Today got off to quite a late start (breakfast here is from 7-11, which of course means that we went down at 10.30) with a tasty breakfast at the cottages we're staying at, before the European owner organised an auto-rickshaw to take us around the sites of Bangalore. There are three or four drivers who they trust who charge people 100 rupees per hour (or around $3.50) to take tourists around and wait for them at each place, and our driver proved to be a jolly fellow who only took us to the places we asked and without the usual bamboozling to which we have grown accustomed.
Today happens to be Mahashivatri, one of the most auspicious days of the year, and everyone dresses in their best and goes to visit temples where they may wait in line for up to two hours to go into the temple. There were also many weddings happening all over the city, and it was kind of cool to see everyone happy and celebrating and wearing their most colourful saris.
We started with a visit to Lalbagh Botanic Gardens, which is 240 acres of gardens, complete with lakes, topiaries and big bloody trees:
It was quite a tranquil place amid the noise, chaos and pollution of Bangalore and quite a nice place to stroll around. It even had specific bins for spitting into so as not to spread disease and filth:
Once again we were subjected to many requests from young Indian dudes to be in their photos, so this time we asked them to reciprocate and take a photo of us with them! Note the guy on the left side staring at my rack (something I am kind of getting used to, although not exactly enjoying):
After this our driver took us to the Nandi temple, another giant statue of a black bull. This time we went inside the temple, and it was an interesting experience to watch the devotees touching the statue and then touching their heads, as well as dipping their fingers in powders and oils and smearing it on their hair. While neither of us are remotely religious, we agreed that it is very cool that Hindus show such reverence for animals.
Once we had emerged from the temple we took a stroll around the complex, which included some nice gardens, a lookout and a couple of other temples, along with numerous barefoot Indians drinking chai and eating tasty-looking food.
The driver then took us to Tipu Sultan's Palace, the residence of a Muslim ruler from a bloody long time ago. The entire thing was made of wood, and while not large compared with some of the other palaces we've seen, it was quite grand with enormous pillars and balconies from which the Sultan used to address his minions.
We then went to see Bangalore Palace, and luckily for us our driver advised against actually going in, since it cost something ridiculous like 500 rupees to enter. They do not look kindly on people taking photos of the outside without going in, so the driver drove us as close as we could get without having to pay and we took a couple of photos. The place was modeled on Windsor Castle in England, complete with ivy growing up the walls, and looked somewhat ridiculous standing in the centre of India. Hence we have not bothered including a photo here.
After the requisite 'do you want to stop at a shop to buy pashminas/jewellery' question, which we declined about 15 times before he got the idea, the driver delivered us back to our cottages, where we are having a brief rest before heading out to get some lunch. We're starting to get into the mode of having late meals, since we've discovered that a 7 o'clock dinner is ridiculously early here.
Overall we've had a far better time in Bangalore which, while very polluted, seems a lot better organised and modern than Mysore was. And it's really no surprise since this city was virtually the birthplace of web mail as we know it, the inventor of Hotmail having grown up here. There are numerous bars and restaurants to choose from just within walking distance of where we're staying - the only difficult thing is deciding which to go to!
We head off early tomorrow morning (we're getting picked up at 8 for an 11 o'clock flight, that's how crazy the morning traffic is) to be taken to the airport to fly to Cochin (actually Kochi, but we've long given up on using the correct names of cities since the residents still call them by the English names).
We'll be staying at the Taj Malabar, which we've been told is the best hotel in India, even better than the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai (and half the price). The hotel is a luxury resort on an island just off the mainland. It's the most expensive place we'll be staying, but we decided we should live it up a bit for our last stay.
We'll be there for two nights and will then go on a houseboat around the Kerala backwaters for another two nights before returning to the Taj Malabar for our final night in India.
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