January 26, 2010
It is finally time to leave Mysore, finally time to get the trip back in gear. I have my Mizzou Credit Union ATM card. (It only took 7 weeks and delivery attempts at four different locations). My AXIS bank card has money behind it. (The electronic transfer took three weeks and completed just two days before the MCU card arrived). I even have a new laptop.
The last is the only substantial result from six days in Bangalore. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
At last report, I expected my ATM card to arrive in Hampi, shortly. Well, something did eventually arrive but it wasn't the card. It was an expected bit of notification flotsam that the bank had sent ahead. The card was still in Pune. I had a choice. I could wait and wait in Hampi for the card to arrive. (There is no fast way to send anything to Hampi). I chose plan B.
I booked an overnight train for Goa. My new Indian bank account ATM card was ready. By going back to Goa, I would insure that I would have a new ATM card without delay or dependence on the Indian postal service. All that I needed to do was transfer money from my US account but, being electronic, that should be fast and relatively straight forward. As bonus, I could get my MCU card couriered to Goa. I was assured that it would arrive on Friday or, worst case, Saturday. As I changed trains in Hubli, I took advantage of the predictable time table and booked passage to Bangalore for Saturday night. I would only being staying one night in Calangute. That was enough.
Except that it wasn't. No card on Friday. No card on Saturday. Even if abandoner my rail ticket, I had no place to stay. Inexpensive accommodation is not available last minute in Goa. I was committed to Bangalore.
Bangalore isn't terrible exciting but it is affordable, useful, and does have some charms. I spent the first couple of days shopping for a new netbook. Bangalore has a thriving electronics ghetto. SP Road is sort of ‘silicon valley meets shanty town’. Countless tiny shops in a cramped and dirty (by Western standards anyway) neighborhood. In what might have been a classic photo had I been quicker, I saw an ox cart pass by loaded with electronic gear. The Eeepc 1005HA I ended up with is pretty much what I was looking at before I left home but, when credit card fees are taken into account, not quite as cheap.
Ideally, I would have avoided the 6% usury paid to Citibank but, by this point, cash was running thin and there is no way I had enough on hand to pay for a new computer. Truthfully, I was approaching the point where I wouldn't have enough for rent and food. It was time to do something ugly.
For the first time in more than twenty years, I needed a cash advance from my credit card. Now, because a credit card's PIN isn't good for much else, I had not committed it to memory. That made things worse. It seems that traditional signature based cash advances are just not done anymore. Even Citibank, who had a branch in the area, was useless. Only Standard Chartered was willing and their machine wasn't working. That left Thomas Cook. They let Citibank do all the work (for which they charge 6%) and then add 3% for themselves just because they can.
Needless to say, I only extracted what I needed, adjusted to deal with minimum charges.
Mysore hotels were full on Saturday so I spent an additional day amongst India's most aggressive and probably least deserving beggars. On Sunday, I moved on.
Mysore is another Maharajah capital city. Unlike Jaipur or Udaipur, however, the palace is an early 20th century construction. It is large. It is flamboyant. But it has no sense of history. Nothing important happened here except that a vassal of the British Empire wasted a lot of money that rightfully belonged to his subjects.
Mysore is mostly useful as a spring board for Nagarhole. This is a wildlife park that I have heard very good things about and is the place to see India's unique form of wild dog. Unfortunately, staying in the park is expensive and I was reluctant to pay Thomas Cook and Citibank any more ransom.
This turned out not to matter. The entire time I was fussing over money, the forest service had the park closed to tourist activity while they did a tiger census. On Saturday, the transfer to my Indian bank account completed. Yesterday, I finally received my Mizzou Credit Union ATM card. But there are no safaris in Nagarhole until at least Thursday. I'm not staying. I am leaving on a bus to Kerala tonight. With luck and a change in Ernakulam, I hope to be next to Periyar National Park this time tomorrow.
My Mysore experience wasn't just tacky palaces and yellow cows, however. I spent the middle of Monday at Keshava Temple, a convoluted bus trip from Mysore. This 13th century temple is covered in detailed carvings and has the only depiction of facial hair that I've seen in any Hindu art work.