FROM MYSORE TO BANGALORE 25TH

Joshi collected us from our Mysore hotel and we headed off for Bangalore (Bengaluru for the purists)! As usual, the scheduled 4 hours took longer but there are many miles of new roads being worked on at the moment which makes for slow driving at the moment but will make a huge difference in the future. There is also an elevated metro being built so dust/noise/diversions everywhere.

Joshi is a good driver so we just relax on the back seats and enjoy the changing scenery. I've given up trying to take photos out of the side windows as they usually end up with reflections from the white seat covers or are blurred because of the movement of the car. But David and I have taken a few aimed through the front windscreen which aren't too bad …. When back in England I will go through the photos more thoroughly and compile a folder of 'characters' and one of 'funny sights' etc., but its difficult when travelling and where wifi is less than adequate (or non existent)!

Overloaded trucks, bikes, carts and people are a common sight in India but a source of great amusement to us ... these are taken through the windscreen so a little hazy

just about room to cram a couple of guys on top of the coconuts in this truck

Our first impressions of Bangalore are 'what are we doing here?' its a huge city and apart from the shabby areas on the outskirts could easily be London or similar. But … we are tired, and we have come from very rural places so will reserve judgement.

We're staying at a nice little hotel/B&B which has aircon, large bedroom with seating area and our room opens out onto a shared landing with tables, chairs etc for people wanting to sit and chat or use their computers. It also has a shared balcony area where David and I sat and enjoyed a glass of wine (OK perhaps more than one glass)!!. The wifi seems pretty good so I'm re-writing all the posts that were lost last night when the Radisson's wifi died on us. (Not sure if I mentioned that before – 4 hours blog post work lost – I was not a happy bunny)!

I've just included these photo as I think the bedroom lampshades are quite cute! They appear to be hand painted and the elephants are different colours on each of the four sides

Update: We met some of the other residents yesterday.   There are 2 French ladies, a young American guy and two British men who are working in Bangalore so have lived here for a few weeks.    They were able to guide us to where the ATMs were in town and they invited us to join them at a local restaurant called Fine Dining (which they told us wasn't actually the case, but that it was good honest fare).    But we had to try 3 different bank ATMs before we found one that would dispense cash and by that time we'd lost the guys.    

We wandered round the side roads and came across a Steak Restaurant serving Continental fare.   As all my meals (and most of David's) have been Indian we thought it would be nice to have a change.   It was a very popular restaurant and 'slightly' upmarket.   Complementary fancy breads/rolls were served with flavoured butter.

David spotted Indian Champagne on the menu for the very good price of around £11 per bottle.   David ordered a chateaubriand meal and I ordered filet mignon.   The maitre d' came back with 3 champagne bottles to choose from, telling us that sadly they had sold out of the Indian brand as it was so popular.   As the substituted ones were more than twice the price we told him we'd have beer.  'We don't serve beer' was his response, so I said we'd stick with water.   Lo and behold, he came back with two champagne flutes and the Indian champagne which he said had been found in the stores and was their last bottle (yeah right)!    The tax on imported alcohol is very high in India around 120% hence our reluctance to have anything not Indian.

The meal was superb ... the bill including champers was just £25 for the two of us - our most expensive meal so far!

 Breakfast was an experience this morning.   First a plate of small Indian breads with various spicy 'soups' and a bowl of what appeared to be spicy mashed potato/chickpeas.   Then a bowl of watermelon pieces followed by masala omelettes and toast/preserves.   They kept refilling the bowls/dishes till we had enough food to feed 20 people and I do hate waste!   All washed down with Indian Chai - perfick.

We met a few more of the guests briefly and then chatted to Laika, our hostess about travelling to the 'old' part of Bangalore.    Sadly the place I really wanted to see wasn't recommended but she gave us guidance on how much we should pay the driver of an auto-rickshaw (Tuk Tuk) to get to the City Market.   She was surprised to hear that we have no qualms about taking Tuk Tuks or walking around the markets on our own but I guess some of her guests aren't as gung ho as us!

City market post to follow