MY TRIPS

Jaipur   Ranikhet   Hemkund

    I love to travel and love it more if it's by road, 'coz then I can get the feel of things, the ambience of the scenic beauty, the actual flavour of India; the colourful hamlets along the highways. Even the small tea 'gumtis' (shops) have their own charm.

    Out of all the places that I have travelled to, my personal favourites are Bangalore, Jaipur and Ranikhet. Well these places are favourites because I felt I was at home here and could have settled down permanently. I did travel to Bangalore by train, but I motored down to Jaipur, Hemkund and Ranikhet. I'm sharing my experiences and opinions, which are my own.

BANGALORE

    Truly, a cosmopolitan city. The weather is idyllic; people are nice and well mannered. It has a very salubrious and equable climate. The weather is neither humid nor dry. The main season to visit Bangalore, according to me is from June to October. People here speak and understand Hindi and English, although the major languages are Kannada and Tamil with a little bit of Telgu thrown in. The transport system is quite good. Bangalore is a city of gardens and parks. The main shopping areas are the Brigade Road, M. G. Marg, Infantry Road, Commercial Street, Chandini Chowk, Church Street and the Broadway Road. The main attraction about Bangalore is it's numerous bars/pubs, which are more or less on the Brigade Road, M. G. Road and Residency Road. Among the pubs, I found NASA, The Underground, Black Cadillac and The Pub World to be very satisfying and satiating experiences. You get all types of food, be it any type of cuisine. Nearly all the cinema halls have the DTS sound systems and watching movies is a pleasure. The main places of interests in Bangalore are Cubbon Park, Vidhan Soundha, Government Aquarium, Carriapa Park and Lalbagh. If in Bangalore, then one must take out time to visit Coorg, Ooty and Mysore. The much-hyped Big Kemp in Bangalore comes as a big let down. The Shoppers' Stop is definitely better and bigger. Evenings can be spent loitering around the Brigade Road and M. G. Road or one can do pub hopping. The crowd is very hep and happening.