Globe Corner Blogs

Anjuna Beach from a lounge chair - photo by Nicole

After three weeks in bustling Bangalore, I decided that I needed some time away from the smog, traffic, and (above all) the autorickshaws.  But where is one to go, when you’re stuck in Bangalore and are hankering for some time away from it all (especially the autorickshaws)?

Luckily, I had some help deciding.  The Hindu holiday Diwali was last week, and with a few days off from work to get out of rainy Karnataka, some of the girls I am staying with were headed to Goa.  A week at the beach?  Count me in. Continue Reading »

Bus in Mysore decorated for Dasara - photo by Nicole

1. The elephants and cows have better jewelry than you do.

2. You are in line at the foreign money exchange and are approached by a septuagenarian, sari-clad Indian woman who, after introducing herself, whips out her cell phone and calls her son. “Here is my son. His name is Manjuth. He is a salsa dancer. You talk to him.” (This happened to a friend of mine while we were waiting for our rupees. The lady seemed determined to make this very pale, fair English girl her daughter-in-law and was only assuaged after being given a fake phone number so that Manjuth could call this lily-skinned girl for follow-up dates and, presumably, for blue-eyed grandchildren for his mother.)

3. Pizza masala. Not quite the same as back home.

4. You get on a sleeper bus for the next nine hours to get to a World Heritage site, full of

amazing ancient ruins, and realize that the bus has no front door. (The bus is also full of Sri Lankan basketball players who sing Hindi and Tamil pop songs until four am.)

5. The air in the morning smells like chai tea and jasmine flowers… with just the slightest hint of cow dung and urine.

Painted Bull in Bangalore - photo by Nicole

Rough Guide South India

In a few hours, I’ll be on my way to India. I’ve never been before, and it’s a little hard to fathom. I have not yet stepped off the plane and am already discombobulated and overwhelmed. The big stuff is taken care of: I’ve got my tickets, and my visa is on the way. My doctor has inoculated me against a number of diseases I’ve never even heard of, and I have a giant vat of anti-malarials resting safely in my backpack. (I have placed them there for safekeeping, in case I forget them in a frenzy of last minute packing.  Although it is equally likely that I will forget that I have already packed them and panic when I can’t find them…)

But it’s the smaller things that have been churning around in my brain. I’ve been scouring the travel blogs for any helpful bits of last minute advice for a woman going off to the subcontinent by her li’l ole self. (A blogger on the India Mike forums said she always carries a door stopper with her to supplement a lock; there is another post that lists the addresses of stores in the Bangalore area that sell Cobra brand Mace.)

Continue Reading »