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| Avenue Street - only a percentage of the chaos is captured |
I arrived in Bangalore at 3am – which is the recommended time to get there so as to avoid the huge traffic jams from the airport into the city. For the India portion of my trip, I’m travelling with my Dad, who arrived a day before me. Our itinerary includes visiting family in Bangalore and Coimbatore (both in South India) and doing a tour of the “Golden Triangle” – New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur (all in North India).
We are staying with my Aunt and Uncle in Bangalore and my cousin and her husband have been drafted as our tour guides. After catching up on some sleep, they took me and my dad around Bangalore. I haven’t been here in 15 years and it has changed a great deal. Bangalore was once known as the “Garden City” because of its public gardens and tree-lined streets. In the past ten years, however, it has also become known as the Silicon Valley of India and has grown tremendously. The most noticeable aspect of this growth is the major traffic problem – it can take about an hour to go anywhere in town during the day. There are several major infrastructure projects going on – including road widening and the installation of a new metro system – which should ease the problems, but their construction is only adding to it. Bangalore still has much of its charm though and doesn’t feel like a huge city such as Mumbai or Delhi. There are also still plenty of trees and gardens around.
We checked out a couple of sights – including the Tippoo Sultan Palace which was a summer palace for a former Maharajah of Mysore, the prince that used to rule Southern India before British rule. The palace was mainly used in the late 1800s and a large fort that surrounded it has since been destroyed. We also went to some of the major shopping areas of Bangalore. One area, Avenue Street, has to be the most chaotic street in the entire city. I don’t know why they still allow cars to go down it, but I’m still amazed that my cousin’s husband, Hari, was able to drive it. There are people walking everywhere, motorcycles, bikes, auto-rickshaws, etc. I was white-knuckling it the entire time. My dad pointed out a shop that his Uncle once owned on the street. My dad spent a couple of years in primary school in Bangalore and he used to hang out there after school. He said the area was just as chaotic back then. We also went to Commercial Street, a major shopping area, where we had lunch and dropped in on some relatives who lived in the area.
We checked out a couple of sights – including the Tippoo Sultan Palace which was a summer palace for a former Maharajah of Mysore, the prince that used to rule Southern India before British rule. The palace was mainly used in the late 1800s and a large fort that surrounded it has since been destroyed. We also went to some of the major shopping areas of Bangalore. One area, Avenue Street, has to be the most chaotic street in the entire city. I don’t know why they still allow cars to go down it, but I’m still amazed that my cousin’s husband, Hari, was able to drive it. There are people walking everywhere, motorcycles, bikes, auto-rickshaws, etc. I was white-knuckling it the entire time. My dad pointed out a shop that his Uncle once owned on the street. My dad spent a couple of years in primary school in Bangalore and he used to hang out there after school. He said the area was just as chaotic back then. We also went to Commercial Street, a major shopping area, where we had lunch and dropped in on some relatives who lived in the area.
Then it was back to the house for dinner and to pack. My dad and I had to be up at 4am the next day for our 7am flight to Delhi – once again, booked at an insane hour so as to avoid traffic.
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| My cousin, my dad, my uncle and me in front of the summer palace |
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| My cousin and me at an outdoor art exhibition |
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