Another Solo Trip: Bangalore, Karnataka, India

It was the most expensive birthday gift I’d ever given myself: a solo trip to Bangalore, Karnataka, India!

 

I won’t lie and say that I went to Bangalore because of its beauty or panoramic scenes, because it wasn’t the case. I went there because I have some friends studying in the city, and one of them was my best friend, probably still is, I don’t know haha.

I was fed up with work and decided to take a one week leave on my birthday week in 2018. Coincidentally, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, just issued a regulation that the citizens of Indonesia can apply for a free electronic visa to visit India. So I didn't spend a penny on a visa. Another great thing was, I got super cheap return tickets; only Rp4.2M! By Singapore Airlines!!

Since it was the first time I went overseas by myself, I felt a bit anxious. Well, actually really anxious. Once I stepped on the plane, I told myself there was no turning back. I closed my eyes and prayed that everything would be alright, that I would return to Indonesia safely.

The plane transited overnight at Changi Airport. Guess where I decided to sleep! In the toilet, haha. I don’t know why, but I find sleeping in the toilet comfortable. My sleep was disturbed when a cleaning staff entered the toilet to clean up. I then decided to just walk around since I didn’t feel that sleepy anymore.

At dawn, I boarded the plane that would take me to Kempegowda International Airport. I requested a glass of red wine and was mostly asleep during the flight.

Four hours 54 minutes later, the plane landed. I had some trouble at the Immigration; they couldn’t get my fingerprints. My hands are sweaty when I’m nervous. Even after trying so many times, I still couldn’t do it. The officer finally gave up and asked me to go after just asking a few questions.

I then took  my baggage and exited the terminal building. My best friend was already waiting outside. We waved at each other and hugged briefly.

Since I didn’t have a proper sleep the night before, I spent my first day in Bangalore sleeping. I woke up to some noise; my friend’s friends had just come back from a sleepover party. They introduced themselves and we still keep in touch until now. I met them again when I visited Bangalore for the second time in 2019. And I also met their dog, Mila. She looked excited to meet me and she licked me many times. They said she liked me. Well, the feeling was mutual. I liked her too.

In the evening, we went to have dinner at a restaurant nearby called Selfie Restaurant. I ordered egg biryani because it’s practically the only Indian food I could eat. Yeah, I’m so picky when it comes to food, I can’t even eat half of Indonesian food. After dinner, my friend asked me to go back first. So I went back with my new friends.

I took a shower at like 10 p.m. and exited the bathroom around half an hour later. I was greeted by darkness and a happy birthday song. I was like, “Is it midnight already?”

One of them was like, “No, but it is midnight in Jakarta.”

Awwwww, isn’t that sooooo sweeeet?

So we ate cake and had some beer and wine. That was one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had. It kinda made up for the previous one, which was the worst.

The next morning, my friend and I went to Commercial Street, a shopping center near Mahatma Gandhi by Ola car (like Uber, but local) and metro. I bought two cute tops made in Thailand. Haha, I know right, all the way to India to buy something made in another country! Since it was raining a bit, I also bought an umbrella. Next, we went around Mahatma Gandhi Road where we found so many murals on the walls near the metro station.

The following day, I went to Commercial Street again. This time by myself. I bought some T-shirts made in India, and a super cute dress that’s still my favorite until now. After that,  I went to Cubbon park, a small neat park behind the High Court of Karnataka, a beautiful building itself. What I liked about the park was the brown bamboo trees. So instagenic! So sad I didn’t have anyone to take pictures of me. Selfies didn’t do the views justice! After spending like 2 hours there, I went back to my friend’s place.

On my fourth day, I decided not to go anywhere. Only a short walk to Selfie restaurant to eat their delicious egg biryani.

 On September 20th,  I went to Commercial street again haha. I bought some fridge magnets to give to my friends in Jakarta. On the way home, I stopped by ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness)Temple, sadly the temple was closed when I arrived. I waited for like an hour and got bored, so I decided to go back.

At night, my friend took me to stroll around the area, showing me the RR School of Architecture.

The next day, I went to Lal Bagh Botanical Garden. I strolled around by myself, taking pictures of the park, and some selfies. Suddenly, a few girls came to me and said, “One picture, please!” I thought they wanted me to take pictures of them, but actually they wanted to take pictures with me haha. So this is how it feels to be bules (foreigners, especially Caucasians) in Indonesia! They asked where I was from, I said “Indonesia’, and one of them was like, “Nepal?”, so I smiled and said, “No, Indonesia is a country in South East Asia.”

After saying good bye to those girls, I went hiking on a huge rock on top of which stood a small temple. I enjoyed the views from up there, but didn’t go inside the temple to pray.

In the evening, my friend took me to an abandoned temple on a hill facing Lake Hesaraghatta. We needed to climb hundreds of stairs (probably) to get to the temple, but it’s all worth it. It was so quiet and peaceful up there. And we could see pretty lights near the lake.

On my second last day in India, my friend and I woke up super early. We wanted to catch the sunrise at Nandi Hills. The thing was, the traffic was crazy. We decided to forget the idea of watching the sunrise. We stopped by a farm and just chatted there, sitting on a rock, until the jam subsided. Then, we continued our journey to Nandi Hills. It was so windy up there, but the views were amazing.

After coming back from Nandi Hills, we went to see a friend who was excited to finally meet me (we’d only talked on phone some times). He and his girlfriend cooked some pasta. It was so cool spending time with them, and we talked of how the four of us came from four different countries; India, Indonesia, UAE, and Nepal.

At night, my friend and I watched our favorite anime, “Kimi no Na wa”. A perfect movie to end my trip in India <3.

Early the next morning, my friend took me to the airport. I boarded the plane, not really ready to go back to Indonesia, to piles of work, to reality….