Sunday, May 29, 2011

Hike on a hot day!

Did a ton of walking today, and took some pictures too; will probably try to integrate the pictures into a project later on.

Had my my first moment of feeling on-edge and vulnerable; having drained my pantry from the previous shopping trip, I needed to convert some money (America-style) into money (India-style) in order to eat! However, once I got to MG road, the main currency exchange places were all closed for Sunday. I was really planning to head back and try to rustle up something to survive on from the snack kitchens at Microsoft or something,* but then I passed a handbag shop (!) that did exchanges, and traded money. Then I went to Empire Hotel, a nearby Indian place that I remembered from last visit, and ate delicious food ravenously.

On the way back, I was walking down Infantry Road and realized I was pretty confident that that road leading off to the right was a shortcut (I did not have my GPS). I was very excited when I was right; I really feel like I'm getting a feel for the "neighborhood." I have no aspirations to do any sort of "pac tom" project, but I'd informally just like to know where I am and how to get home from anywhere within a three or four mile radius of my apartment, which would be a fair portion of Bangalore and would probably put me ahead of most residents and many autorickshaw drivers. I think I'm well on the way there.

By the way, my cousin is currently in Uganda, and has a blog of his own. He posted a video with the comment "the traffic is insane." This has maybe made me just a little bit competitive, so expect some crazy traffic videos next week. Until then I leave you with these pictures from last time.
Windsor Manor Road Bridge Accident
* In reality, I probably would have just broken down and tried to use a credit card; my cards should presumably work here, but in case "oh hi, I'm in bangalore" trips an alarm and the card is denied, I've been avoiding this when I don't have a backup of paying in cash.

1 comment:

dklee said...

I got a USAA bank account just before leaving the US, because it had really good internet banking and avoided a lot of the fees usually associated with using ATMs internationally.

Definitely call your credit card companies and let them know you are traveling so you wont get any transactions denied. I always do this before I travel internationally. Almost all credit card companies have a number you can call collect to get to customer support while abroad. Even better, Skype has free voip calls to US toll free numbers, and gChat can call US numbers as well, even internationally (at least it has been working for me in Sweden). You definitely want at least one card you can use for "Oh Shit" emergencies.

Happy Travels,

D