Bengaluru

Bengaluru, January 4-9, and 13-13, 2020. Had a good time in Bengaluru ( formerly Bangalore). At first I stayed at the Parijatha Gateway Hotel, Near Soap Factory Metro, which was ideal for my purposes. Transit & shopping was nearby, and there was a mall and good food. The Metro in BLR is VERY modern and smooth- be prepared to be patted down (women and men separately) to get into the station, and you can but a metrocard at the ticket window. In Bangalore the internet is VERY fast (it is India's Silicon Valley) and every other person is an engineer... and can chat you up in multiple languages.( their English may be better than yours :). Uber works well inside the city, but I advise a pre-paid taxi from the airport to your hotel (as flagging down your Uber at the airport is a bit difficult because of the congestion there). Now, lets talk about traffic- I have lived in NYC and I can say with authority that, yes, Bangalore has the worst traffic congestion I have ever seen. Any time that Google maps gives you to get anywhere by Auto or bus in Bangalore can be Doubled or Tripled to get the actual time of transit- you can't make this sit up... I am not kidding. All that aside, I never felt unsafe in Bangalore.

Food in Bangalore is varied and tasty... You will have a good variety of Vegetarian and non-vegetarian options available to you. I did not seek out the night life, but there sure are some fancy upscale places if you want them.

My second stay ion the trip was at the Conrad Hilton, which is in a class all by itself but not your everyday Nomad kind of place (My expenses were being covered for that, the price per night is insanely low by western standards, and so if you need some amazing pampering for a night or two, this is your go-to place) . Internet was fast, staff was attentive, scenery can't be beat. Uber back to the airport was easy.

I will return to Bengaluru in the future.