Bangalore part 2

Ok... So Bangalore is rather big and somewhat green (as stated earlier). Just how big and green, I was to find out today! I decided after having tuk tuk drivers trying to fleece me, to walk (also to give my recovering foot some excercise) in moderate sunday traffic, towards the former royal palace of the Wodeyar dynasty some 3km away. Despite that moderate traffic it took me well over an hour in increasing heat (and suddenly not-so-sunday traffic) to get there... Even when nearly there, tuk tuk thugs still tried to lure me into their vehicles but sadly for them, they received a 'no!' everytime they tried.

Was the palace worth the walk? Well yes and no. Yes, it was rather odd to see something which looks on the outside like it was transplanted from some part of yorkshire (Yorkshire England that is) to the thirty degree heat of Bangalore (including the Ivy on the outer walls) The inside was more indian however. Be it the dancehall, with interesting plantmotifs and other chambers or the large reception hall above that, all were ornately detailed (including the furniture designed by a Britsh architect who operated out of Calcutta as described on some presentation drawings). The other parts of the palace gave more detail to the lives of the family but the building itself seems to be crumbling, the (somewhat eerie) conservatry is testament to that as are the sorry state of some of the plaster and the rather smudgy paintings. One of the two things that intrigued me the most were the pictures of the royal family, one of which showed a rather tall standing Englishman next to a rather diminutive looking, sitting Maharadja. So guess who the real power in India was. The other was a weighing contraption comprising a chair with a lever and a balance connected to it. Sadly the weights themselves seemed to be missing... One last interesting bit of cultural contamination: a mains operated lucky kitty :) All in all it was somewhat interesting but the 450 rupee entry fee and the 650 rupee camera permit were a bit steep. I'm also guessing that the castle hardly sees any of that money flow back for its upkeep.

And here's where the no comes in: there really wasn't a whole lot to see. The gardens were unkempt, not everything was accessible and the general state of the buiding disappointed me. It's nothing like the viceregal lodge I saw the last time I was in India, that's for sure.

Anyway, on with the show! Still refusing offers from the tuk tuk brigade, I started to walk back to the city center but with a detour through Chhikpet and its busy commercial area...

Well, that turned out to be quite a slog... 5 km from the palace to get there, no water and 30 degree heat aren't really a goood combination. What was interesting though was that eventhough the whole city seemed not to be doing anything commercial, chickpet most definately was! Sunday doesn't seem to exist here, it's a huge bazaar, and most definately a piece of 'old' unsanitized India with some cows (nonexistend around the MG road/ Brigade road area where I'm based) to help ease and chaotify traffic. Every emporium great and small (and minuscule) can be found her; hawkers of medical supplies, fruit or car tyres... You name it, they've got it! I almost feel like the only non-Indian in Bangalore walking down the broken-up street here, with people staring and giggeling when I've passed them by and cars nearly gently crashing into me. No one asked me for a photograph though, I'm sure that will come later on...

Walking back to the hotel again took almost two hours (in equal parts thanks to fatigue, heavy traffic and a unintended detour) in which time I stumbled across a demonstration for equal university tests in India (which seem to differ from state to state)... Once back and after checking google maps it turns out I nearly walked 15 km today, something of a personal record!

Oh and for an Indian city this size, there's a remarkable amount of trees around the city. The 'garden city' (or "pensioner's paradise") as it was once nicknamed is however, no longer.

Dinner consisted of onion dosa's (nice) and a south indian concoction of which I can't remember the name but which I liked eventhough it was rather spicy, the beer served as a fire extinguisher... Thanks to my jetlag and despite my fatigue, sleep didn't come easy...