"Bean Town"

The word Bangalore basically means town of boiled beans. So the entire time I was there I was affectionately calling it the "bean town" of India. And it actually reminded me a little bit of Boston, in the sense that relative to the larger cities in India, Bangalore is smaller and more open and less crowded. I really liked the city because unlike Mumbai there are many trees and gardens scattered around the city. Unfortunately the traffic was just as bad because while there are less people, there also exists a lack of public transportation, so everyone uses the roads. At least in Mumbai there are trains and buses so there are relatively less cars on the road.

We stayed in the city itself Thursday and Friday night. Thursday night we went into the center of town and wandered around looking in all of the small shops. I loved all of the handicraft items, especially all of the carvings made out of sandalwood, which is apparently something that area of the country is known for. I managed to avoid purchasing anything. My reasoning is that I'm going to have limited space in my suitcase when I bring stuff back, so I actually want to think about what I want to purchase and bring back to the US. Smart, I know :-)

The next evening Apoorva and I went out to dinner with his uncle, aunt and cousin. It was a nice evening. This branch of his family tree was surprisingly laid back and fun. His uncle insisted that I have two drinks, and alcohol always makes things more enjoyable. We ended up going to an Italian restaurant and the food was actually decent, which made me happy.

The next morning Apoorva and I traveled outside the city to visit some ancient temples. They were about four hours away near a town called Hassan. We rented a car, and in India, when you rent a car it comes with a driver. The drive out to the country was crazy. The "highway" was one lane on each side and paved. All sorts of vehicals, pedestrians, and animals use this highway. So if our car got stuck behind something that was going slower than our driver wanted to go, he would pass it. Not a big deal. But what was crazy was the chances drivers were taking while doing so. Quite frequently I would see a huge truck or bus coming straight for us and we narrowly made it into our lane. And a few times we were driven off the road by someone coming in the other direction trying to pass the vehicle ahead of them. Needless to say I spent most of the time listening to my iPod with my head down and my eyes closed, praying...

The first place we went to was a Jain temple that was located (of course) on top of the highest hill in the area. We had to hike up over 700 stairs to reach the top.
On top of the hill in the middle of the temple is a 57 foot tall monolith of one of their gods. It was very interesting and the view was amazing.

We visited two other Hindu temples that same day. These ones were on a smaller scale, but they were amazing because they were COVERED in carvings depicting all the great stories in Hindu mythology. These places were over 1000 years old, yet everything is so well preserved. At each of the three places we hired a guide for 100 Rupees (around $2.50) and they all spent at least 45 minutes taking us around and explaining the history behind some of the more famous carvings and the general history of the temple. The second temple we went to is actually till used for worship so we got to see some of the rituals they practice at that temple. The whole day was so interesting, beautiful, and spiritually inspiring.

The city of Hassan itself is so small I wouldn't really consider it a city. More like a town, so that in itself was interesting. To get there we had to pass through the countryside and even smaller towns, which up until that point I had yet to see in India. Many times we had to share the road with cattle or groups of women carrying pots of water on their head. The hotel we staid at was nice. Reminded me of a Holiday Inn. Everything was clean, however the internet didn't work. We did manage to find an internet cafe and a international calling station so I could call my parents and we could check into our flight for the next day.

All in all it was a great weekend and it was nice to get away from Mumbai. The whole time I felt relaxed, partly because while I know it sounds crazy, that area of India reminded me of home. Probably because of all the green :-) I miss green!

Favorite picture of the weekend: Self-picture of Apoorva and I in front of one of the temples.