Mysore? My sore is my feet.

Well, the weekend was quite spectacular. We saw the Mysore Palace and went to a carnival on our first day. On the second day, we went to the zoo, wandered around a small neighborhood where we ended up in a temple and went to one of the largest outdoor markets in Asia, according to our guidebook. On the way home, we stopped at an ancient temple and drove on the bumpiest rode you can imagine. We ate spectacular food and slept at one of the most peaceful places I’ve had the honor of going to. Instead of one massive blog, which would be a short book, we’ll break the trip into smaller pieces. But to make you all happy, here are some pictures from the trip. If you want to see big copies of them, you can click on them. They may take awhile to load, as they are quite large.

This is Father Tony, who was our gracious host.

This is the parish house where we stayed.

A flower at the Catholic parish.

Mysore Palace. It's quite breathtaking.
We weren't allowed to take pictures inside.

A tree inside the smallest temple on the palace grounds.
I got in trouble for taking this picture.

Outside of the palace grounds.

The carnival that we stumbled upon. We didn't go on any of the rides.
This is where we found samosas!

A traditional Indian dance at the fairgrounds.
She's throwing a spear.

The palace and entrance lit up for Dasara festival, the only time of year it's lit up.
The palace is the light in the middle of the archway, in the distance.

The palace all lit up. It's quite amazing to see first hand.
There were so many people there!

A pair of pretty giraffes at the zoo.
The one in the front was very protective of the one in the back.

These bums were redder than I thought possible!

A lovely path through the zoo.

My new favorite sign.

A lovely zebra.

So we're at the zoo, wandering around, when we find this monkey. He was just
sitting there, enjoying himself. Imagine, a wild monkey hanging out at the zoo. I
wonder if he teases the other monkeys.

Kesava Temple in Somnathapura. It reminded me of the carvings in Egypt. To think,
while we were fumbling in the dark, men and women in the East were building
amazing temples such as this one.

A tree in the middle of the path leading up to the temple. You can see the entrance behind the palm tree on the right. This is a tree out of a fairy tale.

One of the gods inside of Kesava temple in Somnathapura. There were three separate chambers, each with a different god.

By a river on the long drive home.

Rice paddy. It's amazing how much work goes into producing rice for us to cook at home!

Some men working in the rice paddies.