This blogpost is written by one of our German volunteers
On the morning of the 3rd day, the 2nd person felt sick and wanted to stay in the hostel. So it was just me and the two volunteers from Bangalore. We went to see a big market in Mysore. It felt like being in a labyrinth covered with tarpaulins. The tarpaulins were connecting the different stands. So many colors, smells and sounds. Food. Spices. Clothes. Accessories.
Afterwards, we decided to visit the Mysore Palace, the biggest tourist attraction in Mysore. One of the girls who spent the morning in the hostel joined us.
I wish I could say that it was a fascinating and magical experience visiting the majestic palace. It wasn´t magical but it was fascinating and intense for sure. The number of visitors in the palace was enormous. It felt like being dragged through the whole palace by the huge crowd of people. There was no time to process what you were seeing.
In the evening we went to the palace again to visit the light show. It was very breathtaking even though we weren´t able to hear a single word about the history of Mysore because the speakers were too far away from us. A whispering went through the audience when the whole palace was illuminated from one moment to another.
After coming back to the hostel, we went to bed immediately. If only I knew that I would spend the whole night in the bathroom because my body started to get symptoms of food poisoning. We figured that we got food poisoning from the breakfast in Bangalore because it was the only time we Hope House – volunteers ate something different than the DSF – volunteers and they didn’t have any symptoms of food poisoning.
On October 30th we got to Ooty by bus. This was the last place
of our journey. Ooty is a popular hill station located in the Nilgiri Hills. The scenery is beautiful due to its position between the hills covered in tea plantations and forests. During our stay until November 1st, we visited the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. We saw many wild animals like elephants, monkeys, peacocks and deer.
Furthermore, we went to see the highest tea factory in South India and were extremely pleased to drink the tasty tea made there while having a great view of Ooty. Besides, compared to Vellore it was very cold in Ooty (not more than 17 degrees) and it was nice to warm up with the hot tea!
November 1st we said goodbye to the two volunteers from Bangalore and made our return journey home.
All in all, it was a very exciting trip and we have some stories to tell our families and friends in Germany, for sure!