Back in Bangalore

So except for a quick stop in mostly forgetable Mamallapuram, this trip has been mostly a Matt’s “Best of Southern India” tour, wherein I show Karen all of the places that I liked when I lived in Bangalore 3 years ago. I think we’re in consensus that Kerala is the best state to visit. Favorite spots there are Fort Kochi (old Portuguese trading colony) and the beautiful tea plantation land in the hills of Munnar. If you’re interested in visiting India, but are scared, I’d suggest starting in Kerala, which is the richest state.

We’re in Bangalore today, and I’ve been dragging Karen around to where I used to hang out. My school, IIM-Bangalore, is basically the same, but it was nice to see that all of the road and building construction they were working on there has finished (there is of course more construction, but it’s different.) In general, Bangalore seems a little more modern than it used to be–which is pretty modern for India.

Tonight, we’re taking a 3 hour train to Mysore, staying for two nights, before travelling back to Chennai (~8 hours on two trains) for our last day in India. The next day we fly back to Singapore and the day after home to the States (after over a year away!) We were planning on going north to the town of Hampi, but decided against it. We’ve instead been taking a pretty relaxed approach here.