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22.02.2020

I more or less accidentally stumbled into the Shivaratri festivities in the village of Nandi. Since I was in the area, I wanted to visit the well-known Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple … The village road was blocked with a fair ground and market stalls – my bus terminated at the main parking lot outside north of the village and I would have to walk through the action anyway to catch another bus for the rest of the way to the hotel on the south side … Might as well dive right into the bustle … So many people were there. I thought to have a look at the temple, but when I reached the entrance and looked down the road – they had the Chariot for Shivaratri going. I had to see it!

From Lord Shiva’s birth to his Neelkanth legend and marriage with Goddess Parvati – there are stories and beliefs galore on why Mahashivratri is celebrated … It is for sure a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of Lord Shiva. Devotees offer water, milk, dhatura, bhaang or akwan flowers to Shiva’s idol or Shiva lingam and worship the god of destruction. Shiva is considered the ideal husband and unmarried girls and women pray for a husband like him. Mahashivaratri is the most sacred festival of Shiva and on the 14th night of the new moon, during the dark half of the lunar month of Phalguna – sometime in February or March. It is also referred to as the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance. On this day, Lord Shiva drank poison produced by the churning of the ocean of milk and by doing so saved the universe.

There is a Shivaratri in every luni-solar month of the Hindu calendar, on the month’s 13th night/14th day, but once a year in late winter and before the arrival of summer is Mahashivaratri – The Great Night of Shiva. According to popular belief, Goddess Parvati once pleaded Lord Shiva to save the earth when it faced destruction. Lord Shiva agreed to save the world on the condition that the people of the Earth would have to worship him with dedication and passion. From that day onwards, the night came to be known as Mahashivratri. It is believed that flowers bloom exactly the day after Mahashivratri, hinting at the fertility of the earth. North Indians celebrate the day as the wedding anniversary of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. Temples are decorated with flowers and devotees take out a procession.

 

Apparently, a chariot procession marks the conclusion of the several day long Shivaratri festival. Huge chariots bearing statues of Lord Shiva and his lingam are pulled through the streets by hundreds of devotees towards the temple. The chariot here was huge, had equally huge wheels and kind of leaned to one side … It was impossible for me to have a look inside, though … or get past it to the front.

Following it through the street lined with stalls selling all possible kinds of sweets and toys and kitchen ware and whatever, I was stuck behind it. Police in their khaki uniform and official volunteers held a rope around the chariot with a safety distance.

Constantly people were throwing bananas at the chariot. It was banana throwing mayhem … The bananas were sold by numerous hawkers. They were spiked with some sort of green-grey herb, but I could not figure out what it was. It looked like Artemisia absinthium – wormwood, grand wormwood, absinthe, absinthium, absinthe wormwood. But I totally forgot to look at it closely or smell it to be sure … Damn …

Often the chariot got stuck. I could at this point only see the people pushing from behind. There were many others pulling from the front, though. The huge wheels were made of stone, it looked, and every now and again they had to be straightened out by young guys with crowbars.

 

Also going around the corners was not easy. Then one side had to be moved. Obviously there was no steering wheel in that ancient chariot. A bunch of guys in yellow volunteer t-shirts got out a huge wooden beam and a granite block and moved the left wheels ahead.

 

That obviously was not easy and took a while. In the meantime it rained bananas. They said, if they hit one of the monks inside the chariot, it will be an auspicious year for the thrower. But also hitting one of the pictures of the gods and goddesses was not bad either. However, the higher the better and preferably inside was the objective. Obviously the marksmanship of the people was not that good … the ground was littered with bananas that had missed their target …

While I was stuck there behind the chariot in a corner, always people came talking and taking selfies. One guy bought a bunch of spiked bananas for me and made me throw. He got a kick out of me not hitting anything … I threw like a girl … He gave me his whatsapp number and promised to send the photos he took … he never did … he only sent voice messages which I obviousely did not understand … until like a week later when I used google translate to send him a message in his local Kannada language – a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by people of Karnataka … then he sent all the selfies and videos with the foreigner … ತುಂಬ ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು

 

Eventually the chariot made it around the last corner and rolled inside the gate of the temple premises. I made it past it and ran to the front. So far I had only seen it from behind. It was even more colourful from the front.

 

The last hundred meters or so it rolled pretty well – it was basically on a home run to the temple entrance.

 

There was another chariot as well, it must have come earlier. It seemed to be stuck at the end of the drive way just short of the temple.

Ahead of the chariot there was a drummer band going at it. And indeed there were many young guys pulling the chariot on thick ropes.

 

Many more people gathered at the finishing line next to the temple entrance. The drummers from the first chariot joined the ones from the one arriving and men started dancing.

 

There was a pile of marigold, incense sticks and cracked coconuts in front of the temple entrance just in the middle of the way. Mostly women kept worshipping there and lighting more incense sticks.

Finally the chariot arrived amidst much cheering and drumming and banana throwing. The last meters the guys did not give up and pulled with mighty strength.

 

 

It rained bananas – they were being thrown from all directions now and one of them hit me hard in the side. Damn! That hurt. And now I had banana slime not only on my pant legs, but also all over my shirt … Maybe I have an auspicious year now, because I got hit?

Since I was here already, I decided to see the temple from inside as well. It did not seem too many people were going in just yet … or not anymore. Bamboo sticks were tied to mark the walk way aisles and piles of shoes where lying everywhere in front of the entrance. I wondered if people would ever find their flip flops and sandals again?

I was not going to leave my shoes just there, but there in fact were shoe keepers as well. I left mine with a little old lady and even got a number for it. I suppose I was the only foreigner around today and she would remember me and my big shoes anyway, though.

Following the people inside the temple I had to keep going in the aisles. There was no getting out and just walking around, unfortunately. I squeezed along with the masses. At the inner entrance they had set up idols of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati and everything was decorated with flowers as well.

The Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple located in Nandi village at the base of Nandi Hills is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The original temple in the complex – identified as one of the oldest temples of Karnataka – dates back to the early 9th century. The earliest inscriptions referring to it are from Nolamba Dynasty ruler Nolambadiraja and the Rashtrakuta Emperor Govinda III. The temple complex has 2 large shrines – the Arunachaleswara shrine to the south built by the Gangas of Talakad and the Bhoga Nandeeshwara shrine to the north built by the Cholas.

I had to follow along to the end of the aisle where a priest took blessings at a Nandi shrine. Nandi is the gate-guardian deity of Kailasa, the abode of Lord Shiva. He is usually depicted as a bull, which also serves as the mount to Shiva.

Coming around towards the main shrine, I had a good view of the outside of the temple in the late afternoon sun. The pillars were covered in beautiful carvings. A lot of ornate pillars and reliefs were adorning the walls.

The squeezing was however a bit too much for me. I was not going to cram in the narrow sanctum with all those devotees. I could see the Nandi Idol in front of the Sanctum … that was enought for me. I asked a police officer if I could get out of the line and out. He was not going to let me – You have to follow the line! – But it is too much for me! – You follow the line! … But then he asked his boss and he let me duck under a bamboo to get out. But I had to get out of the temple straight away. Well, that was OK, I could not get anywhere anyway. Due to the festival access was absolutely restricted to those aisles – no walking around freely allowed. I suppose, otherwise it would be a great chaos, because everybody wanted to get into the main sanctum and it would be a regular stampede during the festival.

I left and found my shoes – for Rs 10 the lady had watched them and did not even need my number to find them. Walking out of the premises there were more banana vendors – still the banana throwing was going on by the chariots.

Walking out the side gate I went along the street. It was indeed like a fairground today. In the distance I had seen even a ferry’s wheel. There were people hawking everything possible to the visitors and it looked like business was going well.

The street to this end of the village – the end towards where my hotel was – was as busy as the one I had come from. I stopped at a sugar cane juice stall. When I arrived I already had downed 2 cups of sugar cane juice, but I needed more now. It was very hot today again. A cup was Rs 20 and I again had a refill for another Rs 20.

Many selfies later – even here it was a sport smiling for all the selfie requests – I reached the end of the village with the car park where also the busses were waiting. I took a detour however to a vineyard bordering the field where the cars were parked. It was the first chance I had to get a closer look of the vines.

This morning at the Winery Tour the guide did tell us that the vines here are growing tall. Often they are trained on bamboo and wire in a pergola style to increase canopy cover and to get the grapes off the ground where they would be more prone to fungal diseases. The canopy protects the grapes against sunburn and rows are spaced wide to help with aeration between the vines. Irrigation is essential for the vines given the hot weather.

Here was a vineyard of very old vines – the vines had really thick trunks and were very high. They looked more like trees than vines. Totally fascinating! I have never see tree-like vines before …

On the occasion of the festival they even used the space below the vines as motorbike parking. I could easily walk below the canopy without minding my head. But also here were no fruits anymore on the vines. I obviously missed the wine harvest this year.

By now it was time to start making my way back to the hotel – so I walked to the bus parking. There were so many busses, but all were empty and I could not make out which one was going first. They would all be going in one direction, though, since there was only this one road leading out of the village and past Karahalli Cross to Nandi Hills. I figured, I start walking and try to flag down a bus when one passes me….

There were more vineyards on the way along the road as well. I am totally amazed by those high tree-like vines. And in the distance down in the valley there were more vineyards as well. Basically they were everywhere … Nandi Valley vinyards …

One bus passed me, but he did not stop – because there was no bus stop apparently … Anyway, that is what I figured from the gesturing driver. But it could have been something totally different he was trying to tell me. He zoomed past me … damn … There were also many motorbikes going – a lot of young men … 3 on a bike crazily blowing Vuvuzela like horns. That had been going on around the temple already and now that they were leaving they kept on going. A hellish noise … but they clearly had fun … maybe they were drunk … but alcohol is officially not available around the temple village … officially …

I was lucky, after a few minutes walking along the road a car stopped – I did not hitchhike … I was still hoping to find a bus stop. A helpful Army Officer gave me lift the last 5 km to Karahalli Cross. He was going back to his base – maybe he was the driver of a higher officer or such – it was a fancy car and the man was friendly. He dropped me by the junction before he turned towards the city. Thank you, Sir! That saved me an hour’s walk.

It had been a long day and when I arrived at my hotel it was around 18:00 already. I was ready for a beer, but had not seen a bar anywhere around and the hotel did not sell any either. But I wanted to take a photo of Nandi Hills from the other side of the road … and without even searching … I spotted a blinking neon sign through the trees opposite the hotel – Bar! – while I was taking in the view of Nandi Hills behind it.

Eventhough it is not appropriate for women to walk in a beer shop, I headed straight there. It had never stopped me before and I always walked in head held high looking somewhat intimidating to the booze heads hanging out in front of it. I bought 2 ice cold Kingfisher Storm in the blue bottle and out I was again.

That beer sizzled down my throat once I was back in my hotel junior suite like nothing … I was done for the day, though. It had been a long day in the sun and a lot of walking and taking in different impressions. A shower washed all the red valley dust off me, I posted some photos and did some writing and soon I was asleep.

23.02.2020

Early to bed meant early up as well. I woke very early. Today I wanted to take the bus to Bengaluru to visit the Hard Rock Café and find a geocache as well. I decided to leave around 07:00 and try my luck with getting to the highway. I waited at the junction, but very few vehicles at all turned down towards the highways … Sunday … and the day after the festival … So when the first bus towards Chickballapur passed, I ran across the road and jumped on. For Rs 10 it was a 30 min ride to the bus stand in Chickballapur where there would be more options for Bengaluru.

This morning the bus could pass Nandi Village and the temple. The road was open again. The stalls were mostly still there, but packed up and there was a lot of garbage on the street. All the bananas that were littering the street yesterday, where gone, though. I wondered if a troupe of monkeys or cows and goats had a feast. The village was waking up, though, and people started to clean the garbage away slowly. It was early after the celebrations, though.

The bus terminated at the Karnataka State Bus Stand – I did not have to walk to the other terminal again – quickly I found the next available bus to Bengaluru. It was almost empty and I got a seat in the very front. Rs 64 got me the ticket to Majestic Bus Stand in the center of Bengaluru.

The ride was comfortable, but cold. The early morning wind was chilly and I had to close the window and take out my scarf. Soon the sun came out, though and it got warmer. Once I arrived in Bengaluru around 09:00 it was already hot.

Bengaluru – or Bengalore as it used to be called – is the capital of the state of Karnataka. The name Bangalore represents an anglicised version of the Kannada language name and its original name Bengalūru – which literally means Town of Boilt Beans. It supposedly derived from an ancient incident involving an old village woman who served cooked pulses to a lost and hungry Hoysala King.

Bengaluru today has a population of over 10 Mio making it a megacity and the 3rd most populous city and 5th most populous urban agglomeration in India. They say, its multi-ethnic, multi-religious and cosmopolitan character is reflected by its more than 1000 Hindu temples, 400 mosques, 100 churches, 40 Jain Basadis, 3 Sikh Gurdwaras, 2 Buddhist Viharas and a Parsi Fire Temple located in an area of 741 km² of the metropolis. I was not going to visit them all, but I had picked the Bull Temple.

To get there I found the Metro Station near the Bus Stand. Namma Metro – Our Metro in Kannada – is the 4th longest operational metro network in India after the Delhi Metro, Hyderabad Metro and Chennai Metro. It also contains the first underground metro line in South India. After the security check – a very thourough one where I had to sign in my camera – Really? – I bought a Jeton for Rs 15 and got on the Green Line to National College.

What surprised me the most here was that all the people lined up in single file spaced out for the Metro doors. There was no security person telling them to do so, but they did. Amazing … and this was long before social distancing became fashionable …

The Metro train was modern and it was packed. The ride was short enough – only a 3 stations hop before I got off and walked to the Bull temple. I contemplated taking a Tuktuk, but it was only a 15 min walk.

Dodda Basavana Gudi – Nandi Temple or Bull Temple – was situated in Bull Temple Road – what else would you call that road? The bull referred to is the sacred Hindu demi-god, known as Nandi. Nandi is a close devotee and attendant of Lord Shiva. The temple was built in 1537 by Kempe Gowda – founder of the city of Bengaluru – in Vijayanagara architectural style. The current tower over the shrine was constructed in the early 20th century and is adorned with Saivite figures and motifs.

The temple was not very busy today. There were only a few people worshipping. I left my shoes with a shoe lady for Rs 3 outside and went in to have a look. Photos were not allowed inside, though. Dodda Basavana Gudi is said to be the biggest temple to Nandi in the world and famous for its large statue of the sacred bull. In fact, with a height of approx 4.6 m and a length of approx 6.1 m, the idol of Nandi in this temple is said to be one of the biggest in the world. The granite monolith idol is continually covered with new layers of butter and has become blackened from years of being rubbed with charcoal and buttery oil. Today it was also beautifully decorated with garlands of Marigolds. I walked once around it and then was out again to sneak a photo from the outside.

Only a few steps away was the Shree Dodda Ganapathi Temple – with the biggest Ganesha statue in Bengalore. The monolithic idol is approx 5.5 m high and aprox 4.9 m wide. For Rs 10 I parked my shoes in the shoe stall and went in to check it out. No photos allowed again and it was also hard to actually see the entire idol through the narrow door anyway. I tried to peer around the corner, though. It was impressive.

History says Bangalore’s founder Kempe Gowda chanced on one – among a heap of large boulders – that had on it impressions that looked like the figure of Ganesha. He ordered his sculptors to carve an idol from this. What makes this Ganapathi idol more eye-catching to the people are the different sorts of decorations which are done every day during the week. One of the most famous decorations is the butter coating to the idol. Over 100 kg of butter are needed for to apply to the idol. Today it was just the same black as the Nandi in the Bull Temple, though.

In front of the temple there were some nice rock carvings lined up under a sacred tree that people worshipped as well. I am not sure what they all depicted, but they looked interesting. A small Ganesha and a Shiva Lingam were there as well.

By the time I left the temples it was already very hot. I tried to take a Tuktuk back to the Metro station, but one of the drivers was too pushy with sightseeing and another one did not understand me – so I walked again.

My next destination in Bengaluru was Cubbon Park – to find a geocache. There were a few in the city, but this was the only one in the center, all the others were way to far out. The Metro went right by Cubbon Park. For Rs 22 I had to take the Green Line to Majestic again and then change to the Purple Line. Again I was impressed by the perfect line-ups on the platform. I ended up at the ladies coach. 2 coaches full of ladies only. It is a common practice in India to have ladies only coaches on Metros and suburban trains and I had used them often before. But I had never seen even the ladies line up so exemplary like here …

Getting off at Cubbon Park the first thing I saw was a jet airplane monument next to the Metro station. Indians like to show off the military powers and jet airplanes as monuments are actually a common sight in large cities. Here it was located right opposite the HAL corporate office. HAL – Hindustan Aeronautics Limited – is an Indian state-owned aerospace and defence company headquartered here in Bengaluru. It is governed under the management of the Indian Ministry of Defence and is primarily involved in the operations of the aerospace, the design, fabrication and assembly of aircraft, jet engines, helicopters and their spare parts. The HAL HF-24 Marut fighter-bomber was the first fighter aircraft made in India.

But … I came here to go for a walk in the park to find that secret box. Cubbon Park is officially called Sri Chamarajendra Park and was originally created in 1870. This public park was first named Meade’s Park after Sir John Meade, the acting Commissioner of Mysuru in 1870 and subsequently renamed Cubbon Park after the longest-serving commissioner of the time, Sir Mark Cubbon. To commemorate the Silver Jubilee of Sri Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s rule in Mysore State, in 1927, the park was again renamed as Sri Chamarajendra Park, in memory of the 19th-century ruler of the state Sri Chamarajendra Wodeyar, during whose rule the park came into existence.

It was a nice walk. The park was busy on a Sunday. There were student groups huddled together deep in discussions, families taking picnics, joggers, people walking or playing with their dogs … Nevertheless I easily located the geocache by the tree # 2249 and quickly signed the logbook before walking back out of the park.

Near the park there was also the party district – sort of anyway. M.G. Road is one of the busiest roads in the city and it is lined on one side with retail stores, food outlets and restaurants. It has many office buildings, shops and theatres. It was fairly quiet on a Sunday morning, however. Hard Rock Café Bengaluru opened at 08:30 on a Sunday, though … I reached it around 11:00 …

… no lunch yet! – What time does lunch start? – 12:00! – OK, I come back … I took a walk around and checked out another mentioned location – Koshy’s Bar & Restaurant – down the road. They were packed with the breakfast crowd as well. So I went back to HRC and checked out the pins in the Rock Shop first. A pin is a must at every visit and I chose a nice one … in fact, they only had 3 different styles – the regular logo one, a 2018 anniversary one and a nice one – it seemed to be the Indian HRC classic – a guitar plectrum pin – and it was also not as expensive as the others. Well … nothing is cheap at the HRC, though!

I asked if I can have a table for lunch already and have drink while I wait. It was only 11:25 by now … I needed my signature cocktail … and I could not be bothered to go walk around more … But no alcohol was served before 12:00 – But there are people sitting in the bar on the other side having drinks! – Yeah, but … – What but? – OK, I can give you a cocktail. – Good, I have the Sparkling Hawaiian in a logo glass please! … Off he went and a little while later he came showing me a golden plastic Hurricane glass – Can I give you your dink in this? It is the only logo glass we have! –  Sure, whatever! As long as I get that cocktail soon …

It was a good cocktail and the waiter brought me the lunch menu as well, so I could choose already. Not that I needed long. I had set my mind on a Beef Tenderloin of course. Lucky, they had it. Not everything was identical as in every HRC, though. I took a Ceasar Side Salad as well. The food came soon enough and was very good! Ahh, a proper steak medium-rare! Sorry, friends, for eating the holy cow … again … But I am not a vegetarian and I loved it. When I stay in India for 3 months I need a proper steak every now and then … I do like Indian food, but once in a while I need something different … a steak in Hard Rock Café for example … And I had a second cocktail … the for me traditional Electric Ice Tea …

By 13:30 I was ready to head back to my hotel. Glad I was that I had chosen to stay in the country side! The city was not so nice, lots of traffic congestions as well. I did not see the modern part of the city that is the hub of India’s booming IT industry, though. Bengaluru is sometimes referred to as the Silicon Valley of India. But I was done sightseeing for today. Deciding against taking the metro back to the Bus Stand, I walked along the road to catch a city bus out to Mekhri Circle. On the next traffic light I hopped on one. There was no bus stop and the driver had passed me before he had to stop at the red light. Luckily the doors of the public busses in India are always open … I am not even sure if most of them actually have doors that could be closed … For Rs 17 it was a 20 min ride out towards the highway.

Getting off the bus I just had to cross the circle and walk a few hundred meters to the next bus stop. Funnily enought busses are not allowed to stop if there is not a bus stop. And they all obey to that rulse. Just as I arrived there, another cinema bus pulled up and he was going all the way to Chickballapur! I found a seat in the very back of the bus, last row of seats in the corner next to the door. Most people sat further to the front to watch the movie … and some travelling salesmen were constantly hawking scarves, sarees and other textiles.

I paid Rs 30 for the ride to Rani Cross which is the turnoff junction towards Karahalli Cross. Riding in the very back of the bus was rather bumpy … I was sitting right on the axle … I took a nap anyway. It was less than an hour to Devanahalli  – after which the bus filled up to the brim and then it took only a few more minutes to my stop. I told the door guy again – the ticket guy was somewhere in the front now – to let me off. I was the only one and had to kind of jump out on the fly. Basically the bus did not really stop completely. But I made it and started walking along the road towards my hotel. This stretch was approx 10 km and I was hoping to catch a lift somehow. Going to Chickballapur would have taken another 30-40 min going north and then change there for another ride and 30 min south again …

Walking along I took some photos and hoped for a Tuktuk or bus to pass. And lucky I was – after maybe 10 min of walking and searching for a nondescript bus stop without finding one yet – a bus appeared on the horizon! The first bus I had seen plying this route to be honest. I flagged it down and again I was lucky – in the last second the driver decided to step on the breaks and let me hop on on the go. The ticket man thought I was going to Nandi Hills and charged me Rs 15. No problem, I am getting off at Karahalli Cross anyway!

By around 15:30 I reached the hotel and went straight to my minibar, were I had the 2nd beer I bought yesterday chilling … ahhh … that sizzled down as well nicely! I was thirsty! But I also downed almost a full big bottle of water, before I went to reception to check on my airport drop for tomorrow morning and my payment receipt. Obviously they had forgotten about my airport drop … there was another guy on duty on Sunday … They promised to call the driver for a transfer departure at 04:30 tomorrow morning – half an hour earlier than I originally planned … just to be on the safe side … My receipt should be ready later on in the evening as well. I told them I will come pick it up and confirm the transfer as well.

Settling on my porch I did some writing. My Indian mobile had still only mobile data reception in the corner of the porch and inside in the closest window. My room was big anyway – the Junior Suite – a bedroom, a living room and bathroom. I did not take any photos, though. It was nothing to write home about. But it was spacious, the shower had boiling hot water and the minibar was cold … but the TV had absolutely no English channels whatsoever …

When dusk and the mosquitoes came, I moved inside, took a shower and did some packing. Then I went to reception to check on my airport drop – the guy promised me that at 04:30 in the morning the car would be here – Let’s hope so! He also made out my receipt to my specifications. I had an early night after I posted some photos using the somewhat faster WIFI in the lobby.

24.02.2020

Waking up very early this morning I had plenty time to spare before the transfer. I made sure I had not forgotten anything and my wine bottle from Kinvah was well packed in the suitcase, before I went to reception. Nobody was there! It was pitchblack dark, but everything was open. Leaving the key on the counter I went around checking for somebody. Nothing … Hmm … I decided to go to the gate and wait by the road side … but no chance! The gate was locked! As well was the small gate next to it! Huge padlocks adorned the latches … Sh…t … I left my suitcase by the gate and looked around again. Accidentally I opened the kitchen door and the first thing I saw was a rat running across the counter … ew … good thing I did not order room service! Not seeing the kitchen is better – then it does not matter if they have rats …

I went back to the gate all the while thinking about a possible Plan B … climb the gate and order Uber? … To high that gate … maybe climb the wall on the other side? … Hmm … make a lot of noise and wake all other guests up? … Hmmm … Then … a car pulled up in front of the gate. The driver did not come out, but he pulled his phone out and made a call … I saw the lit up phone screen … My hopes went up! … Then a mobile was ringing in the little house next to the gate … I had checked there, but had not seen any signs of life or a guard … The phone was answered and the driver got out of the car … Airport drop? … I shouted … Yes! – But the gate is locked! – He come! He come! No worry! … Indeed a sleepy guy came out of the guard house with a key and opened the gate! I was relieved and got in the car …

My flight was at 07:40 – I had plenty time, though. But better too early than too late! I had checked in online again and was sure the flight was going. We reached the Airport at 05:05 and the taxi guy charged me Rs 1400. I gave him Rs 1500 because I was happy he showed up that early and on time. I always choose very early flights … not only because they are usually a touch cheaper than the flights during regular hours. But also because I do not waste too much of the day with travelling. I mean, I can sleep in the plane … And I arrive at a decent hour in the new place, so I can do some exploring the rest of the day.

The line at the terminal entrance was long. But at bag drop was almost nobody – they had a lot of self-drop-baggage terminals. Lucky, some guy from Air Asia directed me to the counter. Again I was lucky … my suitcase was in fact 16.9 kg … only 15 kg were allowed … the women at the counter was gracious and did not charge me excess, though! Happy!

The line at the security checks was endless, though! Once more I was happy I had left early! But it moved along quickly and I passed without problems. Despite the huge signs that no liquids over 100 ml are allowed, my 2 full 0.5 l water bottles went through without problem. In transit I bought myself a coffee and then positioned myself close to the departure gate. It was only 05:45 – I had breezed through all lines – and I got the laptop out to catch up on the journal.

Eventually my flight from Bengaluru Airport was right on time … off to more adventures again … Hyderabad, I am on my way!