Bangalore: no cows in sight

Chris and I just returned from a fabulous visit to the IT capital of India, Bangalore.  I had to go to Bangalore for a work trip, so Chris accompanied me for the journey.  Bangalore is surprisingly very different from Mumbai.  While perhaps from an international perspective, Bangalore still delivers the chaos, pollution, traffic and general sensory overload that many Indian cities do, for us - who have grown very accustomed to Mumbai (which includes Mercedes sharing the roads with cows/donkeys, interminable construction, jarring potholes, colorful nightlife, Bollywood parties, a profundity of gray/weathered buildings, etc.) - Bangalore seemed much more, well, orderly.  Huge glass & steel-constructed IT parks frame wide, tree-lined roads.  There are few potholes in sight, much green space, fantastic food (this is similar to Mumbai) and we even saw people in Tevas frequenting the nightclubs (as opposed to the high-heeled, sunglassed-Bollywood aesthetic)!  Sadly, there is a 11:30 pm curfew so the city does not quite deliver on the night life in the same way that Bombay does (10 - 11pm dinners, etc).  Anyway, the differences were noticeable - granted, we only spent a few days in Bangalore, but it was a fantastic time...

Anyway, we are now getting ready for the next phase of visitors!  Chris' family comes this week for an exciting two weeks in Mumbai, Rajasthan (Jodhpur and Jaisalmer) and Ajanta/Ellora, and then many friends to follow...