I slipped off easily from Mysore straight onto a local bus and 5 hours later, no crashes or other traffic related incident, I arrived in Bangalore. My initial reaction was one of horror, I hated the dirty, traffic filled streets and dreaded my 3 day stay. My hotel was so far from the bus station that I changed my mind several times during the journey and luckily was feeling positive when I arrived, despite the extortionate rickshaw price which was 3 times the cost of my bus ticket! I spent the first afternoon window shopping on MG road and quite enjoyed being back in a big city. I treated myself to a foot massage and was feeling really happy until I tried to get back across town to my hotel and had to argue with the rickshaw driver about the price he wanted to charge...added to this the traffic was awful, scary as well as tedious.
So I woke up on my second day here with a real love/hate feeling towards Bangalore and India in general. My driver for a day of sightseeing was Nathan and things started well as he showed me the parliament building ,the supreme court and then dropped me off to look at the art museum and technology museum. Things took a slight turn for the worse when we stopped in the silk area to see the weaving looms and then into the wholesalers where of course I was shown everything in the shop and expected to buy something....4 scarves later I was then whisked next door and a million tops and party frocks were unpacked and thrust before me, I had already said that I was not going to buy anything else but still the unpacking and wafting continued. I stood firm, did not buy anything else but was left feeling annoyed and foolish....taxi driver taking you to his mate's shop is the oldest trick in the book isn't it?
Next stop was the botanical gardens, which were lovely and a great green space in such a busy city and Nathan was very keen to take lots of photos of me in front of various plants and trees....you can tell from the expression (photos below) on my face that I felt a little uncomfortable with this and my feeling persisted after he tried to cuddle me on a bench and tickle me under the chin.....he also insisted on grabbing my arm whenever the path gently sloped and I looked more like his prisoner than his passenger. He then took the executive decision of driving me 15k out of time to a so called nature reserve to see tigers...I was already dubious and when the reserve turned out to be a safari park in which tourist were driven round in what looked like a prison bus my love/hate feelings were firmly on the hate side. To be fair I did see some semi captive tigers and bears but the guides attempt to endear themselves to me by trying to take my camera and then charge me extra for taking photos did not help ( FYI bruised by the silk shop experience I didn't let the guides have my camera and I did not tip them).
To cap it all because the traffic was so bad on the way back and we got to the hotel at 6 instead of 5 I had to pay extra....I did dispute this but in the end 100 rupees is about £1.30 and life is too short. The evening was better because Nicole, the Canadian woman I met in Mysore checked into the hotel and we had dinner and a good laugh.
Today I have been lazy, written postcards, checked out the local area and planned my next stop-Tiruvannamali. Still feel a bit ambivalent about Bangalore and India in general but my feelings can change within minutes so it's hard to judge what I really think.
So I woke up on my second day here with a real love/hate feeling towards Bangalore and India in general. My driver for a day of sightseeing was Nathan and things started well as he showed me the parliament building ,the supreme court and then dropped me off to look at the art museum and technology museum. Things took a slight turn for the worse when we stopped in the silk area to see the weaving looms and then into the wholesalers where of course I was shown everything in the shop and expected to buy something....4 scarves later I was then whisked next door and a million tops and party frocks were unpacked and thrust before me, I had already said that I was not going to buy anything else but still the unpacking and wafting continued. I stood firm, did not buy anything else but was left feeling annoyed and foolish....taxi driver taking you to his mate's shop is the oldest trick in the book isn't it?
Next stop was the botanical gardens, which were lovely and a great green space in such a busy city and Nathan was very keen to take lots of photos of me in front of various plants and trees....you can tell from the expression (photos below) on my face that I felt a little uncomfortable with this and my feeling persisted after he tried to cuddle me on a bench and tickle me under the chin.....he also insisted on grabbing my arm whenever the path gently sloped and I looked more like his prisoner than his passenger. He then took the executive decision of driving me 15k out of time to a so called nature reserve to see tigers...I was already dubious and when the reserve turned out to be a safari park in which tourist were driven round in what looked like a prison bus my love/hate feelings were firmly on the hate side. To be fair I did see some semi captive tigers and bears but the guides attempt to endear themselves to me by trying to take my camera and then charge me extra for taking photos did not help ( FYI bruised by the silk shop experience I didn't let the guides have my camera and I did not tip them).
To cap it all because the traffic was so bad on the way back and we got to the hotel at 6 instead of 5 I had to pay extra....I did dispute this but in the end 100 rupees is about £1.30 and life is too short. The evening was better because Nicole, the Canadian woman I met in Mysore checked into the hotel and we had dinner and a good laugh.
Today I have been lazy, written postcards, checked out the local area and planned my next stop-Tiruvannamali. Still feel a bit ambivalent about Bangalore and India in general but my feelings can change within minutes so it's hard to judge what I really think.
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