Banglore & Chennai

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I'll keep this short as we haven't actually done anything in these two cities...

As I mentioned at the end of my last blog, we were heading for Bangalore which is a pretty developed city.

We'd read in the guide book that night life was an actual thing there! Which makes a change considering in most cities everything is closed for around 11PM. Apparently micro breweries have become quite popular there too, I say apparently because we didn't see one, despite some searching!



We went out a couple of times and found that Indians don't know how to dance in night clubs...they do some really weird stuff, even by my standards. We learned that “dance bars” are actually an Indian take on a strip club/brothel and I vomited AGAIN! (It was from too much Vodka though, so it doesn't count)

The guide book suggested Bangalore is home to some “English style” pubs. Obviously we had to check those out. Turns out they were actually quite good set ups, I'd definitely drink there at home above some of these new fancy bars. Nothing better than vintage 70s carpet (or older).



While we were in Bangalore we'd regularly been calling the boat depot in Chennai to find out when the next boat to Andaman islands was and when the tickets were released. India being India, you can't book the tickets online, or over the phone, you have to go to the booking office. No one knows when the next boat is leaving, how long it'll take or when the tickets are released for any boats other than the next one. Nor, for that matter, is there any pictures of the boat anywhere!

We decided to go to Chennai until we had the boat ticket to make the whole ordeal less stressful, and missing the next one would mean Cam wouldn't be able to come.



We stayed in “Paradise guest house” in Chennai. The guy who owned it is probably one of the only Indians I’ve met who understands customer service, very basic and cheap accommodation.

We went and booked the ticket on the second day, luckily the tickets were out the day after we arrived. We set sail on 6^th March on a three day voyage! I'm so excited, it's like a proper adventure!

When we did the research for the trip to Andaman there's very limited information online, not even a traveller's blog! So we have no idea what to expect. We've got the cheapest tickets (2382rs) so we're staying in the bunk. I'm imagining the worst and hopefully that way it can only be better...?



There's a couple of places just south of Chennai, Mamallampuram & Pondicherry, we're going to inspect while we wait for the boat. Mamallampuram has loads of ancient temples and man made caves, Pondicherry is meant to be “mini Goa”...either way, we're back at the beach!

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