Bangalore By Bus

Movement of Jah People

I had the pleasure of going to Bangalore last weekend with two of my good friends who are from there and had a great time! I'd never been and was excited to see firsthand why their 'native place' is so much better than everyone else's native (at least they tell me, at least four times a day). I took an overnight bus from Coimbatore, which was a new experience for me, I usually travel at night by train over here. It was actually rather unsettling doing an overnight bus for two reasons: First, I'm here to research traffic crashes so I know all the awful things that could potentially happen and second, because it's overnight and folks are trying to sleep, there are curtians on all the side windows as well as one IN THE FRONT, between the driver and the main bus cabin. Because of this, you can't see anything- anticipate a curve, a bump in the road, anything! I like to think I have a pretty strong stomach but not being able to see what was ahead and just getting jerked this way or that without knowing was enough to make me a little queasy...

Bangalore- The Garden City

I got off the bus and went straight to my friend's house for some homemade breakfast. I'm all about south Indian breakfast foods but I've never had it homecooked- it was hands-down better than any I've had. It was great to meet my friend's family, talk about life in India and the US and see what life in Bangalore is all about. After a HUGE breakfast, I went straight to my other friend's house for an equally HUGE lunch where equally great food and conversation ensued. One thing about Indian culture- food is very central (probably cause it's so delicious here) but that means eating obscene amounts if you want to be a good guest. Needless to say I needed to loosen my belt by mid-afternoon.

The fancypants MG Road area

I then went to my hotel to relax for the night- I hadn't slept great on the bus and was beat. I realized I made a mistake by staying where I did- the nicest (by western standards) part of town. I had spent the morning and afternoon seeing the local's Bangalore and now here I was surrounded by McDonalds, Nike, Levi's, KFC and an Au Bon Pain... I guess I'll admit my original intentions were to get away from the monotony of TN and see some comforts of home (imported beer, western food to name two) but after the day I had with my friends I realized I didn't really need that... Oh well, I did make it out for drinks and dinner and both were delicious.

The capitol building of Karnataka State, Vidhana Soudha

The next day my friend and coworker, who I lived with for six months last year, met me up with one of his friends to show me round town some more. We went to several parks, several good spots for snacks and shopping and had a great time. They call Bangalore the Garden City but many locals say it's now the Garbage City.... I didn't see that though. There were so many parks and trees and green spaces there- anywhere I've been here, from Delhi to Pune to Chennai to Coimbatore can't hold a candle to how much green space is preserved in Bangalore. Props!

Guava Bike!

We took a break walking to try two types of Guavas- unripe and ripe. The unripe ones have the consistency of apples while the ripe ones have the consistency of pears but both have lots of little seeds inside. If you see in the pic above, there's a little bag of spice the guy dips the knife in before he cuts your Guava, so you get spice with your sweet- kinda like India in general- spicy and sweet!

Bangalore by Bike!

Another highlight of the trip was being carted around on the back of my friend's bike- it is a great way to see a town- totally exposed to everything going on around you and not having the responsibility of driving the damn thing! The awesomeness factor is only increased when you're rolling with an old friend who's showing you all the cools spots in his hometown. Bangalore, unlike many other cities in India, is actually doing a pretty great job at enforcing helmet use, BTW, I was really impressed (and probably nerding out a little about this issue given the current state of things where I'm doing road safety research)! Props again!

Chipattis, a Mangalorian Prawn Curry and a Coconut Chicken Curry- YUM!

I ended my time in Bangalore with more food- some traditional dishes from the west coast of Karnataka state, where my friend's parents are from (Mangalore). I've never had shrimp/prawns done up so good- I'm gonna try to bring this recipe home with me!

All and all, this was by far the best two days I've had since I've been back in India and one of the best times I've had here, period. I just wish I didn't wait so long to go. It also goes to show that you can go places as a tourist and see some cool things but the best experiences (at least for me) come when you're with people you really know and love and they share their home and culture with you. Thanks BR & SN!