Since the new highway opened up, Mysore is just a couple of hours’ non-stop drive away. (But the stops, with each town having a name assigned to it on the highway signs…“silk town Channapatna, historic town Srirangapatna, sugar town Mandya”, and so on…. are SO interesting!)

We drove into Mysore, but here's a view of the cabin of Mysore railway station, the main building of which is a heritage property...the cabin also looks beautiful... .....don't miss the trash, alas, alas!) As we drove back from the meet to check into a hotel, we went through some of the very pretty road junctions (called "circles"; they used to exist, once upon a time, in Bangalore, too!) Here's the hotel we finally stayed (I wished we had gone to the Hotel Metropole, also a heritage building, but...heritage buildings might mean crumbling walls and leaky pipes!) Why they think that spelling Kings' Court with two K's is a great idea, I don't know... Some of the old buildings are still well-maintained; here are the Mounted Police Headquarters. Look at the majestic trees! Karanji Lake itself is green and welcoming.... Looking very much like a scene out of "The Jungle Book", Rajendra Vilas Palace, which is shortly to re-open after renovation, smiles in the sunshine, behind the foliage of Karanji Tank: And from the roads of Chamundi Hills, the beauty of Lalitha Mahal Palace hotel (rather seedy nowadays, but still a jewel in its setting) shines forth: It's our practice, when we show something very beautiful, to "take away the evil eye" by giving the viewer something less delightful, such as a scarecrow, to see. But I must say, this scarecrow was himself looking quite beautiful, in a sunlit field! We drove back in alternating sunshine and rain, and I got the monsoon rains lashing the countryside far away; while a goods train chugged past:

A final shot of the beauty of Karanji Lake: