India - week 5

Bengaluru aka Bangalore is called the silicone valley of India because it's the world's fastest growing tech hub. It's also historically an education centre.

We arrived in the afternoon and went for a walk. What a zoo! We turned down a side street where there were dozens of silk and saree shops and into the fray. Hundreds of people and mopeds trying to get through, past the vendors set up in the road. It was worse than Waterloo station at rush hour when the trains had been cancelled. 

The next day we headed out again, past market stalls that turned into a flea market, then a fruit vegetable market, all the while dodging mopeds, tuk tuks, cars, buses and the occasional wandering cow.

We visited the old fort which was a smallish enclosure with thick dome walls.  Then on to Tipu Sultan's summer palace. 

We walked through a very tranquil park and on to a State government building which was very ornate 

We then hailed a tuk tuk to take us to 

Bangalore palace as it was too far to walk. We didn't bother going in as all reviews stated the outside of the building was the best. It was nowhere near as grand as Mysore Palace 

The following day we walked to the

 Sri Bull temple, then botanical gardens 

Then it was time to leave Bengalaru and get a bus to Hospet, the closest town to enable us to visit Hampi. What a journey.

The coach was over an hour late and finally turned up during a heavy downpour. It was a 'sleeper' coach (the only tickets we could get) so it had beds instead of seats. So glad we didn't opt for the upper deck. It turned out to be quite comfortable, even though we, and our bags, were completely soaked through and we had to keep them with us (as the driver obviously didn't want to get wet opening the storage compartment below). After 7 hours, the coach dropped us off on the bypass road, miles from the town and any sign of bus, taxi or tuk tuks. In the dark and pouring rain we walked up the freeway onslip road to signs of life and were relieved to find a tuk tuk who drove us 20 minutes to our hotel. 

We had to go and see Hampi, yet another UNESCO world heritage site and according to the Lonely Planet guide, the second most recommended place to visit in India after the Taj Mahal. 

Hampi was the last capital of the last great Hindu Kingdom of Vijayanagar and built between the 14th and 16th centuries. According to Wikipedia "Hampi-Vijayanagara is estimated to be the world's second-largest city by 1500, after Beijing, and probably India's richest at that time, attracting traders from Persia and Portugal" . In 1565 the city was pillaged and destroyed by Muslim armies over a period of six months before being abandoned in ruins

The property encompasses an area of over 4000 hectares, 16 square miles. We could have spent a week walking around the monuments and still not seen it all. Here are just a few photos 

Elephant stables 

Stone chariot 

The day started off bright and sunny, but we knew it wouldn't last as 4mm of rain  had been forecast. Yeah, right. I'm sure we had that in the first ten minutes. In-between the downpours, we were able to walk around the monuments with our trusty brollies at the ready, and get the occasional tuk tuk between areas. By the end of the day, we were both completely soaked but happy.

Time to head north again, this time to Vijayapura. The city is famous for Gol Gumbaz (means round dome) which is a mausoleum built in 1659. The tomb's enormous dome is one of the largest in the world. It has an internal diameter of just under 38 metres covering a floor area of 1,700 square metres. At least 102 huge steps (each one 12-18 in/30-45 cm) up to the dome brought us to the whispering gallery. Apparently the slightest sound made at one end of the gallery can be heard at the other side. Unfortunately, there were so many kids making a noise it sounded like a room full of howler monkeys! When we finally left the building, my legs were like jelly.

The next day we went exploring and found more ruins. Bara Kaman is a 1600's unfinished mausoleum.

Gagana Mahal Palace was built in 1561 as a royal palace with a durbar hall (a place where an Indian prince or British colonial governor holds a public audience). The durbar hall was located in the ground floor while the first floor was built as the private residence of the royal family.

We also visited Shivagiri Temple. At 85 feet tall, it is the fourth largest statue of Shiva in the world 

We now have a couple of overnight stops in Solapur and Thane to enable us to make our way north again to Aurangabad. We can't rely on trains to be on time to get a connection and do more than one hop a day. There is no concept of time here so we just grind our teeth,  smile and carry on.

India - week 4

 Trains, hills and palaces

We took our first train journey from Alleppey to Coimbatore, a trip lasting 6 1/2 hours. The actual train started 2 hours before our connection, crossed the country to the east coast then wended its way north, taking a total of 48 hours. Our allocated 'seats' were the top two bunks, but the nice family let us share their space. 

These sleeper bunks, converted to daytime use, included fresh sheets, still in paper bags, pillows and blankets. We were pleasantly surprised by the constant flow of vendors selling a variety of food, drinks and other products. We bought 3 samosas and 3 battered mild chilli peppers for less than £1/€1. For those on longer journeys, they could order food from a restaurant near one of the passing stations and have it delivered to their seat. All very civilised and not at all like the movies.

Coimbatore was just an overnight stop so we could catch a bus to Ooty, one of the hill stations. As the bus wasn't full (only 3 of us) the company opted to transport us by taxi instead for an additional £4. Quite cheap considering it took 3 hours. As we drove higher, we passed many tea plantations on the terraced hillside, making good use of the cooler climate.

Ooty, aka Udhagamandalam is known as the "Queen of hill stations" and also has the nickname "snooty Ooty". It is one of the hill stations where the Maharaja's etc. used to live and govern during the summer months. It was about 10C cooler at 2,200m than where we had been and on the last evening, I actually wore my cotton jumper.

We visited the Government botanical gardens which were established in 1848 and covers 22 hectares/54 acres. They were getting ready for their annual flower show, with many structures filled with oasis, waiting for the plants. Unfortunately we left a few days before but at least we got to see the gardens. 

When we stopped to sit in the shade, this is when we became minor celebrities. Many families and children stopped to talk and have their photos taken with us. As I said in my previous post, many people don't travel outside of their own country so seeing a white face in a non-tourist place is a novelty. At the start of our trip I had to do a Google search as to why locals wanted our photos. It's nothing sinister, they just want proof that they made friends with a tourist and we didn't see any other non-Indian people during the entire time we were in Ooty.

The next day we visited the Government Rose Garden which opened in 1995. The rose show had been the previous weekend but some of the exhibits were still standing. A few afternoons of heavy downpours had taken its toll on some of the rose bushes, but the gardens were still impressive with over 20,000 species over 4 hectares/10 acres.

From Ooty we took a coach down to Mysore, a journey of over 5 hours. We drove through a couple of nature reserves and saw many herds of spotted deer, buffaloes, monkeys, peacocks, warthogs and elephants, some with their handlers. The journey itself was quite interesting when the driver decided to pass cars, trucks, mopeds etc. on blind bends. Coming into the city we saw the palaces lit up which was quite spectacular.

Mysore palace and gardens were really impressive. The first palace inside the Old Fort was built in the 14th century, which was set ablaze and reconstructed multiple times. The building of the current structure commenced in 1897, after the Old Palace burnt down. Mysore Palace is one of the most famous tourist attractions in India, after the Taj Mahal.

The palace itself had the wow factor with lots of bling, artwork and painted ceilings.

The gardens were beautifully manicured with topiary elephants, and other animals

We also got to meet two of the locals and their handler 

Due to a thunderstorm, the evening sounds and light program was cancelled, which was a shame.

There were a number of temples on the grounds. 

We're now on an intercity train to Bengaluru aka Bangalore.