Day 10 - Bangalore
I didn't sleep too well last night thanks to the continuous loud pinging from the lifts. When I got up I realised I couldn't open my luggage as the airline had sealed it with cable ties. Thank goodness I had a pair of scissors with me! Unfortunately, the scissors were *inside* the luggage. Doh! So I had to make do with what I wore yesterday and no knickers.
After a breakfast of french toast, maple syrup, fruit and orange juice we were on the coach for 9am.
Our first stop was the Botanic Gardens, which are attractive enough but not a 'must-see'. After a wander around we got back on the coach and drove to the Bull Temple, a temple of Shiva. Each of the Hindu gods has a particular animal for a steed: Shiva the bull, Vishnu the lion, Ganesh the rat, and so on, and each of these animals serves as a symbol of that god. The main feature of the bull temple is a gigantic statue of a bull. There were crowds of people here today as it turned out it was the New Year or Ugadi festival. Everyone was dressed in their best and worshipping at the temple. It was wonderful. I went inside the various small temples and watched the priest blessing the devotees, and then was blessed myself with Carol at the Bull Temple. We didn't take photos in the smaller temples as it felt disrespectful, and Carol asked me to share my shawl with her as she felt improperly dressed in a sleeveless top. I don't think anyone really minded, but we were both keen to show respect.
Outside the temple we took photos of people arriving in their best clothes with flowers in their hair, and I bought a tender coconut for R15. I love these coconuts; they are so refreshing.
Then it was back to the coach for the very long drive to Hassan. The countryside here in the state of Karnataka is very different to that in Rajasthan in the north - much greener with lots of coconut palms and banana plants. The people speak Kannada rather than Hindi and the written script is very round, rather like Sinhala (but unrelated, I was told).
On the way we made two comfort stops. The first was at a fast food outlet where I bought some salt and pepper cashews and a box of assorted barfi. The second was at Cafe Coffee Day - the Indian equivalent of Starbucks. It was really quite amusing to be confronted by lattes and cappucinos in the middle of nowhere! I was a bit peckish and bought eggs on toast.
It was 4pm by the time we arrived at the Hoysala Village hotel, where we were greeted with watermelon juice, garlands of jasmine and vermillion bindis. My room wasn't quite ready so a nice young man showed me around the garden full of jasmine, hibiscus and mock orange, and then showed me into my room. Off he went and a couple of minutes later there was a knock at the door - there was Ken with a pair of scissors to cut the ties off my luggage. He went away and there was *another* knock at the door - this time the nice young man again wanting to show me how the aircon worked. By this time I was needing the loo and tried to politely hint that everything was fine thank you, but he wouldn't take the hint. He insisted on rearranging my flower garland and helping me improve my 'namaste' hand position, although I think to be honest he just wanted to feel my boobs. When he started to show me 'some beautiful asanas' I chucked him out. Well, he was a bit skinny for my taste ;)
After a shower I had a lovely swim in the pool and a Planter's Punch (rum, orange juice and grenadine) for R150 (!!!). There was a lovely spread for dinner. I had egg curry, baby corn curry and chicken malai tikka, followed by gulab jamun and a banana from the garden. After a couple more cocktails I retired to my bungalow, watched a gecko on the wall for a while and then went to bed and slept like a log.
Reflecting on the last few days I think to be honest I could happily have skipped Bangalore. We had to drive a very long time to a mediocre hotel after a tiring flight, and I would have preferred to have stayed somewhere closer to the airport. The botanic gardens were nothing special and although the Bull Temple was interesting I'm sure we will see other equally fascinating temples elsewhere. Bangalore itself seemed to be busy, crowded and not particularly pleasant. I would rather have spent more time in Delhi or Jaipur.
After a breakfast of french toast, maple syrup, fruit and orange juice we were on the coach for 9am.
Our first stop was the Botanic Gardens, which are attractive enough but not a 'must-see'. After a wander around we got back on the coach and drove to the Bull Temple, a temple of Shiva. Each of the Hindu gods has a particular animal for a steed: Shiva the bull, Vishnu the lion, Ganesh the rat, and so on, and each of these animals serves as a symbol of that god. The main feature of the bull temple is a gigantic statue of a bull. There were crowds of people here today as it turned out it was the New Year or Ugadi festival. Everyone was dressed in their best and worshipping at the temple. It was wonderful. I went inside the various small temples and watched the priest blessing the devotees, and then was blessed myself with Carol at the Bull Temple. We didn't take photos in the smaller temples as it felt disrespectful, and Carol asked me to share my shawl with her as she felt improperly dressed in a sleeveless top. I don't think anyone really minded, but we were both keen to show respect.
Outside the temple we took photos of people arriving in their best clothes with flowers in their hair, and I bought a tender coconut for R15. I love these coconuts; they are so refreshing.
Then it was back to the coach for the very long drive to Hassan. The countryside here in the state of Karnataka is very different to that in Rajasthan in the north - much greener with lots of coconut palms and banana plants. The people speak Kannada rather than Hindi and the written script is very round, rather like Sinhala (but unrelated, I was told).
On the way we made two comfort stops. The first was at a fast food outlet where I bought some salt and pepper cashews and a box of assorted barfi. The second was at Cafe Coffee Day - the Indian equivalent of Starbucks. It was really quite amusing to be confronted by lattes and cappucinos in the middle of nowhere! I was a bit peckish and bought eggs on toast.
It was 4pm by the time we arrived at the Hoysala Village hotel, where we were greeted with watermelon juice, garlands of jasmine and vermillion bindis. My room wasn't quite ready so a nice young man showed me around the garden full of jasmine, hibiscus and mock orange, and then showed me into my room. Off he went and a couple of minutes later there was a knock at the door - there was Ken with a pair of scissors to cut the ties off my luggage. He went away and there was *another* knock at the door - this time the nice young man again wanting to show me how the aircon worked. By this time I was needing the loo and tried to politely hint that everything was fine thank you, but he wouldn't take the hint. He insisted on rearranging my flower garland and helping me improve my 'namaste' hand position, although I think to be honest he just wanted to feel my boobs. When he started to show me 'some beautiful asanas' I chucked him out. Well, he was a bit skinny for my taste ;)
After a shower I had a lovely swim in the pool and a Planter's Punch (rum, orange juice and grenadine) for R150 (!!!). There was a lovely spread for dinner. I had egg curry, baby corn curry and chicken malai tikka, followed by gulab jamun and a banana from the garden. After a couple more cocktails I retired to my bungalow, watched a gecko on the wall for a while and then went to bed and slept like a log.
Reflecting on the last few days I think to be honest I could happily have skipped Bangalore. We had to drive a very long time to a mediocre hotel after a tiring flight, and I would have preferred to have stayed somewhere closer to the airport. The botanic gardens were nothing special and although the Bull Temple was interesting I'm sure we will see other equally fascinating temples elsewhere. Bangalore itself seemed to be busy, crowded and not particularly pleasant. I would rather have spent more time in Delhi or Jaipur.