Saturday, rainy Saturday

Saturday is the traditional weekly day off for Ashtangi's. So, what to do with the day. I decided to use the morning to climb Chamundi Hill. Just outside of Mysore, the 1062 meter summit provides a great view of Mysore and the surrounding area...usually. It turns out I chose a cool, overcast, misty day to visit this landmark. On good thing about this is that very few other people wanted to deal with the elements, so, my housemate Jeff from Atlanta and friend Rick from Australia had the Hill nearly to ourselves (we went a bit early which also helps).

This climb will quickly make you realize what kind of cardiovascular shape you are in. My legs were fine...but the breath and heart were working a bit (ok, working hard), and as I looked down, I saw step number 300 of 1100. Can't imagine doing this on a 95 degree day with humidity! About two thirds of the way up is Nandi (Shiva's Bull), a 5 meter high monument carved out of solid rock in 1659. It is the largest in India, and is visited by thousands every year...quite impressive indeed. It's also at about this point that you start to see the monkeys. They are everywhere, and are quite curious and brave. Again, it was early so I'm told they weren't quite as active as they are later in the day. Beyond this point is the final third of the climb...not so bad because you've had a short rest while checking out Nandi and the monkeys (good name for a band). There are more trees in this area, and at one point I saw a leaf hanging down from a spider web in front of me. Curiously, I followed the web upward, and suddenly my eyes were looking at dozens, maybe hundreds, of the largest spiders I've ever seen in my life! Now, spiders don't really bother my much, but some of these things were as large as my hand...bodies the size of my middle finger...and they were everywhere above us. Don't know anything about these spiders...probably just as well. Kept my head down the rest of the way to the summit. At the top is the Chamundeswari Temple with it's 40 meter high gopuram (a pyramidal shaped tower with intricate carvings). The climb took about 35 minutes, and after a visit to the temple, and a refreshing coconut, we started back down. The descent was easier, but the wet stairs could be a bit dangerous if not negotiated carefully. At the bottom, we stopped to stretch our muscles a bit to minimize soreness, jumped on our scooters and headed toward home. On the way, we noticed a HUGE produce market below...looked to be a main spot for the locals to do their shopping for the day. Looked like thousands of people. As it started to rain a little harder, we decided that getting home was a good idea...off we went.

Thanks to Lonely Planet's guide to South India for helping me describe Chamundi Hill.

The forecast for the rest of the day isn't much better, so it will spent mostly at home. Ok by me.