Nicknamed "Traffic City" and it's immediately noticable why! Bangalore's crazy network of 10-lane wide roads are rammed with every conceivable vehicle - vans, cars, buses, taxis, rickshaws, lorries....the list is endless. The result is a nose filled to picking point with some of the most grusome boggies discovered by man and a throat so dry and sore that only an ice cold beer will suffice!
They say this place is fast becoming home to some of southern India's most chic and expensive bars - but all we saw was over-dressed teenagers trying to act cool. It's also said to be India's techy hub, attracting many of the sub-continent's computer whizz kids. That may well be true, but all the city's good points are lost to delapidated infrastructure and neglect of basic services such as bus stops and public loos.
Though first impressions were dour (never before had we seen so many people in such a small space - MG Road was like a Mumbai slum only ten times worse) we set about righting wrongs by exploring the city's few monuments by foot. What a mistake. The mock Windsor Castle took three hours to find and when we finally came upon the scaled down build some cheeky dick wanted to charge us 200 Rupees to take a pic.
Thought we'd take a break from Bangalore's fumes by catching a bus to
Nandi Hills. The bus journey was rewarding as the road first carved through the city's rich suburbs and then onwards and upwards towards the national park. Here we spent the day trekking and taking in the fantastic vistas - though we were both disturbed by the cushion of smog that towered above Bangalore and its 7m inhabitants some 120km away.
But even out in the sticks all is not well. If it wasn't enough that monkey's held us to randsom for our bright yellow bananas, then it certainly was when some mock guru demanded a fist full of rupees for smashing a coconut at the feet of some shrine. "That's it," said Marit. "No more f**king temples!" And so it was we returned to traffic city eager to jump on the first bus out.
Nicknamed "Traffic City" and it's immediately noticable why! Bangalore's crazy network of 10-lane wide roads are rammed with every conceivable vehicle - vans, cars, buses, taxis, rickshaws, lorries....the list is endless. The result is a nose filled to picking point with some of the most grusome boggies discovered by man and a throat so dry and sore that only an ice cold beer will suffice!
They say this place is fast becoming home to some of southern India's most chic and expensive bars - but all we saw was over-dressed teenagers trying to act cool. It's also said to be India's techy hub, attracting many of the sub-continent's computer whizz kids. That may well be true, but all the city's good points are lost to delapidated infrastructure and neglect of basic services such as bus stops and public loos.
Though first impressions were dour (never before had we seen so many people in such a small space - MG Road was like a Mumbai slum only ten times worse) we set about righting wrongs by exploring the city's few monuments by foot. What a mistake. The mock Windsor Castle took three hours to find and when we finally came upon the scaled down build some cheeky dick wanted to charge us 200 Rupees to take a pic.
Thought we'd take a break from Bangalore's fumes by catching a bus to
Nandi Hills. The bus journey was rewarding as the road first carved through the city's rich suburbs and then onwards and upwards towards the national park. Here we spent the day trekking and taking in the fantastic vistas - though we were both disturbed by the cushion of smog that towered above Bangalore and its 7m inhabitants some 120km away.
But even out in the sticks all is not well. If it wasn't enough that monkey's held us to randsom for our bright yellow bananas, then it certainly was when some mock guru demanded a fist full of rupees for smashing a coconut at the feet of some shrine. "That's it," said Marit. "No more f**king temples!" And so it was we returned to traffic city eager to jump on the first bus out.
hello Kris and Marit, great photo,s ! Look forward to the next lot. Mum xxx
ReplyDelete