India Day 2
First note -- Beth corrected me that Jayanagar is not actually on the edge of Bangalore. In fact, it is fairly central. Which is good, because Bangalore is enormous.
Today we had breakfast buffet at the hotel -- idly, dosas, sambar (sorry, you'll have to look them up as I'm trying to keep this brief) with a couple of nods towards Western breakfast -- croissants, corn flakes. And fresh fruit.
Beth went off to work. I wandered in our neighborhood a little and then took an auto-rickshaw to the Bull Temple and adjacent Ganesh Dodda (?) temple. Each had a monumental statue covered in garlands, attended to by hindu priests. Elaborate carvings on the outsides of the temples. Got a blessing from a preist (red pigment smeared on my forehead) and gave a small donation. Asked a lady to take my picture, and she struck up a conversation. She and her husband, originally from Delhi, now live in Toronto and are here for her husband's work. They had hired a driver for the day and offered to take me with them. Since they were headed towards Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, which Beth had recommended, I went with them. The husband got me an entry ticket at the garden for the Indian price, 10 rs ($.20) instead of the foreigner's price, 400 rs (=$8.00). Huge park; we saw a glass pavilion (a bit like SF's Conservatory of Flowers, minus walls and flowers), fountain, etc etc and statues of Snow White's 7 dwarves.
They dropped me off at a little restaurant and they went on to their hotel. I had a vegetarian thali plate and a large bottle of water for 56rs. A little over a dollar. Asked the waiter for some tips on eating indian style -- pour spoonfuls of sambar (sauce/soup) over rice, mix, scoop saucy rice on plate, pinch it up w/ first two fingers and thumb, shove into mouth with thumb.
Next went to MG Road/Brigade road shopping area. Went to a large mall and searched for salwar kameez (long shirts w/ baggy pants). Bought one salwar (pants) and two kurtas (shirts) and two scarves at Fabindia. Planning to wear one of these outfits on my bus ride to Timbaktu collective.
OK, it's bed time. Peace out.
Today we had breakfast buffet at the hotel -- idly, dosas, sambar (sorry, you'll have to look them up as I'm trying to keep this brief) with a couple of nods towards Western breakfast -- croissants, corn flakes. And fresh fruit.
Beth went off to work. I wandered in our neighborhood a little and then took an auto-rickshaw to the Bull Temple and adjacent Ganesh Dodda (?) temple. Each had a monumental statue covered in garlands, attended to by hindu priests. Elaborate carvings on the outsides of the temples. Got a blessing from a preist (red pigment smeared on my forehead) and gave a small donation. Asked a lady to take my picture, and she struck up a conversation. She and her husband, originally from Delhi, now live in Toronto and are here for her husband's work. They had hired a driver for the day and offered to take me with them. Since they were headed towards Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, which Beth had recommended, I went with them. The husband got me an entry ticket at the garden for the Indian price, 10 rs ($.20) instead of the foreigner's price, 400 rs (=$8.00). Huge park; we saw a glass pavilion (a bit like SF's Conservatory of Flowers, minus walls and flowers), fountain, etc etc and statues of Snow White's 7 dwarves.
They dropped me off at a little restaurant and they went on to their hotel. I had a vegetarian thali plate and a large bottle of water for 56rs. A little over a dollar. Asked the waiter for some tips on eating indian style -- pour spoonfuls of sambar (sauce/soup) over rice, mix, scoop saucy rice on plate, pinch it up w/ first two fingers and thumb, shove into mouth with thumb.
Next went to MG Road/Brigade road shopping area. Went to a large mall and searched for salwar kameez (long shirts w/ baggy pants). Bought one salwar (pants) and two kurtas (shirts) and two scarves at Fabindia. Planning to wear one of these outfits on my bus ride to Timbaktu collective.
OK, it's bed time. Peace out.