Advertisement
Published: March 28th 2007
India is crazy!!! It smells, looks, sounds, feels and tastes like another world.
I spent most of yesterday travelling, and finally saw real India at 8pm after leaving Bangalore airport from my delayed flight from Mumbai. It was dark and extremely busy. Buses, taxis, bikes, motorbikes, cars, vans and autorickshaws everywhere! Madness! My taxi took me straight to my hotel and I checked into a nice A/C room. Soon after, a Slovak friend, Lucia (who is doing an internship here), and her Dutch/Indian-born boyfriend Priyam met me at my hotel, and we went for dinner at a South Indian veg restaurant across the street. I had a Kerala veg stew and it was more coconut-based and wetter than I had imagined, not like a UK Indian curry. I had it with appam (like a panckae) and ate it with my right hand (as they do here). Then we went to an expat bar further down Church Street. It was a Bangalore Hip-hop/r'n'b night. Good fun drinking Kingfisher beer and chillin with friends on my first night here.
On the downside, my flight from Manchester to London was delayed, so we were all put on an earlier connection, but unfortunately our bags weren't. So 70 of us had to claim missing baggage on arrival in Banglore. They say it could take 48 hours for my bag to be forwarded to my hotel, so I am still without it. Luckily I had enough in my hand luggage to survive for now.
Labour must be cheap here, as there are people doing anything and everything. For example, in a supermarket there are lots of tills, 2 people helping with bags on each till, people giving out baskets, collecting baskets, looking after bags etc. If you make a phone call, people help you with change. And there are security men watching everything. Though oddly than doesn't make it feel any safer. And people are continuously sweeping the streets and yet it never seems to look any cleaner. Or smell any better.
I had dosa with a chutney and pickle this morning. A nice spicy breakfast. Then I had a wander around town, got an Indian simcard, had some lunch and later will go for dinner and then on to Blue Bar at the Taj Westend Hotel with Lucia and Priyam.
No photos yet until I get my baggage. But there was one taken last night in the bar!
Oh, and for all those of you asking, yes, I'll travelling alone for the next few months :-)
More soon...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.059s; Tpl: 0.021s; cc: 9; qc: 26; dbt: 0.0297s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
Paul D
non-member comment
The real India
"Saw the real India at 8PM." "Got in my pre-paid taxiand checked in to nice A/C room". Oh the irony.