Getting Hustled In Mysore

South India is widely regarded as being more laid back and less of a hassle than the north.  From fellow traveler's descriptions of getting mobbed by 8 touts at a time in Rajasthan, all following you down the street as you emerge from a sleepless bus or train ride, I'm inclined to believe this stereotype.  Mysore has its fair share of touts and scams though and they pretty much defined my very pleasant few days there.

For those that don't know, Mysore was once the capital of a fairly powerful regional  kingdom that grew rich off the sandalwood trade and other such things.  To this day sandalwood (used for carvings, incense, etc.) is a major part of its economy and the sale of it and various essential oils keeps the touts mouths moving.  The city is named after a demon that tried to destroy the world because he got the blessing that no man could kill him from Shiva.  He overlooked the fact that women were still elligible and was eventually brought down by the goddess Durga or as she's known locally Chamundi.  Part of the reason I picked going to Mysore is reading my former professor's book Climbing Chamundi Hill (good philosophical read) and deciding I wanted to try it myself.  I wussed out and took the bus up but then walked down the 1000 steps later on.  I felt better about being lazy when I saw most Indian tourists taking cars and tour buses ;)

So anyways, back to the touts.  I arrived in Mysore from a 6 hour minibus ride (2 waiting for the bus to pick up all the Indian tourists from their hotels because I was the first stop, 4 hours on windy mountain roads).  So I definitely wasn't in a great mood as I got my baggage down from the top of the bus and tried to walk around to find a hotel.  Having 5 touts in my face definitely didn't improve my mood so by the time the 3rd guy approaches me after seeing two others fail I just answered "Goodbye" to his "Hello".  I had to smirk a little at the incredulous look on his face.

So then as I was walking down the street to find a hotel an auto-rickshaw (same thing as a tuk tuk) pulls up beside me and the guy starts calling at me.  I ignore him and keep walking for about 3 minutes until I need to stop to cross the street.  When he pulls up to block my path I actually get annoyed and start shouting at him...in Chinese.  "Ni yao shen me?  Oh, ni ting bu dong.  Wo ting bu dong ni shuo de hua, zou kai, zou kai!"  All he could do is give me a puzzled expression, try to make fun of me by muttering a half-hearted "Waaaa" and drive off.  I couldn't stop laughing as I crossed the street and found a hotel on my own easily enough.

So the big thing to do in Mysore is to look at some old buildings built by the Wodeyar dynasty at it's prime such as the palace of Mysore.  These aren't ancient at all, most were built in the early parts of the 20th century.  What is impressive is the style.  It's called Indo-Saracenic and combines classical European forms, Mughal and Hindu motifs and modern European construction techniques like the use of iron in arches and stained glass.  The combined effect is really impressive, especially for the intricate carvings on most surfaces and the use of wide open spaces.  Sadly photography in the palace is forbidden so I can't show you the really beautiful insides, just take my word for it.  Nicest building I've seen in India so far, easily more impressive than most of what I saw traveling Europe.

Got hustled as I wandered the gardens but in the end it worked out well.  It started with a policeman guarding a gate coming over to me and asking if I wanted to see something.  Something tourists don't usually get to see.  Something special.  Now this is the point where the little kid in me is shouting, "Hell yeah!", the paranoid maniac "He's going to take me somewhere quiet and mug me," and the bitter traveler "Somehow this will end up with me losing money."  When I saw he was taking me to an open area (lots of places to run to) that had lots of people around the safety aspect was forgotten about.  But it's still really hard to enjoy a unique experience like this when you know it's someone trying to scam you for money at the tail end.  But to acknowledge that and start haggling right away ruins the experience and makes it just another transaction.  So I resolved to push all of that out of my mind and have a fun time riding the elephants.

I've ridden a few elephants in my day but none of them barebacked.  All this guy had was a rope around his neck and a trainer behind me to keep me from falling off.  The elephants are used in royal processionals in Mysore and to make a little extra money the trainers dupe tourists into paying 500 rupees for a 5 minute ride.  I decided to not ruin the experience thinking about money and to hustle the guys on the tail end a little myself.  When the inevitable pleas for money for 10 elephants and 7 trainers came I tried to hand them 100 rupees.  Initially they balked at it, wanting at least 500 but I made to put the 100 away and said thanks.  They called me back and accepted it grudgingly but in my mind it was a fair price (a 30 minute elephant trek for 2 people in Kumily was 700).  Then another 50 for the cop who brought me to avoid any difficulties with the law.  I don't mind paying a little for a great life experience, it's just hard to not let it ruin the experience while it's going on.

My days in Mysore were otherwise spent walking around the streets (2nd cleanest city in India, oh yeah) and looking at a few more buildings.  In the tourist areas it was hard to go 50 meters without someone offering to sell you hash or take you on a store to see an essential oils shop.  All a little too sketchy for me, especially when they start talking about it openly in the streets at 10 in the morning.  I had to turn to one rickshaw driver who was following me and ask "Are you a cop?"  A lying bastard replies, "No no, it's legal here.  Take you to coffee shop like Amsterdam."  Seriously, I wasn't born yesterday and would prefer my narcotics dealers to at least be honest.  Is that too much to ask?

Throwing this photo in because it was a cool one I snapped on the walk.  I was really wondering why there were so many hawks in the city whereas other areas of India seem to be dominated by crows.  Turns out the hawks and crows have a trice near the meat market district and are both just waiting to snag a little taste.