Bangalore

Who would have thought that after a gap of 10 years, I would get to go to Bangalore twice in 10 days.

I was in Bangalore for IDF this Monday thru Wednesday and at a customer visit last week.

As it is getting a hotel in Bangalore is'nt easy, IDF did not help matters much. I eventually found a room at the Royal Palms Hotel and Spa. This is a recent addition to the hotels in Bangalore and is owned by Sanjay Khan.

It is a nice property but way too far from Bangalore. It took me over 1 hour just to get to IDF and back. It took 565/- Rs and 1.5 hrs to get from the Airport to the hotel in a pre-paid taxi. I retained the taxi driver for about 1000/- Rs a day so that I could get to IDF, see a little bit of Bangalore and get dropped back.

The commute to and from the hotel was so long and arduous that it left me no time to relax in Bangalore. The traffic in Bangalore will keep any rational person away from Bangalore and will soon prevent people/IT companies from opening shops there.

The only good thing about Bangalore is its cleanliness and the open ness. It is also a great place for couples. It is still more expensive than Delhi for everyday things.

Expenses:
12,040/- for the room at Golden Palms (2 nights)
799 /- for a 499.00 Rs dinner and 300.00 Rs bottle of Corona.

8600/- for the room at Royal Orchid (1 night)
This was clearly the most expensive beer I have had to date. The volume to rupee ratio for this beer completely pissed me off.

I was happy that I was able to buy some Indian and German wines from "The Wine and Cheese" shop on Brigade road. Hopefully I will get a change to enjoy them sometime this weekend.