Its heaven on earth…. With climate nothing less than a hill station, with a culture atop any cosmopolitan culture, with the hospitality of south, with the heritage of colonial India and with the best of shoppers delight…..
Its nothing less than a hell….With pathetic roads and infrastructure, with skyrocketing prices, with highly polluted air thanks to the traffic, with noise pollution every where and with rowdy young crowd zooming on the popular roads……
Will you believe if I say that we are talking of the same city?
Yes….
Welcome to Bangalore!!!
Bangalore as a city is totally different for different people… based on their taste and lifestyle.. But the beauty of the place is that it has openly accepted all the life styles, giving people the chance to live the life they like.
In this review today, I will concentrate on Bangalore as a Tourist Destination alone…. My views will be totally different if I talk of this as a place to live in.
Location
Bangalore is located at the middle of South Indian Peninsula, close to the point where three southern states: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh meet. It’s the capital city of Karnataka.
How to Reach
Bangalore is very well connected by rail, road and air. For the people who are on a South India Tour, its overnight journey from Chennai and Hyderabad. Though the major railway station is Bangalore City, don’t get surprised if your train’s final destination is Yeshvant Pura. With the growing IT population, Yeshvant Pura is growing in importance as it diverts a major traffic from the crowded rail lines.
The airport In use currently is the HAL Airport on the eastern side of the city. Work is on to build a domestic airport on the northern suburbs at Yelahanka.
When to Visit
Bangalore has very pleasant weather through out the year, with March and April being warmer months till we get the “April Showers”. Else, temperature is more or less uniform through out the year on the cooler side.
Rather than suggesting “Best time to Visit”, I would suggest the months of March and April as the “Best Times not to visit”.
Where to Stay
You can find various kinds of accommodation based upon your budget. Starting from luxury hotels where the room rent may go upto Rs. 15,000 per night to service apartments and guest houses, there is something for every one. Service apartments are gaining in popularity of late. They are very neatly maintained and quite economical also.
How to Commute
Inside the city, you do not get the local trains or metros to travel. However, bus service is ok, though all the boards are in Kannada. Autos run by meter with Rs. 5 per kilometer rate. Several times the autos may not agree to go from one side of the city to other. Best thing to do in such a case is to go to an intermediate place (Indira Nagar, MG Road, Shivaji Nagar etc are such places) and change from there.
If you can afford a little higher, then there are enough call taxis (called citi taxi) that run on the meter and are quite dependable also.
Culture
Bangalore as a city is a mix of various cultures. The Kannadigas (i.e. people from Karnataka) are definitely the largest segment, though people sarcastically say that they are the minorities!!! Other noticeable communities are the Tamils, Keralites, North Indians and even foreigners… all measuring up to more or less the same fraction of the pie.
Hence the culture is quite cosmopolitan, where each accepts the culture of the others as their own and grow as a fusion.
Probably the most noticeable culture is that of young software engineers and ITES professionals. As a result, pubs, bikes, multiplexes etc have grown manifold during past decade.
On top of that, you can still see the faint impact of the military set-up that dominated this town once upon a time.
In short, its not possible to define a culture for Bangalore. If you are looking for anything in particular, you are bound to get it.
Precaution
Off late, Bangalore is not being considered as a very safe city, especially at the late hours. Snatching and pick pocketing have been on the rise. Hence, if you go out, its advisable that you return back before 11 in the night… at least, don’t walk in the lonely areas during late hours.
Places to see in and around Bangalore
Bangalore is full of natural beauties in and around. The following is just a glimpse of the same.
Bangalore City:The must see places inside Bangalore include Lal Bagh, the Vidhan Soudha, Bangalore Palace, Iskon Temple, Bull Temple, the Lord Shiva Statue near Kemp Fort and Ulsoor Lake.
Mysore: Mysore is normally clubbed with Bangalore on a tourist trip. Its 3- 4 hours drive away from Bangalore. The places to see are the fabulous Mysore Palace and the awesome Vrindavan Gardens.
River Lodges: If you drive around 100 kilometers from Bangalore towards river Cauvery, a series of river lodges where you can spend a quite outing on the banks of Cauvery in professionally managed tent houses. The most well known resort is at Kabini.
Hill Stations: All major hill stations of south are quite close to Bangalore, which include Ooty, Cunoor, Munnar etc. Also popular are the smaller hills like Nandi Hills, which is one of the most favorite tourist destinations.
Other Places of Interest: There are many other places available around Bangalore, which need a short and pleasant drive. These include the Coorg Valley, Chickmaglur, Hassan, Shivaganga and Ramohali.
Things to do in Bangalore
For the more city oriented people, there are enough and more things to do at Bangalore city itself.
For the people traveling with family, a visit to Cubbon Park or Lalbaagh will give a glimpse of the city’s greenery. You can also go for a boating at Ulsoor Lake or Sanky Tank. There are water parks and gaming areas for the kids.
For the people who like shopping,you can easily spent one full lazy day strolling on the footpaths of MG Road, Brigade Road or the best… Commercial Street, called as the street shopper’s heaven. With round the year discount sales, that’s often the target for shoppers. On the outskirts of the city, Marathahali gives you an array of factory outlets. If you want the shopping in a modern mall, then you can pick up between Life Style, Shoppers Stop, Bangalore Central or the most recent: Forum Mall.
And for the partying and extrovert junta…options are plenty… Pubs have mushroomed all over the city, with Brigade Road being the heart. So are the joints for Bowling, Snooker or even the multiplexes.
Five things I like about Bangalore
The Climate
The Lifestyle
Options of leisure activities
The openness of People
The discounts !!
Five Things I don’t like
The infrastructure
The traffic snarls
Cost of living
Lack of public transport
The unplanned development
Note for the Bangalore based members:
Pl send me your e mail IDs at swarajmishra@hotmail.com or M2M the same to me…. We can try and have an all MS member get together at Bangalore!!!
