follow for …. Our latest tour with a lovely family from Canada.
Mycycle Tours begin again
Occasional update March 2021
Travel again?
A recent article about ‘global travel trends’ …. emphasised that people were looking forward to travel again….. we can understand why.
Guess where was top of the list? Yes, India.
They emphasised different ways to travel, all of which we have experience of here. For example:
Travelling sustainably, of course, more people are conscious of how they travel and getting to know a place better, going for depth and less of breadth. In a previous life I advised business on sustainability.
More people are looking to work while travelling, say hello to the digital nomad, Tom and Amy are our very own examples of young people with a new approach and zest for life. We’ve lost count of the times they’ve been to stay.
Want to work and travel? check out India, come and stay.
Safety in terms of one’s health and not being in risky personal situations, when we do reopen we’ll be up to the minute, in terms of best practice. In addition, we have experience of many single women travellers calling in here, some starting their travels in Mysore so we can help you find your feet, put you in touch with others and give helpful advice.
Travel is always an adventure and we often have people, including the Sari Sisters from Vancouver Island, Stephen Fleming the intrepid bee hunter cyclist from England venturing out on their own cycle tours, for example from here into the Nilgiris, Kodagu, or to Cochin or Goa. We’ve put cyclists in touch with other’s who have cycled the same routes to get insightful advice and great suggestions.
So when making plans do search around this site where you’ll find all sorts of advice for travel in India, in the South and especially in and around Mysore.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for, just ask, we might know or our community of friends: previous guests and local contacts will know.
Things to do Locally
We do also of course have our ‘world famous’ MYCycle tours
I was out cycling with our neighbour Verendra and just today we Invited in and given a guided tour of the Pinjrapole society where cows are given a home, yes, imagine an old cows home, with 4000 residents. check it out.
We look forward to meeting you again or for the first time!
Stephen and Lucie, Manjula still with us.
Tours@mycycle.co
our friends
You know what they say?
It’s the people that makes a place, as reflected in many of the guest comments in our books and online reviews.
I don’t think it’s possible to over emphasise. In my view, people connecting well, becoming friends, enjoying life, is what it’s all about.
Yes we’ve set it up and it is our home and you’ll feel us, throughout the place and while she’s not with us anymore and by now has hopefully found another place or is waiting for me, Manjula’s presence, her essence is most definitely here and with me and always will be.
It’s a happy, open, welcoming home.
It’s the many varied, rich mix of guests (see photos below) that add the icing on the cake. That make it all worthwhile. Even over her last few months when she became more ill she wouldn’t close the place, meeting and interacting with guests until the very last, was what she wanted. Manjula recognised that you had become our family and the incredible support both she and I have received when she was ill and for me over the more recent difficult times have been incredible.
I want to introduce you to a few of the members of this constantly evolving extended family.
The lovely couple, Amy and Tom…
…first came to visit us maybe five or more years ago. After that first holiday trip they got married, resigned from their jobs and became nomads, travelling and working around the world. We sort of adopted them (and they us) and see them regularly here or elsewhere. Amy was our celebrant at our wedding, Check here and here and here Tom took the photographs! They knew of Manjula’s illness and so were with us on two occasions early this year and once they’d learned that she’d moved on to another life (our previous postings and Manjula’s story can be found here) they came again, especially flew in to support me for two weeks. I hadn’t realised how much I needed it but I really did.
Ina, moved to Australia from Scotland as a young child, so I wonder how does she still have such a strong Scottish accent after a few years!? Ina visits every year and became a great friend to Manjula. Her first visit was to meet up with a Tibetan monk, living a couple of hours away in Bylakuppe. It was the first time she’d met after over ten years of providing financial support.
Meet more of our team and guests, our family here and recent guests Jean-Yves and Nathalie and their great blog entries of their visit.
Manjula and I have visited previous guests in the UK, I’ve visited guests in Canada and the US, two guests have sent paintings of Manjula and Lucie, we’ve celebrated birthdays and Christmas, I’ve met guests at the music festival featured in a fictional story on our site here, a guest has planted trees in New Zealand in memory of Manjula, I can go on and on (as you will realise)….
We are so lucky.
As a guest of Mysore Bed and Breakfast you’re not expected to do all these things,(although you’re welcome to) just come stay and have a great visit.
We look forward to welcoming you,
Peas and love
Stephen
check the photos, there are many more in our flickr albums here
Get under the skin…
Manjula’s Mysore is here to help you get the best out of your visit to this wonderful city.
We’ll get you to the bits of Mysore you might not otherwise see and provide fascinating insights into life in India.
We offer you our home. A clean, friendly and comfortable place that’s lively energetic and when you need it a quiet relaxing respite from the constancy of India.
To make your visit extra special, we also offer our MYCycle tours, only the second guided cycle tours of its type set up in the whole of India. Combine them with our useful information, advice and hassle fee transport.
This photo from August 2019 shows the high level of the Kaveri River at our favourite place Srirangaptnam just outside Mysore
STOP PRESS
The super city of Mysore and its many fantastic attributes are featured in the Guardian.
Yes, and we do get a couple of mentions, too…
Please check their article here….. for much more info on Mysore
Can you Ride Tandem?
you can in Mysore…….
Tandem Tours to be launched by MYCycle.
Yes, we’ve bought a Tandem and will launch our tours in the new year.
contact Stephen (in advance) for more details: tours@mycycle.co
Minor’s Mysore
things to do for children and the ‘young at heart’
this is just a quick list as its occurred to me, I’ll add links and images, in due course,
Parrot rescue centre and Bonsai gardens. Ask for details
Karanji Lake: birds, butterflies, walk, play area, boats (not up to standard), 20 mins walk from the MysoreBnB
Sand Museum, sculptures of sand, located on the road to Chamundi Hill, where there’s a few other attractions for the tourists. 15-20 minutes walk
Lalith Mahal Hotel: check out the entrance hall, the restaurant decor (what style?) is also amazing, after 7.00 there’s a Raj bar and restaurant. It’s 20- 30 minutes walk from MysoreBnB. The swimming pool might not be accessible as it’s been renovated for ever. It’s possible to visit the bar and get street food on the way home.
Zoo, its a zoo after all but reputedly one of the best in India. Ten minutes away in Auto Rickshaw
Ransoms (its a shop opposite the zoo) where they often have exhibitions in the basement of dolls and board games (of course they are also for sale)
Parks, immediately outside the Mysore BnB is the first of a series of twelve small parks, each with a slightly different focus, that offer places to sit and relax, play on climbing frames, even roller blading ….. is that what it’s called?
Natural History Museum, need to go check that one out myself as when I first went years ago I was not impressed.
Wax Museum: bit basic but some have liked it. There’s even a blog entry from previous guests ten minutes walk
Festivals, depends, on the time of year but there’s Dasara around october time, Ganesh september/october, Diwali (mainly in people’s homes) and many many more throughout the year.
and of course… shopping!
and of course tara tara. our Mycycle tours of Srirangaptnam are all geared up for children with small cycles, tag-a-long and child seat for ‘toddlers.’
SF/17Sept2017
guest photos now online
well what a wonderful time we’ve had….. same but different…. Now most of those who visit are returners, or those who hear about us via word-of-mouth, you are all our friends.
So its been the usual mix of fab guests from all around the world, with a significant increase in travellers from Canada. We’re now getting to the end of our busiest period and we’re feeling the heat a teeny bit. The photos taken of our guests on cycle (or other tours) and at our lovely home can now be found on flickr here.
Please just search for the album that corresponds to the date you were here (sometimes albums might overlap!) and feel free to download any photos you like. Any problems, can’t find or download please contact Stephen at tours@mycycle.co
Flowers and Gardens
Mysore is known, in Indian terms, as a tier two city, with around a million residents It feels, however, more like a town than a busy metropolis. One of the reasons it has this human-scale is its gardens, tree lined avenues and lakes. Where we’re based in Siddartha Nagar (or layout), a residential area just ten minutes in auto rickshaw from the Palace, at the centre of the city, we’re fortunate to have a series of gardens with one just opposite our house.
We’ve also put some effort in to creating our own garden on the roof and ensured you’re welcomed by greenery at the front gate.
Our potted plant roof garden, at its best over the winter, is a great asset for the guests. For a drink in the evening, place to meet our other guests, watching the fruit bats fly over in the evening, and generally chilling out, its one of our communal sit-out areas
part of our team is our gardener: Narainappa here assisted by his nephew Venkatesh
Mysore is also easily accessible to gorgeous rural areas with fields and rivers close by and national parks a little further away. Our most popular cycle tour is on Srirangaptnam where you can get a good feel for rural life.
STOP PRESS Just last night, at midnight, we were so pleased to have caught our … appears-only-once-and-at-night flower
its a Brahmakamal and coincidentally is used as part of my logo for the UK business: flourish training and consultancy
http://www.indianbotanists.com/2013/04/epiphyllum-oxypetallum-brahmakamal.html
Manjula's Mysore 