Blogs from Bangalore, Karnataka, India, Asia - page 5

Agara is in the south east side of Bangalore city. There is a rarely visited lake in Agara known as Agara lake. Agara area has been very well developed during recent years. There are quite a few temples in Agara, two of them are notable, one, the Jagannath Temple and the other Hanuman temple. Both of them are build during recent years. The temple is actually small but the statue is extremely large. The 102 feet Gigantic statue of Lord hanuman is standing on a lotus pedestal. The statue is on the road side and visible from quite a distance. Although the temple opens in the morning and evening, there is no timing for seeing the statue as it is always visible from any side. The statue is east facing, so if you go in the ... 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

Hi there, It doesn't seem like five minutes ago I was writing about Nepal and now it's time to give you the latest on our trip round India! Since Lewys' has already written his blog and told some of the funnier anecdotes I'll do my best to make this interesting... India, where do I start? Even as I'm writing I know how impossible it's going to be to describe our first two weeks in this amazing country. I had read about it, I had seen pictures and I'd spoken to people who have visited, but nothing can prepare you for actually being here. Delhi hits you like a ton of bricks. We thought Kathmandu was crazy but nothing compared to the mayhem that is Delhi. The city is just huge and and there are more people ... 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

Namaste! Ah, here I am again, nearly 2 years later – in an internet cafe, this time in South India rather than the Himalayas, but with that same awful feeling in my stomach, knowing I will shortly be boarding a plane that takes me away from a place I love and have come to regard as home (or wishfully regard as home). I'm not quite as inconsolable as I was last time (although talk to me later when I am actually ON that plane – I've already told Mom to have the tissues ready) but I am still feeling absolutely wretched and sad. I think the difference this time is that I have been able to come back – I know that it is possible, that India still exists for me and will be waiting whenever ... read more

Tuesday 29th November – Sunday 4th December We left Goa for Bangalore on an afternoon flight, however that morning I started to feel ill. I hoped it was just tiredness, however by the time we arrived at our hotel in the city center I was feeling very sick and weak and couldn’t even eat dinner. From the taxi I could see it was immediately clear that Bangalore was a much bigger and more commercial city than any other we had been in in India. There were streets lined with shops, bill boards and fast food restaurants! It was a comforting sight, but the India we’d come to know was still also very much present – manic roads, people and tuk-tuks everywhere and a massive amount of noise! After a very sleepless night it was very clear ... read more

Swami Govinda Theertha "uggghhhh. Uhhhhh. Ohhhh ho ho ho. Ha. Ha.... Ha. Ahhhhhgh." These were the cycle of expressions I received from Swami Govinda Theertha. In October, my family and I went to visit this guru. He was once an accomplished professor at a University, who has since secluded himself in the foothills of a small town half way between Bangalore and Puttaparthi. Puttaparthi is where his Satguru resided -- Sathya Sai Baba. At Govinda's make-shift temple, his veranda is adorned with pictures and offerings to Sai Baba. Though Govinda is a master with his own devotees, he honors his recently deceased guru. The darshan (service) begins when Govinda enters and walks down the center of the hall (very slowly and he looks at no one). He looks like he is in a trance, though a ... read more

“Would you come in and have a cup of coffee with my husband and me?” This question was spoken with a warm smile, a red tika marking her forehead, and the gentle left-to-right shaking of the head characteristic of people from the Indian subcontinent. As with many of our most vivid travel memories, this one came about as we positioned ourselves to observe a small event in the everyday life of local people. This particular morning, we had risen early to go watch milk being delivered to the residents of a neighborhood in Bangalore, India. By ‘delivered’, I actually mean that the owner of some milk cows (cows that roamed throughout the neighborhood during the rest of the day) separated one cow from a small herd, tied her to a sign on a sidewalk, extracted the ... read more