Mysore Palace - Part 2

Okay, first, make sure you check out Mysore Palace - Part 1!

So, as I was saying, our first main stop for the day was the Summer Place of Tipu Sultan, otherwise known as the Dariya Daulat

Here's some quick info on the Summer Palace:

And here are some great shots of the grounds and palace:

And of course, a quick pic of your favorite blogger:

Mysore Palace - Part 1

Okay, finally time to give you my Mysore Monday post! I HAVE to post this now because I can't wait to post about where I am staying now: Diva Maldives! Okay, so Monday Drew, another coworker who had just arrived in Bangalore, joined us on our adventure. Also joining us was a member of Drew's Bangalore team, Swanu, and Swanu's family! We left our hotel and went to pick up Praveen on the way. Praveen is from Mysore so he, once again, graciously came along as our guide. Once we got on the road to Mysore, we got great views of outside of Bangalore:

We stopped for breakfast at a cool, outdoor place and tried some more fantastic Indian cuisine

Okay, so I haven't been keeping up with my facts but here's some interesting detail about the road to Mysore...

Biere and Fish

Okay gang, once again slacking on my updates.  Obviously our work here has begun!  We had a great day yesterday and had meetings almost all day to connect with team members over here.  Then Pam and I met with our entire Corporate Systems Bangalore team in the afternoon for a "state of the state" presentation of Corporate Systems as a whole.  We have such great team members over here.  I cannot say that enough.  WE HAVE SUCH... :)  Seriously though, they have all been great to meet with and they have all been so hospitable with us.  Truly great people here in Bangalore!

Now, even with our first full day in the office, you all know me.  Work hard.  Play hard.  So, after work we went out with a great group.  Anil, Praveen, Raji, Bala, Pam, Eric (Pam's husband) and your favorite blogger headed back towards UB City and went to a place called The Biere Club.  Bangalore's first craft brewery and an excellent suggestion by Praveen (ONCE AGAIN).  I have some pictures but haven't had time to upload them so you'll have to wait.  Really a great time sharing stories, jokes, and overall getting to know each other even better.  And you all know how easy that can be over a frosty beverage or two!  Unfortunately, that's about all I can share.  Sorry, Biere Club members only.  :)

Now, you may be wondering why I also included fish in my title.  Well, it just so happens there is an Asian spa across the street by the name of the Kenko Spa.  One of the big attractions at this particular spa are the fish.  They have fish pedicures available.  If you are unaware, a fish pedicure... well, let me quote from the Kenko website: "Once your feet have been placed in the warm water, the Doctor fish (Garra Rufa) begin to investigate. Once you have passed the point of feeling ticklish, the fish begin to act as a stimulating, yet relaxing massage with hundreds of them running their little suction cup mouths along your feet and toes. They seek out and remove dead skin, bacteria and calluses while rejuvenating healthy skin."  HA!  So, at the initiation of Anil (and his desire to try this out too)... Anil, Raji and I ran across the street to the spa.  Ran being an appropriate term (re: read my traffic post)!  Now, don't worry... I will NOT post pictures of my feet but what an experience!  It TOTALLY tickles the whole time but it is not bad.  I'm not sure how well they worked but they don't let up on you until you pull your feet out of the water.  Those little buggers must be really hungry!  So funny... we couldn't stop laughing the entire time.  I'd recommend it as it was truly a strange and hilarious experience.  Well, back to work but I should have more time tonight to post more.  Cheers!
~ Rich

Bangalore Traffic = Organized Chaos

Well gang, if there was ever a true Bangalore experience, it would be driving the streets of the city. Thankfully, my employer enlists the assistance of a company complete with experienced drivers to take you around the city. Never was this a better idea than in Bangalore. Don't mistake it, they have their driving down to, at it's core, a methodical and very deliberate act of "delivery." Many streets don't have controlled intersections. Blinkers are only used for substantial turns. Lane changes are at the discretion of the driver or rider (in the case of the hundreds of motorcycles and scooters used for transportation). As one coworker put it best, it is very much "organized chaos." Here, see for yourself:

This video is a decent representation of every trip we have taken. 99% of the time people are polite, yield, and generally work together to get from point A to point B. That said, this is without a doubt the largest culture shock I have experienced to-date. I was warned but nothing can really prepare you for it. And by and large you quickly become accustomed to it. Yet, there are still times where you seemingly come dangerously close to hitting another car, two-wheeler, person, stray dog, or even a cow (seriously). Finally, to be completely fair, I have yet to witness one accident. It is pretty amazing. Chaos, organized.

As for my Saturday Bangalore fact, I learned from my coworker Praveen that Bangalore has over 9 million people. Wikipedia states 8.5 in the 2011 census. Either way Minnesota, according to Wikipedia, has only 5.3 million. In the entire state! Not sure what the land mass comparison would yield but my bet is Banglaore and it's outskirts is smaller. Finally, Bangalore is only the 3rd largest city in India! Makes you understand the video above. Well, still more to come including our big trip to Mysore on Monday. Cheers!
~ Rich

I almost got mauled in Bangalore!!

Okay, not true in the least but nevertheless, I hope it got your attention for what I hope is a fun post. So, after our fun lunch at UB City, we journeyed south to Bannerghatta National Park. This park is essentially a preserve filled with animals and also contains a zoo as well. We arrived there after a crazy drive through the city. What am I talking about, EVERY drive through the city is crazy. More on that later...

So this is what it looks like at the entrance to the park:

I gotta say, I was starting to get pretty excited for this place. After waiting in the line, we boarded our bus for the travel through the park.

After boarding our bus, we proceeded to take a road that lead us into the park. The first animals we encountered were very exciting to the Indians on board. For us Minnesotans, not so much...

Yep! Good old fashioned deer here at Bannerghatta. Pretty funny to hear the excitement from the crowd. The next creatures were bears. Now, as I said, this park was pretty cool because it was more of the animals in their environment, but clearly they must feed them right off the road because every animal following the deer were right next to the bus! Made for some great shots but felt a little "manufactured." Still very cool. So, here are some close bear shots:

As I said, pretty cool being that close but this was nothing. It all felt very Jurassic Park-ish as we traveled from section to section we literally would enter gated sections where they would open one end, let us in up to the next gate, close the gate behind us, and then open the gate in front of us. VERY COOL feeling!

Next up, lions! Check out these pics:

And to give you some perspective, this is a shot of the bus ahead of us. Take a look on the right:

Next up, tigers! Here are some pictures. I cannot describe how big these suckas were.

They even had white tigers but this one was content in chillin' by the pond versus the road.

Here's another picture of the tiger. Again, these boys were big. This is literally right out the front windshield of the bus!

Finally, here is a video of the tiger. He keeps looking at something beyond the fence. We eventually saw it was another tiger beyond another gate. Scary part was, not more than 5 minutes later we were in that spot of the road and the tiger was nowhere to be seen.

Lastly, one final shot of our bus.

Pretty great experience...! Especially when you consider it only cost the four of us $14 US. TOTAL! Well, there's another post for the day. More to come for sure. I really hope you're all enjoying this as much as I'm enjoying posting! Next up, my "Driving the streets of Bangalore" post and my fact from Saturday. Plenty more to come y'all! Later,

~ Rich

Getting Ready

Well, I'm getting ready to leave this week! So excited! I've been talking a lot about the Maldives but first I will be traveling to Bangalore. My work is bringing me to the city and fortunately I'm going to be able to have a weekend to explore before really getting down to business.  I'll be definitely posting my weekend adventures!  One of my coworkers leaves the night of the first day we are there so I am hoping to see him too. Then, during the weekend we most likely will be traveling to the Mysore Palace.  I've heard great things about this day trip so I'm hoping that happens as well.  All in all, it will be approximately 18+ hours of time in a plane to get to Bangalore.  So, nothing but a quick post before my departure but expect much much more later this week and over the next two weeks.  I'm prepped and ready with my iPad, camera, and can't wait to share it all with those interested.  Cheers!

BTW - Here's a quick picture of the Mysore Palace... More to come!

MALL-deevz!

Well, as promised, I'd like to start by sharing more about what I have planned for the end of my trip.  I'll be going to travel south to the Maldives (officially, the Republic of Maldives).  As you can see, it is officially pronounced MALL-deevz, but the "dives" portion is what I'm really focused on!  First, some more information on the Maldives.  It is located just south/southwest of the tip of India.  See here:

Basically, it is just a ton of islands that form the smallest Asian country in both population and land area.  So, as mentioned, the main reason for me going there is diving.  Obviously, with basically a nation made up of islands, there are plenty of options for diving.  So, on that Friday after my week in the Bangalore offices, I will fly into Male' airport from Bangalore.  The picture below is of Male', the capital of the Maldives.

From there, you typically take either a sea plane or speed boat to make it to your resort.  Most resorts are located on their very own island!  All in all, I made the decision to travel to the Maldives because I doubt I'd ever take a trip from the US to visit.  Perhaps this trip will change that but I wanted to not lose out on the chance to visit what looks to be paradise.  Couple that with the diving options available and I made the call to extend my trip a few more days.  My plans for my next post will include more on what I intend to see in the Maldives and how that lead to my hotel choice while visiting... for now, one more pic of paradise!

A-OH! This is my blog...

Greetings loved ones... Let's take a JOURNEY! 

If you have found yourself here you may, just may, be interested in my upcoming trip to India and the Maldives.  If so, I really hope you stick around and keep up-to-date with me... If not, your loss.  This will be the primary way that I document my upcoming trip and the best way to connect with me while I'm there!  I'll begin sharing things here as I begin preparing and eventually travel to India.

So far, the main decisions have been made.  I'm leaving in early November in order to hopefully arrive during the day in Bangalore on a Friday.  This will give me the "full" weekend to explore Bangalore and get rid of my jet lag.  We will then spend the next week at our Bangalore offices.  Finally, on that next Friday, I will fly to the Maldives.  More on that paradise in a future post.  I'll be there for essentially the weekend and then back in the States that next week.  Otherwise, up until now, I have just been planning so more to come overall. 

Last but not least, yesterday I received my 5th of 6 total shots that will be required for this trip.  Oof.  I'm half-serious.  They weren't bad at ALL.  And are all very important.  Anyway, enough for now.  Please keep an eye on this spot and send me all your comments!