Day 7: Chennai – Bangalore 24 September 2017


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September 24th 2017
Published: September 30th 2017
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Bangalore BazaarBangalore BazaarBangalore Bazaar

Bangalore is known for its yummy ice creams
Day 7: Chennai – Bangalore 24 September







This morning, we were met at our hotel at 4.45am and transferred to the railway station (with a Packed Breakfast) for our train to Bangalore.







Departed Chennai at: 0600 hrs Train Shatabdi Express-12007 Arrival Bangalore At: 1050 hrs CLASS: AC Chair Car Class







Upon arrival in to Bangalore, we wer met at the railway station and transferred to our hotel before we headed out on a tour of the garden city. We met our new guide Mr Shacker who was fantastic. His accent wasn’t as strong and he spoke clearly. He also explained to cities history systematically and with the right level of detail.







We started with a visit to the Bangalore Bazaar. That was so interesting and we had so much interaction with the locals, enjoying taking their photos and loving their friendly, welcoming smiles. We noticed there was less batering and more relaxed shopping method.







Our guide encouraged us to try the white coffee which the other 3 enjoyed while I enjoyed a double scoop icecream, one with rainbow and the other with black current flavour. Yum!







We then continue to visit the Bull temple believed to have been constructed in the 16th-century it has been carved out of a single granite block. As we walked arounf the bull the priest blessed us putting a red spot on our forhead and gave us a flower in exchange for a donation.







Lalbagh, the botanical garden spread over 240 acres and having a wide variety of exotic trees and plants. As it was such a large park, we were encouraged by our guide to hop on a small electric cart which took us around, stopping from time to time to take photographas. This was yet another occasion where we chatted to members of the Indian community who leved aking our photo. At one stage, I was surrounded by sari-cladded ladies who were visiting the city from a village 100km north of Bangalore. While they were taking my photo, I looked around them and I was almost a head taler than all of them!!!! They were
Bangalore Botanical GardensBangalore Botanical GardensBangalore Botanical Gardens

Check out the height difference
soooo friendly.







At the entrance of the park was a large granite out-crop which we climbed. From the top we could see the concrete jungle of the city with a little smog blanketing it.







Next, we visited Tipu Sultan’s Palace – dating back to 1790 and made mostly out of wood, it was used as the summer residence of the legendary ruler Tipu Sultan. There was a small museum included in the Palace. We noticed a number of traditionally clad Muslems visiting the palace. There were also many young people who were dressed in western clothing. Unlike Chennai, where we saw very few western-dressed people, with the majority of women dressed in saris, Bangalore was different.



A bit about Bangalore:



There were two urban settlements of Bangalore – city and cantonment – which had developed as independent entities merged into a single urban centre in 1949. The existing Kannada name, Bengalūru, was declared the official name of the city in 2006.



Bangalore is sometimes referred to as the "Silicon Valley if India" (or "IT capital of India") because of its role as the nation's leading information technology (IT) exporter. Indian technological organisations ISRP, Infosys, Wipro and HAL are headquartered in the city. A demographically diverse city, Bangalore is the second fastest-growing major metropolis in India. It is home to many educational and research institutions in India.



The name "Bangalore" represents an anglicised version of the Kannada language name, "Bengalūru". It is the name of a village near kodegehalli and was copied by Kempegowda to the city of Bangalore.



An apocryphal story recounts that the 12th century Hoysala king Veera Ballala ll, while on a hunting expedition, lost his way in the forest. Tired and hungry, he came across a poor old woman who served him boiled beans. The grateful king named the place "benda-kaal-uru" (literally, "town of boiled beans"), which eventually evolved into "Bengalūru". Suryanath Kamath has put forward an explanation of a possible floral origin of the name, being derived from benga, the Kannada term for the Indian Kino Tree, a species of dry and moist deciduous trees, that grew abundantly in the region.



On 11 December 2005, the Governmant of Karnataka announced that it was going tto rename Bangalore to Bengalūru. On 27 September 2006, the parliament passed a resolution to implement the proposed name change. The government of Karnataka accepted the proposal, and it was decided to officially implement the name change from 1 November 2006. The Union government have approved (along with other 12 cities) this request in October 2014 and Bangalore was renamed to "Bengaluru" on 1 November 2014.



Bangalore's reputation as the "Garden City of India" began in 1927 with the Silver Jubilee celebrations of the rule of Krishnaraja Wodeyar lV. Several projects such as the construction of parks, public buildings and hospitals were instituted to improve the city. Bangalore played an important role during the Indian Independence movement. Mahatma Gandi visited the city in 1927 and 1934 and addressed public meetings here. After the Labour unrest in 1926, then later in 1940, the first flight between Bangalore and Bombay took off, which placed the city on India's urban map.



After India's independence in August 1947, Bangalore remained in the newly carved Mysore State of which the Maharaja of Mysore was appointed governor The "City Improvement Trust" was formed in 1945, and in 1949, the "City" and the "Cantonment" merged to form the Bangalore City Corporation.



Bangalore experienced rapid growth in the decades 1941–51 and 1971–81, which saw the arrival of many immigrants from northern Karnataka. By 1961, Bangalore had become the sixth largest city in India, with a population of 1,207,000. In the decades that followed, Bangalore's manufacturing base continued to expand with the establishment of private companies such as MICO (Motor Industries Company), which set up its manufacturing plant in the city.



As we drove around the city, we saw evidence of Bangalore’s growth in its real estate market in the 1980s and 1990s, spurred by capital investors from other parts of the country who converted Bangalore's large plots and colonial bungalows into multi-storied apartments. Information technology companies established themselves in the city and by the end of the 20th century, Bangalore had established itself as the Silicon Valley of India.



Today, Bangalore is India's third (or 5th – an not sure as 2 guides said 2 different positions) most populous city. During the 21st century, Bangalore has suffered terrorist attacks in 2008, 2010 and 2013.



Bangalore, at an average elevation of 900 m and topology which is generally flat, though the western parts of the city are hilly, has a tropical savanna climate with distinct wet and dry seasons. Due to its high elevation, Bangalore usually enjoys a more moderate climate throughout the year, although occasional heat waves can make summer somewhat uncomfortable. The coolest month is January with an average low temperature of 15.1 °C and the hottest month is April with an average high temperature of 35 °C .we had welcomed the cooler climate as we wandered around the city.







According to the census of India, 78.9% of Bangalore's population is Hindu, a little less than the national average. Muslims comprise 13.9% of the population.



We saw a few slums as we drove around and learned that the city has a literacy rate of 89%. Roughly 10% of Bangalore's population lives in slums—a relatively low proportion when compared to other cities in the developing world such as Mumbai (50%).



Bangalore suffers from the same major urbanisation problems seen in many fast-growing cities in developing countries: rapidly escalating social inequality, mass displacement and dispossession, proliferation of slum settlements, and epidemic public health crisis due to severe water shortage and sewage problems in poor and working-class neighbourhoods.



However, we noticed many new hotels being built and our hotel Southern Star was very comfortable and clean.



As we drove out of the city, we saw the very impressive Karnataka High Court which is the supreme judicial body in Karnataka and is located in Bangalore.







The Vikasa Soudha, is situated adjacent to the Vidhana Soudha, housing many state ministries. This was an expansive building. Departing the city, is was raining quite havily but as we dropped in altitude, it was pleasantly dry again.



Bangalore is known as the "Garden City of India" because of its greenery, broad streets and the presence of many public parks. Bangalore is sometimes called as the "Pub Capital of India" and the "Rock/Metal Capital of India" because of its underground music scene and it is one of the premier places to hold international rock concerts.



That night, we decided to have dinner in our hotel. We had a choice of 2 restaurants, the Spice Bazaar restaurant which was open-air and serving an Indian buffet, or the ground floor restaurant with an al a cart menue, the later of which we chose. We had a very tasty spicy salt and pepper prawns and chicken ginger spice dish with not-too-bad saviougn blaunc wine. Debbie and Dave were also good company.



After getting up at 4.00am that morning and after a packed tourist day, it didn’t take long to fall asleep that night!!!


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