Arriving in Bangalore/Bengaluru

Arriving in India after more than 24 sleepless hours of travelling was interesting, but luckily I have previously travelled in some similar countries such as Nepal and Sri Lanka, so despite the brain fog I was at least a little bit prepared for what happens next…

Bengaluru airport was not too busy at 10pm, so baggage claim, immigration, and customs was all relatively smooth – except that it wasn’t appreciated that I didn’t yet have an Indian phone number. A short interaction with the customer official, and I ended up inventing a number just to get through the process. The next obstacle was the taxi journey. At first the road in from airport was fairly clear, but soon the traffic became congested and all vehicles from the smallest scooters to the largest trucks were jostling for every inch of space on the road. And next to the road. Lane markings and stopping distances were entirely negotiable, but somehow it all worked and the traffic kept moving. The obstacle causing the hold up turned out to be an Indian military convoy which was transporting a helicopter, with the huge rotor blades on the flat bed of one truck, and the helicopter body complete with smiling soldiers in the pilot seats, loaded on another truck. The whole thing reduced the (nominally) 3 lane highway down to (nominally) one lane, along which about 3 actual columns of traffic weaved their way amongst each other with just a few centimetres to spare. Everyone was sounding their horns, but not in anger, instead just to say “I’m here!” to the other drivers.

I was the first of 3 students to arrive at the guesthouse where we would be staying while in Bangalore, and was greeted by a young man who was staying there to meet me as I arrived at around midnight. He spoke Hindi and hardly any English, but luckily I know a few words in Hindi – Namaste to greet people, and importantly, paani for water. Along with friendly smiles and gestures we got by well enough, and then I made up a bed for myself and despite all the noise slept really soundly until morning!

The guesthouse in Bangalore

The next morning our in-country placement co-ordinator Augustine arrived. He gave me a tour of everything in the guesthouse, how to use the machine to filter water for drinking, where the laundry was, how to use the boiler to get hot water for showers etc. We talked for a while about our work histories and what to expect in India, plus things I might do that day. He had already stocked the kitchen with milk, eggs, bread, and tea, and later he brought jack fruit, mangoes, and papaya as well. Then we went outside where he showed me how to get to the café around the corner for basic and cheap Indian food. There was a western-style coffee shop further along just in case I wanted that. Having talked through directions for getting to Commercial Street and back, Augustine hailed a tuk tuk for me and we said goodbye as I ventured off into the city for the first time.