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Bookmark & shareA Top Day in Bengaluru
Despite its maddening traffic and stretched-to-breaking-point infrastructure, Bengaluru (better known as Bangalore) has the rep throughout India of being a 'garden city'. To understand why this is so, I start the day early in Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, the serene park that rivals Kew Gardens both in age and range of specimens on display. If it's the weekend, I would join one of the excellent guided tours of Lalbagh offered by Bangalore Walks. Appetite engaged, I follow up my perambulations with a traditional south Indian breakfast of blue grape juice, masala dosa and rava idli at the Mavalli Tiffin Rooms, a local institution. Refreshed by nature and a hearty meal, I hail an autorickshaw and head towards Krishnarajendra Market, the city's largest wholesale fruit and veg market, and the bustling bazaars of Chickpet. Exploring here is a full-on assault on the senses. Time to escape the crowds again, so I set a course for the Bengaluru Palace, north of the city centre. This grand old pile provides a fascinating insight into the home life of the Wodeyar rajas of Mysore. Heading back into town, I drop by the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat, Bangalore's best visual arts gallery. A late afternoon saunter along the shops of MG Rd is broken with a coffee at the Indian Coffee House, another beloved relic of times past where the waiters don turbans and huge buckled cummerbunds. I return to this area in the evening to mingle with Bangalore's youthful, fun-loving ITocracy at the best nightspots, including slinky lounge bars such as 13th Floor, Taika and Fuga.
Author: Simon Richmond
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