like to check in sooner. They told me to come back at 11am so I showed up at 10:15am with all of my stuff and sweetly requested to check in as soon as possible, which I did) and had a nap. I have air conditioning and wifi and cable TV, so more amenities than home!
My hotel is cute and clean and simple. I don't have the best room, ground floor right next to reception, but I don't mind. Sorry if it seems tacky to talk about money in this blog, but I'm going to in hopes that perhaps it will be helpful for anyone else planning a visit. I am staying at the Good Touch Service Apartments. It is $400 US for the entire month. I'm pretty happy with that price.
I registered at the Shala in the afternoon. I was so nervous and awkward. I still remember my first day of Kindergarten, 25 years ago. I was so anxious and nervous I remember drawing a picture and the picture was done but I just kept drawing over it so I could stay at the drawing station because I didn't know what to do next. Anyway, I felt like that. I got a 9:45am start time. That's late. It's "cool" here to have an early start time; the earlier the better! I am so freaking excited and nervous for my first practice today. Shala fees were very expensive, but I knew they would be. Let's just say it cost more than my hotel. They charge a lot because they can, and people from all over the world are still going to come.
I've done a lot of wandering around, trying to learn my way around Gokulam, the little suburb in the city of Mysore where I am staying and practicing for the next 5 1/2 weeks. Not sure if it a suburb or part of the city, but I am really looking forward to checking out downtown Mysore. I had dinner at Tina's Cafe and accidentally ordered a biryani for two people. With a side dish and bottle of water about $2.50 US.
I also blew up my tooth brush charger by using an adapter but not voltage converter. Oops. There was a big popping sound and sparks and it seriously blew up. So I guess once the batter runs out, it will just be a regular tooth brush. My iPhone charger should be fine because Apple makes their products so they work with both voltage sets, and I hope my Chrome book charger will be OK because it is 3 pronged. If anyone has any advice or insight on this, please let me know. I haven't charged either of them yet.
I am very happy to be here.
Also, there are dogs and cows everywhere, but I've only seen one cat- a rough looking kitten. I am trying my best not to touch the dogs, even when they come up to me and look all cute.
If you didn't catch them on instagram, here are some photos; the view from the roof of my hotel, and a cow in the city street.
Namaste y'all
Just to confirm: you were able to eat both servings of biryani?
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