After an average flight with Emirates (Hamburg via Dubai to Bangalore) we arrived to a modern Bengarulu airport in a mild heat with adventure in our minds.
I'm travelling with a long time friend Sarah to South India with the catalyst of the trip being to celebrate Avinash's (a mate from business school) wedding. We both came with grand ideas of exploring "Incredible india".
Having found the arranged hotel pickup driver, we soon started on one of our first learnings. Transport in India. Now, if you thought you had an idea of chaos, you can't compare to Indian traffic. On the main highway of pot holes, varying widths, surfaces, speeds and speed humps travel a menagery of trucks, buses, tuk tuk's, new cars, old cars, pushbikes, tractors, scooters - and the odd cow. All had one purpose: to reach their desired goals in the fastest possible manner. In Germany that means fast sleek cars driving in straight lines with a notion of road rules.
Here it's every man for himself; literally, as very few women are involved in the control of motor vehicles. Speeds are arbitrary, as are helmets, seatbelts, indicators, side mirrors, doors, sitting inside the confines of a vehicle. Following lanes are impossible,because there are none marked. Women sit side saddle on motor bikes without helmets while the men, with helmets carreer around and through the traffic. Guys on push bikes get pushed off the road as another vehicle fights for space. Tuk tuk's dodge and weave and splutter fumes. Our taxi driver had a pretty keen acclerator foot, traffic battle mentality and like all others his hand permanently on the horn. The only time an indian car is considered unroadworthy is if the horn doesn't work (just an observation!) As it would be impossible to communicate turning, that the person in front is in the way or that the person in front is encroaching their space or "what the hell are you thinking". All this goes on without any notion of stress, panic or fear for ones life. This was just the beginning of our incredible Indian experience.
We arrived at Casa Piccolo, our guest house and was soothed to be in a peaceful and comfortable courtyard and room. A street or two back from the main Richmond rd, the quietness was a welcome respite whenever we
returned back. After a short sleep we went for a quick lap of the area walking around bridge rd, MG rd and St Marks Rd basically covering the high streets of bangalore. No shortage of beggars and peddlers tried
to sell their wares. All the major global brands had shop fronts here, but it was no mall, rather a higglety pigglety of bill boards, old and new buildings and a mass of Indians (eg very few westerners). We continued our lap and made it back with some time to kill before meeting the boys.
Avinash and Praful arrived as the best hosts Bangalore can find! It's always a richer experience visiting a city when there's people to meet who know their way around. The boys showed us some of the sights including the shopping malls, chai hangouts and dinner. We spent some time searching for local clothes for the wedding, an altogether
complicated experience, especially for women. In the end we bought a few things and planned a further session for a following day. Sleeping under the fan after all the travel and first sights of India was greatly needed.
On the whole, the pace of india can be split into two - the traffic, the pollution, living conditions and mass of people can be overwhelming however on the otherside the way of life if somewhat calm and purposeful - a distinction we'll only get to see more of over the next two weeks.
I'm travelling with a long time friend Sarah to South India with the catalyst of the trip being to celebrate Avinash's (a mate from business school) wedding. We both came with grand ideas of exploring "Incredible india".
Having found the arranged hotel pickup driver, we soon started on one of our first learnings. Transport in India. Now, if you thought you had an idea of chaos, you can't compare to Indian traffic. On the main highway of pot holes, varying widths, surfaces, speeds and speed humps travel a menagery of trucks, buses, tuk tuk's, new cars, old cars, pushbikes, tractors, scooters - and the odd cow. All had one purpose: to reach their desired goals in the fastest possible manner. In Germany that means fast sleek cars driving in straight lines with a notion of road rules.
Here it's every man for himself; literally, as very few women are involved in the control of motor vehicles. Speeds are arbitrary, as are helmets, seatbelts, indicators, side mirrors, doors, sitting inside the confines of a vehicle. Following lanes are impossible,because there are none marked. Women sit side saddle on motor bikes without helmets while the men, with helmets carreer around and through the traffic. Guys on push bikes get pushed off the road as another vehicle fights for space. Tuk tuk's dodge and weave and splutter fumes. Our taxi driver had a pretty keen acclerator foot, traffic battle mentality and like all others his hand permanently on the horn. The only time an indian car is considered unroadworthy is if the horn doesn't work (just an observation!) As it would be impossible to communicate turning, that the person in front is in the way or that the person in front is encroaching their space or "what the hell are you thinking". All this goes on without any notion of stress, panic or fear for ones life. This was just the beginning of our incredible Indian experience.
We arrived at Casa Piccolo, our guest house and was soothed to be in a peaceful and comfortable courtyard and room. A street or two back from the main Richmond rd, the quietness was a welcome respite whenever we
returned back. After a short sleep we went for a quick lap of the area walking around bridge rd, MG rd and St Marks Rd basically covering the high streets of bangalore. No shortage of beggars and peddlers tried
to sell their wares. All the major global brands had shop fronts here, but it was no mall, rather a higglety pigglety of bill boards, old and new buildings and a mass of Indians (eg very few westerners). We continued our lap and made it back with some time to kill before meeting the boys.
Avinash and Praful arrived as the best hosts Bangalore can find! It's always a richer experience visiting a city when there's people to meet who know their way around. The boys showed us some of the sights including the shopping malls, chai hangouts and dinner. We spent some time searching for local clothes for the wedding, an altogether
complicated experience, especially for women. In the end we bought a few things and planned a further session for a following day. Sleeping under the fan after all the travel and first sights of India was greatly needed.
On the whole, the pace of india can be split into two - the traffic, the pollution, living conditions and mass of people can be overwhelming however on the otherside the way of life if somewhat calm and purposeful - a distinction we'll only get to see more of over the next two weeks.
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