Small beer in Bangalore

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The journey to Bangalore, in A/C chair class, was dull, and arriving an hour late did nothing to enliven it. I was expecting that the Silicon Valley of India might have had more of a futuristic look to it, but it very much resembled the other Indian cities I've been to.

The RG had said that good accommodation quickly got booked up here, but I'd been unable to get through to any hotels yesterday so I thought I'd rest my hopes on the Karnataka Tourist Information Centre in the station. Unfortunately they were less than helpful (a common feature of Tourist Info places here in my experience) and wouldn't even help me find some phone numbers. I then walked over to the auto stand to find a driver to take me to the MG Road area, around which I knew a bunch of hotels were clustered. I suspect that most of these drivers are heavily reliant on commission from hotels, as when they heard that I already had certain hotels in mind, they first made up various bits of garbage like it wasn't a good hotel, or you couldn't get there by rickshaw, etc, then they went into an extended discussion in Hindi that I eventually just walked away from. No-one stopped me, i.e. they were more concerned that they wouldn't get any hotel commission than that they'd earn money for the rickshaw ride.

It was pleasantly cool by comparison with Chennai, but the sun was still out and I was feeling quite weak from hardly eating anything recently, so I didn't fancy an extended hotel-hunting session. The hotels near the station were not supposed to be that great, but I had a look at a couple and eventually checked in to the Royal Lodge, whose only drawback seems to be that the hot water from the tap only runs until 9AM. I gratefully flopped on my bed and had a siesta.

Come the evening, I was seized with the spirit of adventure and commandeered an auto for a trip to MG Road - the hub of Bangalore's nightlife. The auto even used a meter, so no haggling was required.

MG Road and thereabouts seems to have virtually a monopoly on India's supply of neon lights, and it was surprising to see so many restaurants, bars, and shops in one area. There were also a lot of people out on the town - couples, groups, people relaxing after work - plus a fair few tourists. I was so hungry that I overrode my good sense (which was saying bananas, curd, and rice) and went to a Japanese place. It was authentic too, with me being the only non-Japanese customer, and all the Indian staff speaking Japanese. Tonkatsu and rice probably wouldn't figure in any doctor's orders for treating an upset stomach, but it did taste good (though the special tonkatsu sauce tasted like they'd mixed some HP and tomato ketchup together).

For a city with supposedly 700 Internet cafes, I only saw 1 the entire day - and that was closed. This is a poorer return than anywhere else I've been, so I can only assume they're concentrated in a quarter of the city that I haven't seen.

Good sense again went by the wayside when I decided to have a quick beer in one of the bars. I chose Peko's, a dual level place playing 60s and 70s music, which I think had been recommended by a colleague in New York. It was rather loud and smoky for my liking, and even my minuscule beer was giving my stomach some concern, so I drank up as quickly as I could and left.

Getting home required another tedious rickshaw-wallah encounter. Because it was the twilight zone, all meters ceased to function and so I had to agree a fare up front as per everywhere else I've been. Despite at the outset of the journey giving the driver directions including the name of the hotel, the name of the street that it's on, and the fact that it's near the station, half way there he pulled over, then told me that he had thought I meant a different hotel and that the fare would actually be twice his initial quote. Unfortunately I was not feeling particularly unflappable at that moment in time, and I proceeded to point out in words that some might consider profane that he was either going to drop me off at my hotel for the fare we'd originally agreed, or he was going to drop me off where we were for free.

So I finally got back to the hotel but it does seem like the rickshaw guys here are really hard work, even by the dodgy standards I'm already used to.

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Photos

Peko's
My first genuine pub in India