Dubai Chronicles - Part 7a

The Mall of the Emirates was where we headed to next, in Dubai. It boasts of the Middle East's first indoor ski slope, Ski Dubai! Ski equipment and clothes are abundantly available on rent, inside the mall itself. I'll let the pictures strut their stuff now!

This, here, is a model of the Emerald Palace that is being built in Palm Jumeirah! More gem themed palaces are believed to be in the offing too!

On our way back, we passed through the under-the-sea Al Shindagha tunnel, where the radio conks off and you can almost hear the sound of the water flowing above the tunnel!

P.S. My luck in winning contests and lotteries seems to be continuing unabated as I became the proud owner of two tickets for the movie, Cheeni Kum, yesterday! The tickets are for the morrow, being a result of winning a contest that entailed me to send in a few words about a bittersweet experience that I've had; with me promptly sending in not a few words of prose, but, as can be expected, a few lines of poetry! Voilà, the next thing I know is I get a call asking me to collect my prize (2 free tickets) from the venue! Woohoo!

Mysore Continued...

Continuing with the Mysore saga, here are some more pictures of the beautiful place:















On our way downhill, we passed a beautiful Nandi idol.

A ride in a horse cart soon followed suit!

We then made our way to what most tourists go to see in Mysore; the famous and beautiful Mysore palace. The insides of the palace cannot be photographed, which is a real pity because their beauty is to be seen to be believed! Palatial rooms (that's pretty obvious, eh?!?), the thrones of Hyder Ali and his most prominent son, Tipu Sultan, a whole bunch of artifacts and paintings related to the Wodeyar dynasty, the rooms of the king and the queen, the beautiful and majestic lamps, dressers, chandeliers and mirrors of that era; the palace boasts of all these and more! Out in the gardens, cameras are clicked a dozen a second, capturing, thankfully, at least the beauty of the outside of the palace, including the gates, the temple in the same compound, as also the luscious lawns.

Brindavan Gardens was our next and last stop in Mysore. It was teaming with activity, what with hordes of people making it their destination that Saturday evening. It offers a view of a dam built across the Cauvery river, as also is home to innumerable fountains and colourful lights. More than the flowers it holds, it is these man made things that serve as the main attraction of this famous garden, not to mention the giant of a tall man who performs the job of a security personnel!

This last picture, of course, is that of our ubiquitous guide! Obnoxiously presumptuous, he managed to get on every single nerve of mine! He rattled off one "witty" statement after another, getting into form when he loudly proclaimed on our bus passing a seven star hotel that how extremely inexpensive it was to dine and stay there, what with a cuppa tea being available for just a few hundred bucks, or when, with a serious, deadpan expression on his face, he told us how important it was to let him know beforehand if any one of us intended to buy the Mysore palace! Gawd!

Mysore

These are pictures from our last weekend's trip to Mysore:

Tipu Sultan's summer palace (Srirangapatna: en route to Mysore): our first halt

The inside of the palace was sadly in disarray.

Then followed his fort (a major part in ruins now) and the spot where his body was found!

This was followed by a stopover at the famed Sri Ranganathaswamy temple (Srirangapatna).

Next, we visited the beautiful St. Philomena's church in Mysore.

Our bus then wound its way up Chamundi hills, providing not only a breathtaking view of the whole of Mysore, but also a stopover at the famous temple of the Goddess Chamundeshwari (Durga), located right atop the hills!

Okay, now that's a lot of pictures for one day! More to come in a day or two!