Today was our first full day in this crazy place called Bangalore. We took advantage of our transition day to get out and explore the city, and I think it's safe to say that we had a very good time. As mentioned earlier, we slept in a bit this morning, so didn't get a start on the touristing until afternoon. This was fine by me.
(Updated Shown on the right is the Bangalore Legislative Assembly, not the Bangalore Palace, as indicated earlier.)
Our first stop was at Lalbagh Botanical Garden, which was very nice and much more interesting than it probably sounds. As depicted on the left, one of the features was Glass House, which was constructed in the late 1800s and (according to Ian) resembles a feature from one of the palaces in England.
In addition to this, there were of course lots of other things to look at. Trees, flowers, a lake, and lots of people. We noticed, in particular, couples sitting on benches talking, holding hands, but nothing more. Chris even thought that one of the grumpy old security people was chastising couples for showing too much affection in public.
After the Garden, we then drove over to the restaurant Ebony, on the 13th floor of a local building. From here we could see much of the city. The food was decent and the weather was nice, though heavy clouds were moving in. Fortunately, we didn't get rained on while sitting outside.
I forgot to mention that we did make one stop before the restaurant, and that was at Mysore Silk Emporium. This is apparently a "world famous" silk exporter from India, so we got to see all sorts of highly expensive materials. We're talking 7000 rupies or more in many cases. They kept trying to sell us on "designer" outfits that were guaranteed to be unique. Out of my price range!!! Though we did not escape without incurring damage...
One thing to note is the prevalence of working children throughout the city. There are beggar boys all over the streets, doing acrobatics in the street at stop lights. It's kind of crazy. This fellow (at right) was doing tricks and then peering into windows looking at the white people. The girl on the left was selling corn at the Garden.
Another interesting Garden story: people kept stopping me and asking if they could please have their picture taken with me. I don't know why. We think it might have been because of my blond hair, but it's really hard to say. I was also wearing one of my nicer tennis shirts, so perhaps they thought I was an athlete of some sort.
And, one last bit, I've been shocked by the amount of corn for sale around here. Our host, Amitabha, tells us this is actually a common staple throughout the country. I never would have guessed that to be true. I don't think I've ever seen corn used in an Indian restaurant in the States. I always believed rice was the main staple (which it is, too, but corn is equally prevalent, it seems).
After lunch, we were taken to East Temple (I think that's what it's called). I wasn't expecting what we got. I thought we'd drive up, take a look, shoot a couple pictures, and leave. Nope! Us three white guys got to "attend" temple. It turned out to be a Krishna temple, and they're all strict vegetarians, and, of yeah, you have to approach barefoot. So, we left our shoes in the car and walked up across dirty stone to the temple, got somewhat tricked into buying a "fast pass", then went through ultra-strict security (ok, only sort of), and then got to see a few shrines to different gods. It was kind of weird.
No cameras were allowed, so we have no pictures. We think we might have been getting eyed by a pickpocket (a guy and two small boys). We artfully avoided that. (he was unusually friendly and inquisitive and the boys kept sort of pawing at our pockets) Anyway, not an intentional experience, and one I don't really think I'll ever want to duplicate.
Other things I've noticed here: driving is crazy! First, they drive on the left, which feels all wrong. But more nuts, they ignore lane markings (when they're there) and just go like crazy. Lots of horn honking occurs. Most of the cars are quite small, and then there are all the motorcycles and auto-rickshaws. Weaving in and out of traffic is normal, as are near collisions. As best we can tell, the largest vehicle is given right of way, with the exception of the rickshaws, which are lowest preference by far. We definitely understand why people said not to try driving here.
An example: the stoplights have a countdown, which is kind of nifty. Except, when it gets to 10, people start their engines (if they're not still running), and at 5 they start creeping into the intersection, such that by the time the light turns yellow and then green (yes, there's an extra yellow cycle in there), most vehicles are half-way through the intersection. Amazing!
Something else I've noticed today, but haven't quite figured out is the sideways head wag. To picture, thing of a head nodding 'no' ever so slightly, but the head is also rocking side to side at the same time (ear to shoulder), though again, not severely, just enough to be noticeable. My theory is it means 'yes' or 'I understand' but I'm not totally sure. It's unique, though, and something that I've seen in movies before.
At any rate, I think that's enough for me for tonight - it's bedtime! Tomorrow we will be meeting and training all day. It sounds like the days will be very full. Wheeee!!!
