We left Kerala on Wednesday on a 9 hour bus to Bangalore. My very good friend Kristen, who I hadn't seen since I left California for Peace Corps/Azerbaijan in September 2008, was coming to Bangalore for a business trip and invited us to stay with her at her 5 star hotel! We arrived, in awe, at the Leela Palace in Bangalore. The lobby literally looks like a marble palace and the room has Persian carpets (and a telephone next to the toilet in the stunning bathroom.) We spent the evening reveling in the comforts of Kristen's luxurious room while she went out for a business dinner.
In the morning, Kristen's Indian work counterpart, Deepak, took us all out on a tour of some of Bangalore's sights: the shopping district, the Bull Temple, and the cave temple. Deepak also took us to his parents' house so we could catch a glimpse of home life in Bangalore. We arrived unannounced, but the house was uncluttered and spotlessly clean. They showed us their puja room, with shrines and offerings to the Hindu gods and we got to put puja dots on our foreheads with the red kumkum powder. His mother wanted to feed us and insisted we try some treats she had made, because hotel food is "bad." The hospitality and the familiar exchanges of conversation reminded me so much of my friends in Azerbaijan that I felt tears come to my eyes. This was a place that felt like home, not the 5-star hotel built for rich tourists.
Next destination, Mysore...
1 comments:
I am so overwhelming happy to see you!! You are welcome at any 5 star hotels I may be staying at :) Hopefully next time where ever we are the night life is more exciting than B town!
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