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We returned to India from the Maldives, landing in Bangalore, the heart of India's IT industry. The town is certainly better developed than Chennai and somewhat cleaner. For example there are many more restaurants, bars and pubs, that approach a western standard of cleanliness. However, traffic was nearly as chaotic and surprisingly, for an IT capital, there were many power cuts!

India and Bangladesh

Odv
2006-04-15 18:42:43

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temple is nothing special but a short walk down the hill there is another giant Nandi statue. This one dates from 1659.

Ooty (now officially named Udagamandalam) was cooler due to its higher elevation at 2200 meters. This was a nice break from the otherwise warm and humid climate in southern India. In this season however many people try to escape the heat and head to the mountains, so it was very crowded.

There is a scenic train ride through the Nilgiri Hills from Ooty to Coonoor and a steam train from Coonoor to Mettupalaiyam. It is a popular trip.

Although we had heard many stories from other travelers about problems with food, we had none. Instead we found South Indian food to be quite delicious. Certain dishes are served on a banana leaf and you must eat them with your fingers!

One day, while sitting in a road side restaurant, I observed a police officer call a traffic offender to him and watched bewildered as the officer slapped the offender in the face! Wow, that really brings home some cultural differences!
Kolkata (Calcutta)

After spending a short time in southern India, we wanted to go to the north, specifically to visit Bangladesh, Sikkim and Nepal (we later dropped Sikkim). Hence we chose to fly to Kolkata but this was not as easy as it first seemed.

Most airlines in India discriminate against foreigners in their pricing structure. For example I saw a Jet Airways ad for a flight from Bangalore to Kolkata for 6940 Indian Rupees (approximately 155 USD) but I could not book it because I am a foreigner. Foreigners had to pay 290 USD. I felt offended. Why the difference? There are tens of millions of Indians that earn more money than the average foreign backpacker, and these are exactly the Indians that are flying!

Fortunately a new airline appeared in the Indian skies last year, Air Deccan. When I logged on to their website I found a flight from Chennai to Kolkata ...