Monday, 24 February 2014

Planetarium and Musical Fountain

Sam had made some plans for me to go and visit places outside of Bangalore, so sometime late in the morning he drove me to Bangalore East railway station so that I could get a reserve ticket to Mysore; seeing as it was going to be an overnight journey, I had to make sure to get a seat in what's called a sleeper carriage. And it was going to be for this evening too. Luckily they had spaces left, so I handed over my passport photocopy (mandatory for tourists), a form which Sam already filled out for me and money (100 and something rupees). Sorted.

He dropped me off so I could grab some lunch and said he would come and pick me back up in the afternoon so we can go to the planetarium. I've never been to one before and since i'm intetested in space, I was looking forward to going. Sam came and got me and drove us the short distance to where it's located; we had only just arrived in time for the next showing!

For those that don't know what a planetarium is, it's a circular theatre where a large dome projector sits in the centre of it, projecting stars, planets and other imagery on to the ceiling simulating the night sky, constellations and, in our case, the solar system; a narrator will educate you on astromony as it's being shown too. It was a very enjoyable and educational 45 minutes. 

After the show was over, we visited a science park just outside it and grabbed ourselves a drink. We then crossed over the road where there was another park and where the musical fountain is located. It doesn't start until around 7pm so we killed some time wondering around the park; it's military or was military owned so there's some tanks and other armoured vehicles used for death and destruction which, as an anti-military person, I didn't care about at all.

Eventually we sat down on large concrete steps just opposite the musical fountain. The place slowly got a bit busy and even stray dogs (they're not racist here) came and layed on the steps. By time it got dark out, it finally started. It was mesmerising to watch the water jets synchronise with the lighting and music - which was local music so I didn't understand most of the lyrics. Was catchy none the less though! A load of school children seemed to enjpy it too as they clapped and sang a long to the music. I think it lasted for about half an hour, give or take, before the show was finally over. After an enjoyable evening, it was time to brace myself for the long journey to Mysore, which I must admit I was not looking forward to.

Sam offered to look after my ukulele and my rucksack while i'm in Mysore, so we picked them up from my hotel. We made a stop at KFC so I could have dinner before we heading to the station. He waited with me for a while but as my train didn't come till late, he eventually headed home telling me he would come and pick me up the following day.

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