This year finally after much prodding I got my passport done. I have always wanted to travel to different countries, but could not do it earlier as I did not have enough money saved. Before stepping out of my country to see the world I thought why not check out places in India. Its cheaper, I don't have to bother about visas and I will get to experience the variety of cultures.
So this Christmas my sister and I picked our home state. We have a few friends in Bangalore, Karnataka.So there was a little extra motivation to go there. The last time I went to Bangalore I was in school, so I do not remember much about the city.
We got a really nice Govt. luxury bus, the KSRTC Airavat. The ride was quite comfortable. It was an overnight journey (around 14 hrs) and we touched Bangalore around 10ish in the morning. The moment I stepped out of the bus, I felt I was at home. I have never felt this way for any other city. It was good to hear people speak in Kannada (quite a breather from the usual Marathi in Pune)
I wanted to see the city not as a tourist, but like a local. We got in touch with our hosts and they agreed to pick us up from a point closer to their home. We took the local bus and enjoyed the ride as it went through all the small lanes and markets. We saw a lot of colleges, churches and MNC's on our way.
We got to spend some quality time with our friends and their kids.Christmas was a quiet one:) We went out for dinner at a well known Steak place. It was worth the 1.5 hrs of travel through the maddening Bangalore traffic.
The next day we took the volvo local bus to meet another good friend. They now lived on the other end of Bangalore. This was the most expensive local bus ticket I have spent in any city (70 bucks for 26 kms). But it was fun and a very comfortable drive :) We got to see some of old Bangalore like MG Road, Brigade Road, Koramangala, etc
One of the things I take back is the visit to the 'Krispy Kreme' outlet. I am not a big fan of doughnuts. But these were heavenly. After the first bite, I turned to my sister and said "Now I have lived". All in all it was a great trip. Refreshing, exciting and a much needed one :)
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