Follow Road Rules

At the risk of bogging you down with details I finally feel I can start to explain what is going on here, so this blog might be a bit longer.

I spent the first night here at a homestay I found and booked online from New Zealand, the family lived downstairs and there were a few hostel rooms upstairs but I was the only one there. Leading up to this though one of the more major dramas occurred almost as soon as I stepped foot in Bangalore. I had arranged with the homestay to pick me up from the airport and they told me to look for a sign with my name on it – can you see where this is going? – only when I found all the people holding signs with names, mine was nowhere to be seen. Fortunately my cell phone worked over here (god knows what I would have done if it didn’t work) so after a few frantic phone calls to the homestay and a man here who has helped me out with finding more permanent accommodation, I was sitting in a taxi bound for the homestay. I was shattered and the trip was about 45 minutes in the dark so it was hard for me to get my bearings and see beyond the edge of the street – which was enough alone to consume all my attention – so it will be interesting to see what it is like when I make the trip to the airport again at some stage. I got to the homestay about 11.30pm and was absolutely shattered.

After a restless sleep I woke the next morning with no idea what to do with myself, so after breakfast I went for a walk. Wow, what a walk! It’s hard to sum it up, so I’m only going to focus on one aspect at this stage – trying to cross the roads. Imagine this - every single car in Wellington driving down Lambton Quay at the same time. Each car then toots its horn every five seconds (I am prone to exaggeration but, I assure you, this is no exaggeration), and every cyclist is actually on a motorbike with at least one passenger on the back swerving between the larger vehicles. Then, throw in some autorickshaws for good measure and maybe a few cows and buses, and now, bearing in mind the only road rule that seems to be followed is you drive on the left, imagine trying to cross that road. I tell you, it isn’t easy. My favourite moment came the next day when I saw a sign “Follow Road Rules” – easy to say that is probably just a token gesture. Either that or I have seriously missed the point to driving in India.

As I write this I am coming to the end of day three in Bangalore and staying at a new place, the place I will be staying for the entirety of my time in Bangalore. It is a modern apartment, which I am told is in the middle of town, although I’m yet to figure out exactly what that means and where ‘town’ is, with an older woman and her cook. My mum’s workmate knew someone who knew someone who knew someone who owned this place. I think I have fallen on my feet with it and feel very lucky to have somewhere safe and settled to stay for the entire time (something I think my parents are also very pleased about).

Everything is new at this stage and I can’t even begin to sum it up. Everyone keeps telling me all these things I must see and do while I am here, but at this stage even walking down the street is an adventure in itself.