Blogs from Banashankari, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, Asia

When in India it wont take long to realize that power outages occur frequently regardless of the standard of City living or small life towns. Throughout my stay in India I've learned to deal with the power outages in various places. In my first apartment in Delhi I learned very quickly to take the stairs the three stories rather than the convenience of the elevator. In Himachal Pradesh I spent a chilly night without a heater or candle in my flat and instead relied on my fading laptop battery to keep the cold and darkness out of my mind as I sat alone in my room. And in Bangalore the daily power outages were so common to me that my ability to shower in complete black became an odd skill set of mine. Electricity is something ... read more

I touched down in Bangalore just before midnight on Monday, and was greeted at arrivals by Veena and her friend, Indu. We took the hour's drive back to V's place and after a short catch-up on the balcony, my tiredness got the better of me and I turned in. For some reason, I'd stayed wide awake for the full four and a half hour flight, which is very unlike me. I usually can't sit still for five minutes without drifting off. I somehow managed to zonk out whilst riding in a Cambodian tuk-tuk for goodness' sake! And those of you that have ridden in Cambodian tuk-tuks will understand how difficult a task that should be. The next day, we just chilled before heading out late afternoon. We went to Frazer Town and had a coffee at ... read more

How to go there: You can follow any route to catch Bangalore Kanakapura main road – which is the National Highway 209. Go straight on the highway towards Kanakapura. After a few Kms you will cross NICE ring road. Go further on the highway. You will find “Art of Living” head quarter after 15 kms. Go further about 3 Kms, you will find a place called Kagalpura. Take a left turn from Kagalpura. After taking the turn, go straight for about 1.5 kms till you find a hospital (?) / rehabilitation center where you have to take a left turn again. Better ask the locals otherwise you are very likely to miss this road as there is no proper landmark to explain. However, if you miss this road and go straight you will still reach the ... read more

Bonjour and welcome to the second instalment of my Asia travel blog... We arrived in Delhi on the 25th of Feb after a pretty scenic flight from Kathmandu. Although a seasoned traveller of the subcontinent (I visited for a few weeks with Dad, Kylie and Andrew when I was 5 years old), this was to be nearly 3 weeks that I won't forget in a hurry. Delhi is without a doubt the busiest, noisiest, dirtiest and most abrasive place I have ever been. Once the jewel in the crown of the opulent Mughal Empire, it's now almost impossible to picture the splendour and wealth that once existed here. We spent a couple of days looking around, visiting the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid before catching the train to Agra. This wasn't quite as straightforward as ... read more

Die Nacht war viel zu kurz, nach 3h Schlaf wurde ich von merkwürdig vertrauten Geräuschen geweckt. Wimbledon? Nein, Badminton-Courts im Innenhof, um halb 7 trafen sich die ersten Spieler und untermalten ihre sportlichen Ambitionen lautstark. Zum Frühstück Fladenbrot und Gemuese. Das Klima ist angnehm: Warm aber nicht heiß, mäßiger bis frischer Wind, nur einmal ein kurzer Regenschauer. Zuerst lernten wir den YMCA Bangalore kennen. Das erste Projekt beschäftigt sich mit Kindern aus problematischen Verhältnissen. Sie leben im Haus des YMCA, je nach Alter lehrt man sie Lesen und Schreiben oder handwerkliche Tätigkeiten: Holz- und Metallarbeiten die Jungen, Nähen die Mädchen. Mit diesen Grundfähigkeiten haben sie Chancen, in Industrie oder Kleinbetrieben Jobs zu finden. Danach Straßenkinder-Projekt. Man holt sie von der Straße und beschäftigt sie, damit sie nicht kriminell oder drog... read more