Ban Trav

There were many things said about 'Pondy' before I arrived in this unknown territory, like much of India to me. I tried not to let these preconceptions effect my own perspective. The one thing that was relayed and stuck in my mind is that it is a former French colony, so I was expecting, to some extent, for this to be reflected in the architecture. As for anything else I wasn't sure of, and my only view of France is from the misguided television or pictorial Wikipedia. It was true. The buildings have obvious influence from the French. They were mostly white and clean, as were the streets. Bearing in mind this is in the tourist side of the canal. A French Canadian guy we met there called Guillame (William) told us the story of the ... read more

With India's major cities, I think it's a pretty universal opinion that the traffic, pollution, noise and smell blight your unexpecting senses with a considerable thump. Eventually it all becomes as unnoticable as a Coca Cola advert in that you get used to it's subliminal message, mostly because you are forced into its ways. Bangalore itself is a mixture of affluence from it's IT boom to a more lower class way of life, the latter being evident where I stay in Indira Nagar. This is probably the case for all major cities, but this one doesn't seem to have as much poverty as Mumbai or Delhi. Not in your face anyway. It's a rather liberal city, and in many respects westernised in it's youth culture. It was shocking to watch the local news yesterday to find ... read more

I have yet to embark on this, my self proclaimed, life changing trip. It will be a first in that; I am travelling intimidatingly alone, I am travelling for a longer period than two weeks and that on my travels I aim to achieve more than just a tan top up. Bangalore holds many possiblities for me. My intended length of stay is eight weeks in which I will be volunteering through an organisation to work for an Indian music magazine called Rave. It's office is based in Bangalore and this is the sole reason for my spontaneous choice of destination, without any background research or thought - which isn't like me at all. Working for such a magazine completely ties in with me furthering my career in the media when back home in the UK. ... read more