Mysore, Bandipur Trip

We did this 2 nights and ~3 days trip to Mysore and Bandipur by road from 22nd Oct '15 morning to 24th Oct '15 evening.

It was the last 3 days of Dussehra
time, we wanted to, for the first time ever, see the festive look of Mysore at Dussehra time, from an evening to next morning, though, we did not intend to stay there for the Jumbo Savari that was scheduled for the following afternoon. And then we wanted to do a one-night stay closer to the woods at Bandipur National Tiger Reserve area, where we did an open jeep wildlife safari, again for the first time ever.

We stayed at the Hotel Mayura Hoysala Mysore booked via Karnataka state tourism development corporation website www.KarnatakaHolidays.net, and at Windflower Tusker Trails at Bandipur, Mangala village.

Trip Summary

22/Oct/15 (Thu) 
     09:30 Started from Bangalore, entered NICE road via Gottigere to touch Mysore road.
     11:30 McDonald's after Channapatna before Maddur, drive-through to pick up something.
     12:00 Lunch stop at Adyar Ananda Bhavan A2B, Bestin's  Break, after Maddur (Opp. side).
     14:00 Reached Mayura Hoysala, Mysore.
     17:45 Drove through lit up city, Karanji lake (late, closed), Chamundi hills, Cauvery handicrafts.
     19:30 Palace lighting view (no entry due to Pooja Holiday) from gate.
     20:15 Dinner at Mayura Hoysala restaurant.

23/Oct/15 (Fri) 
     08:45 Breakfast at Mayura Hoysala restaurant.
     10:10 Departure from Mayura Hoysala, towards Bandipur.
     12:30 Reached Windflower Tusker Trails, Mangala village, Bandipur.
     13:45 Lunch at Windflower.
     15:30 Open jeep wildlife safari into Bandipur National Tiger Reserve, ~3 hours.
     18:30 Snacks and tea at Windflower.
     21:00 Dinner at Windflower.
     21:45 Night walk around Windflower.

24/Oct/15 (Sat) 
     07:45 Morning walk outside Windflower, Mangala village.
     09:15 Breakfast at Windflower.
     11:00 Check-out and departure from Windflower, towards Mysore/Bangalore.
     13:15 Lunch stop at Hotel Dasaprakash, Gandhi Square, Mysore, Akshaya restaurant.
     17:00 Reached Bangalore.

To see a Google route map view of the end to end trip, click here.

Trip Overview

Overall it was a good trip, though a short one that went off in a jiffy. Mayura Hoysala, a Karnataka government hotel stay was nice, with breakfast included in the package was very good. Going around Mysore, clad in a festive fervor, gave a great feel to the Pooja holiday vacation. Mysore Palace was nice fully lit, though could not go inside to see it closely.

At Bandipur, the stay at Windflower was different. With trees all around, the rustic plan and layout of the cottages, no cellphone signals, no TV, no newspaper, etc. and the tasty three meals and evening snacks in the package, it was overall a nice time. The near 3-hours open-jeep safari in the wild was good, though we could not spot any tiger or leopard.

Review: Highlights of Hotel Mayura Hoysala and Mysore trip
     * The room in the rear annex block where we stayed was good.
     * Nice view of a small house behind, with cattle, sheep, dogs, poultry, etc. and afar Chamundi hill.
     * We could see the city roads glitter in festive lighting all over, including the palace.
     * The buffet breakfast with south Indian menu spread was great.

Review: Lowlights of Hotel Mayura Hoysala and Mysore trip
     * The rooms in the front block were olden style that appeared crammed.
     * The a la carte menu north Indian food we had for dinner was too spicy and did not taste good.
     * We went near the gate of Karanji Lake at about 6 PM and it was too late, so closed.
     * Crowded Chamundi hills atop, so we could not get to a good view point to see the lit up city.
     * Cauvery Handicrafts was huge, still we could not find some economic crafts stuff to buy.

Review: Highlights of Windflower Tusker Trails and Bandipur trip
     * Overall the entire resort was very well maintained, excellent rooms, restaurant, swimming pool, etc.
     * The rustic design and layout of the cottage we stayed was the highlight overall.
     * No TV, no newspaper, no cellphone signal, etc. so it was very peaceful and calm.
     * At the reception, there was one specific lounge spot for some phone signal and wi-fi internet.
     * Three buffet meals and the evening snacks at the restaurant was great.
     * Open jeep safari, optional, extra cost, choose evening or morning, by a converted Tata 407 vehicle.
     * We saw peacock, langur, jungle fowl, bison, elephant, sambhar, deer, mongoose, wild boar, etc.
     * Major highlight of the safari was the elephant family we saw very close, including a tiny calf.
     * The night became very cold, it was pretty nice.
     * A morning walk outside the resort, on the village road towards deeper connects, was very good.

Review: Lowlights of Windflower Tusker Trails and Bandipur trip
     * The first about 10 KM road when we left Mysore was bad; but some work was ongoing to fix it.
     * The safari trip was expensive but still we could not spot something good like a tiger or leopard.
     * The last 2 KM road before Windflower was bad; but some work was ongoing to fix it.

Thanks for your time to read this travelogue. Do remember to leave your comments here.

Read on further... for some pictures and more details on trip tips, our verdict ratings, etc.

Mysore trip
A few pictures from Mayura Hoysala, Mysore city drive, palace lighting, and food at Mayura Hoysala.

Bandipur trip
A few pictures of the route between Mysore to Bandipur, and then at Windflower Tusker Trails, the cottage, almost infinity-like pool in a mini forest setting, the wildlife safari, the board at their reception tick-marked after our trip with the birds and animals we spotted during our safari ride, and food at Windflower restaurant.

Trip Tips

• Cost: A trip like this described here, would cost about Rs 26k for three, including the Rs 1.45k per person safari cost, plus fuel expenses extra for the vehicle.
• Mode of travel: Self driven vehicle helps to be on your own timings to suit convenience. Also it helps to stop for looking around the local farming, villages, etc. whenever needed; though in this trip we did not do that much, to save time. Once we stopped to buy (dark green outer pink inner) water melon at Rs 10 a piece; another time I stopped to click a Crane / Heron sitting very high on a coconut trip!
• Season: It may be better during Nov / Dec. When we went it was quite warm to hot weather during the days through Mysore and Bandipur. But, the night weather at Bandipur was fantastic, cold.
• Days: On Thursday afternoon to Friday morning at Mysore, around the Pooja holidays time, was nice to drive around. We were expecting it to be choking crowded on the roads, but it was not so, and we quite liked it. At Windflower Bandipur from Friday afternoon to Saturday morning was a full house, but it was also good. Week-ends and vacation times can be highly crowded. The government safari at the evening and morning times would be very crowded on holidays and weekends. So you might enjoy better peace if you go during week days. 
• Places to see: The sight-seeing spots in Mysore are all popular and special. At Bandipur, there is only safari to do. The village walk around the resort was nice. Also you can drive a few KM towards Mysore direction to visit Mudumalai for some scenic look around and come back. 

Verdict

Here are our ratings on a scale of 5, 1 being low and 5 being high.

• Drive from Bangalore to Mysore -- 3/5
• Drive around in Mysore -- 4/5
• Hotel Mayura Hoysala Mysore overall -- 3.5/5
• Evening made to order snacks at Mayura Hoysala -- 3/5 
• A la carte north Indian dinner at Mayura Hoysala -- 2.5/5
• Buffet south Indian Breakfast at Mayura Hoysala -- 4.5/5
• Drive from Mysore to Bandipur -- 3/5 
• Windflower Tusker Trails overall -- 4.5/5 
• All three buffet meals and evening snacks at Windflower -- 4.5/5
• Open jeep Tiger Reserve safari at additional cost by Windflower -- 3.75/5

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