All posts tagged: Bengaluru

Places To Stay, India

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Probably one of the most frustrating things about travelling in India on my own was having a limited budget to spend on accommodation.  With two people and two budgets I could have stayed in some fabulous places. Accommodation was hit and miss in India and planning only a few days ahead at a time had its advantages and disadvantages as I discovered.  To save you some time trawling through Trip Advisor and various accommodation websites, if you’re looking for mostly mid-range accommodation, here’s where I stayed and who I recommend and which places you need to avoid like the plague. Chennai The Golden Fruits Business Suites.  This was my first experience of accommodation in India and it was fine by Indian standards.  I did struggle understanding the staff but I think this was due to acclimatising to India and their accents!  The breakfast buffet was average and there weren’t many restaurants close by and I found it hard to get my bearings around the area.  Its clean and tidy but I would recommend to hire a driver …

Chasing Tona

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I was buzzing when I discovered the graffiti artist Tona on arrival in India, it was an unexpected surprise.  My first glimpse of the artist was in Puducherry.  I was captivated by the images in front of me, hidden amongst the stunning architecture of the French Quarter.  So much so was my captivation that when I caught a glimpse of the artist again while on a tuk tuk in Bengaluru, I made my friend walk the streets at night in search of this mysterious artist. Sadly we didn’t have any luck that evening in finding Tona, but we did stumble across the Ritz Carlton! To my delight when I saw his art again in the Fort Cochin area I really got excited, they were everywhere. From there on in as I continued to travel through India I was on the look out for Tona.  I discovered more in Varkala (on a boat), and again in Cape Comorin.  From what I can find Tona is a stencil artist based in Hamburg. Sadly I didn’t find anymore …

A Luxury Escape For Two

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Thanks to some creative accounting I was fortunate enough to spend two days at Shreyas Yoga Retreat with my friend Majo.  After spending most of the week in Bengaluru, the prerequisite for the weekend was to retreat away from the city and embark on a wellbeing journey of the luxury kind.  From the moment we departed our hotel, we had a sense we were about to experience something special.  From the chauffeur driven Indian Army car (it pays to have friends in high places), to the ceremonial blessing on arrival and refreshing pineapple and celery drink (who would have thought of that combination), our humid one hour car journey was quickly forgotten and a sense of calm gathered around us as we were transported into another world. Nestled amongst 25 acres of greenery and frangipani gardens, we were guided through the resort to our garden cottage tent named Titiksha.  Titiksha is Sanskrit meaning forbearance. Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 2, Sloka 14) refers to Titiksha as the contact between the senses and the sense objects.  O Arjuna, are the …

Happy Holi

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Holi festival, also known as the festival of colours and the festival of love is an ancient Hindu festival which celebrates the beginning of Spring.  I was fortunate enough to be in India to experience this wonderful festival.  Although the North of India traditionally celebrates the festival in its true entirety and is the best place to be for Holi, we were still pretty happy to be in Bengaluru to celebrate. The day progresses as a game of chase with dry powder and water.  Anyone and everyone is fair game.  If there are patches of bare skin showing, watch out! By the end of the day you are literally covered in colour.  When you think you have as much colour on you as possible, someone will think otherwise.  The best part about our day was the people we met. We were taught Bollywood dancing in the rain by complete strangers, we threw powder back as equally hard as we received it and my face was sore from laughing all day. If you are ever in …

We’ll Always Have Bengaluru

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There’s always something quite special about travelling when you’re able to share it with a friend or loved one creating memories to cherish for life. With the majority of my time in India to be spent travelling on my own, luck was on my side, my friend Majo was to be in India for work around the same time. Majo is the New Zealand Operations Manager for Fair Trade Australia & New Zealand. She studied international law and human rights at university which led her to work for the United Nations in countries such as Vienna, Afghanistan and Bolivia. She’s a wife, a mother to two gorgeous girls and someone I feel very lucky to call a friend. Unsure of when we would get to see each other again, I happily worked my itinerary to fit in with her so we could spend a few days together in Bengaluru. Bengaluru or previously known as Bangalore, is one of India’s major IT hubs. As I drove into the city it was a refreshing change after Chennai …