• Digital Nomad Resources
  • Train Travel
  • Urban Rail Transit
  • Where To Stay

Nomadic Notes

Travel blog and weekly travel newsletter

  • Blog
  • Travel Newsletter

Notes on Bengaluru (The Garden City) – Old city mayhem, transport apps, and fancy airports

February 13, 2020 By James Clark 1 Comment

Notes on Bengaluru

Bengaluru is the third largest city in India, located in the middle of the Deccan Plateau in South India. I was in Bengaluru on the way to somewhere else. I visited Bengaluru in 2007 during my first trip to India, so I would have preferred to visit a new city. 13 years between visits is long enough to warrant a revisit, so instead of flying straight through I made a stopover here.

With a population of over 10 million people Bengaluru qualifies as a megacity, and that qualifies me to have another look. If I am to visit India more often then I am ok with revisiting the hub cities of Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata.

My style of travel has changed a lot over the preceding 13 years as well, so I ended up having a completely different experience to my first trip.

My first visit mainly saw the grand administrative buildings and historic temples as marked out on the Lonely Planet map. That trip was a few months before the first iPhone was released, so the way people travel has changed substantially since then.

If you are visiting India for the first time I still highly recommend getting a Lonely Planet and seeing the main sites. For this trip I was more interested in seeing how Bengaluru is evolving as a city.

This post doesn’t contain things to see and do. Instead it’s my notes and observation on the ground.

I hadn’t been to India since 2013 so I was excited to be back as soon as was at the airport. After checking in to my hotel I went for an unguided wander, and I soon found myself in the mayhem of old Bangalore.

Chickpet Rd

I had wandered into the Chickpet area, and on my Google map you could see the roads were narrower and more labyrinthian.

Chickpet traffic

Everywhere you look there is something interesting to see.

Old Bangalore

Even the advertising is interesting here.

Astrologer
[Was this astrologer the inspiration for Iron Man’s hand rockets?}

I had forgotten how vibrant and intense street life in India is.

Bangalore street life

There are lots of colonial-era buildings that are waiting to be restored.

Old building

I didn’t go to any temples or museums as I was enjoying my street wanders.

Sampige Rd

The Garden City of India

Kasturba Rd

Bangalore (as it was once known and still referred as) earned the title as the garden city of India for its public parks and wide tree-lined streets.

Sampige Road

In all of my travels in Asia I would rank Bengaluru up with the French Concession in Shanghai in terms of the best tree-lined streets.

BVK Iyengar Road

As with every big city though, Bengaluru faces a continual battle to preserve its green cover while development slowly eats away at green space.

Trees in haze

One great street I went to was 100 Feet Road.

100 Feet Road

There are lots of nice apartment buildings among the urban forest.

Apartments

As usual it was let down with broken footpaths everywhere. If they better landscaped this street it would be world-famous.

Broken footpaths

Bengaluru reminds me of Madrid in terms of its geographic location and use of trees. Madrid is planted in the centre of the Iberian peninsula, and it has made an urban paradise for itself by lining the streets with trees. Bengaluru is similarly in the middle of a great land mass (of Southern India), and it too has filled the city with greenery to make this hot location more habitable.

11th Cross Indiranagar

The Metro

Metro MG Road

On my previous visit the first metro line was under construction, and it impressed me enough to have taken a photo of the plan. I recall having a dispute with a tuk-tuk driver, so perhaps I had already started dreaming of an alternative form of transport by then.

Bangalore Metro Project
[Photo from 2007.]

There are now two lines of the Namma Metro that form an X shape, with the interchange station being at the central bus station.

Majestic Metro

It’s a bit of an understatement to say it’s a game changer for getting around.

Metro Indiranagar

With the availability of the metro, I planned my exploration around sites near stations. I still walked a lot, but I used to metro to fill in the gaps between neighbourhoods.

Riding the metro

Phase II is now under construction, which will extend the current two lines and add another three to the system.

Metro construction

Transport 2.0

Bengaluru is known as the “Silicon Valley of India”, with some of the biggest tech companies in the world basing their India operations from here (including Google).

Google buses Bangalore

As such I saw some different app-based companies developing transport options to complement the metro.

At Indiranagar metro station there are some bicycle and electric bikes by yulu.bike that can be used for last mile transport. Being based in Saigon (the city of 10 million bikes) I’m interested in seeing an electric bike revolution, so I am pleased to see this is being thought of in India.

Yulu electric bike

At Majestic Station (the junction station of the two lines) Bounce offer dockless scooter sharing. The scooters (petrol and electric) can be hired by the hour or used overnight to get you home.

Bounce bike rentals

There are some companies in India that are developing tuk tuk apps, which would be a welcome relief to haggling with tuk tuk drivers.

Tuk Tuks

Cafes

I saw a sign that listed some of the landmark years in the history of Bangalore/Bengaluru. 1850 was a particularly momentous year, as Bengaluru citizens started the habit of drinking coffee.

Habit of drinking coffee

Despite this habit I didn’t find any places that would be considered as third wave. If there were any cool cafes they weren’t well known online. The cafes I found looked more like cafe-restaurants, so if there there are places that serve “real coffee” let me know!

The main coffee chain in India is Cafe Coffee Day (“The Starbucks of India”). They were founded in Bangalore in 1993, and they are now all across India and some locations worldwide.

Cafe Coffee Day

I didn’t buy a SIM card for this trip so I marked out some branches on my Google map as places for possible sanctuary during my wanders (ie a good place for a toilet break).

Starbucks has also arrived, known here as Starbucks “A Tata Alliance” (not that anyone would say the whole name). They opened in India in 19 October 2012, which happened to be just a few months before the first branch opened in Vietnam.

Starbucks Coffee

Airport

BLR Airport

Another thing that wasn’t a thing when I was last here is the new airport, replacing the old HAL Airport.

There is a planned metro station for the airport, but for now there is a bus service to the main bus station in the city. I was impressed with the designated Uber Zone.

Uber Zone

The first terminal is a beautiful and spacious building, and unlike most airports there are places to sit outside with a food court.

Outdoor shops

I had lunch here before checking in.

View this post on Instagram

Had lunch at the airport, which of course is three times the normal price. This masala dosa was 188 INR ($2.60 USD), freshly made on the spot. I dream of such an airport meal when I am back in Australia.

A post shared by James Clark ✈️ (@nomadicnotes) on Feb 1, 2020 at 1:07am PST

Keeping with Bengaluru’s tech culture, it appears they will be introducing facial recognition technology here.

Yatra

Inside the terminal you can download an app and have food delivered to your boarding gate.

Food delivery

Next to the main terminal there is a new terminal being built that looks like it has been inspired by Changi Jewel in Singapore with its lush garden space.

New Garden Terminal at Kempegowda International Airport
[New Garden Terminal at Kempegowda International Airport.]

If I’m hubbing through Bangalore again on my future India travels I look forward to seeing this new terminal and catching the extended metro into the city.

Filed Under: Travel Blog Tagged With: bengaluru, india

Comments

  1. Akshay Surana says

    April 14, 2022 at 8:15 am

    I have been to Bangalore quite a few times. And what I also love the most about the tree-lined streets in the city.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Weekly Travel Newsletter

Sign up for the weekly travel newsletter for the latest posts, and a roundup of best travel reads from around the web.
Subscribe For Free Here [No spam, unsubscribe anytime.]

About Nomadic Notes

James Clark from Nomadic Notes

Hi, I’m James Clark, and I've been travelling the world since 2003 while running a location independent travel business. Nomadic Notes is a travel blog featuring travel guides and notes from my travels.

More about me and Nomadic Notes.

Follow Nomadic Notes

Recent Posts

  • Don Muang Airport Train: Getting the train from DMK to Central Bangkok
  • Bangkok to Pattaya by train
  • Notes on Udon Thani
  • Where to stay in Singapore: The best areas and notable hotels (2023)
  • Ornamental street signs of Thailand
  • Where to stay in Georgetown, Penang – The best area to stay and the pick of the hotels (2023)
  • Notes on Nakhon Phanom: Down by the river, and hanging out at Uncle Ho’s House
  • Where to stay in Da Nang – the best areas and most notable hotels (2023)
  • Where to stay in Hanoi: The best areas for first-time visitors
  • Where to stay in Dubai: The best areas and most iconic hotels

European Rail Travel

Eurail Pass Travel Guide

Europe Rail News – The new newsletter for train travel in Europe

Southeast Asia Rail Travel

Southeast Asia current and proposed railways

A complete guide to train travel in Southeast Asia

Featured Posts

Top 200 Travel Books
How to find cheap flights
Best new banks for travellers, expats, and nomads

About Nomadic Notes

About
Advertise
Contact
Contribute
Press/Media Mentions
Where I've Been

Search Nomadic Notes

Travel Notes

Travel Notes

Travel Resources

Long-term Travel
Travel Blog Directory
Travel Gear
Travel Insurance
Travel Sites

Where To Stay In…

Bangkok
Chiang Mai
Da Nang
Ho Chi Minh City
Hong Kong
Jakarta
Kuala Lumpur
Macau
Penang
Singapore

Travel Newsletter

Sign up for the weekly travel newsletter for the latest posts and a roundup of best travel reads from around the web.

Copyright © 2023 Nomadic Notes · Site Map | Privacy · Log in