Ooty: Fern Hills Palace

"Deep within the blue forested hills of Nilgiris in Ooty, sits an english country manor, bought in 1873 by the young prince..."

And you will really feel that richness of the old dynasty, once you enter the place. Everything has a royal touch. Even the chairs in the garden, they look so royal :)

We decided to go for this destination because, we knew this place through some movies and really got fascinated by its beauty and architecture. The place came up in the research while we planned for the trip to Ooty and we really wanted to visit this place. 

To the garden for a walk, after finishing up with the lunch. Must say that the Biriyani was ROYAL.

I was disappointed when the management blocked us from clicking the pics around. Fortunately, as I explained them about my intention for the pics, they finally allowed to click the photos. Now I feel proud being a blogger...

A very special thanks to the property manager for the understanding and approval.

Each and every moment we spent there, we were in an entirely different world...

The backside garden view of the palace

An old building spotted in the palace premises, when we went for a walk.

A broader view of the palace from the garden.

Felt like in an another world.

Luxury at its best...

The front view of the palace resort

Extension of the palace resort restaurant where we decided to have the lunch. Why we chose? - The ambiance and privacy along with the stunning view to the garden.

Looked like the palace was opened for us alone. 

The wall of richness. And a pub which serves the royal drinks.

I couldn't find a piece of space without a royal touch. Completely covered and maintained.

Attached pub room for private discussions.

The walk way with the history depicted all over the place. Walking through the ways which the royals walked once :)

This will be a familiar location for the Keralites for sure

Naalukeetu type construction with a small garden in the midst.

Tiny cute garden

Tweeting the travel dots from the palace

Another view of the palace restaurant extension room.

Mysore Palace & Dasara Memories 2013

The heritage city of Mysore is at its vibrant best during the 10-day Dasera festival, which continues a tradition started by the Vijayanagar kings in the 15th century. The festival starts with a procession of decorated elephants led by the Maharaja of Mysore – a grand spectacle. Every evening, the Maharaja’s Palace is dramatically lit up, while the town is transformed into a gigantic fairground, with concerts, dance performances, sporting demonstrations and cultural events. On the last day, Vijayadashami, the celebrations are capped off with a dazzling torchlight procession.
- Lonely Planet 

I wanted this travel for many reasons. And this time I didn't want to miss the festive moments at Mysore. Called up Nadheem and we decided to make the move. Ani didn't join this and she wasn't comfortable with the crowd during Dasera. 

We started from Bangalore by 5 in the morning. Took the route through the KR Market and headed on to the Mysore Road. After an hour and a half, we had a halt at one of the high way hotels on the way. That nice coffee and Iddaly made our day. So tasty it was. Yummy.

I was watching the traffic from the restaurant. Almost all the vehicles were commuting at a speed of 100 kmph. I felt like they are after some treasure hidden in Mysore. After 30 minutes, we got back to our road to Mysore.

Reached Mysore at 9:30 am. But the palace will open only at 10:30. We thought of spending time around, by having one more breakfast. We parked the car at that hotel and went for a walk. Took some pics walking around, took a horse cart ride, small shopping and then headed towards the hotel where we parked the car.

Got inside the palace by 10:50 in the morning (INR 40/head. No camera charges as they will not allow the camera inside the palace. You can click around the premises).

The Palace got the same old glorious look and feel. It shined like never before as a part of the Dasera preparations. Around a couple of crores are spend towards the maintenance of the palace every year. And it shows. 

Cultural shows, fun loving crowds, curios kids, royal processions and 1 lakh bulbs illuminated palace - everything together made our day...

The very first breakfast. Can you see that single spoon of butter on the iddly? He does a magic in the mouth...

Runaway Vacation - The Mysore Retreat

That was one wonderful trip all together. The best part was the UNO game sitting in front of the great Mysore Palace :) The stay at the hotel was wonderful. Clean and nice service.

First we visited the Mysore Zoo. Chettan being an Animal Planet fan, he enjoyed the visit. The next venue was the Mysore Palace. We dropped the plan to get inside the palace due to heavy rush of people. The whole Bangalore was in Mysore I believe. We were at the palace grounds till the palace was completely lit with light decoration. Tired of walking around for the whole day we went back to the hotel. Spend the whole time with Isaac: playing with him and loving him.

The next day straight to the Brindhavan Gardens. That was a nice place to visit. That was one good silent place. We spent some time there. By around 3 PM we started back to Bangalore.

Just getting ready for a game

Behind me: The Palace Gate

                                            Behind the cards: The Mysore Palace

Again at Mysore Palace

Last time (around couple of months back) we went to the palace, we could not go inside as the area was tightly packed for Dassera. That is the reason why this time we planned to spend an hour at Mysore palace, which is on the way back to Bangalore.

Not much people were there and we could get in easily. Chettan was the only person in the group who have not seen the palace before. I wanted him to enjoy the architectural beauty at least this time and it worked out. He loved the place and was amazed by its beauty.

Clicked few pics on mobile. The flowers in the garden were so beautiful that I could not ignore.