Our arrival in Bangalore

Here we are!
It's been a few days since we landed in Bangalore.
My god, what a city! What a mix of cultures!
In Bangalore (around 15 million residents!) Indians are coming from all over India. There are so many different cultures across India but here they all mix together…

Each region of the country has its own language, there are 22 official languages but more than 200 different languages have been listed, all complex and more difficult than the others!
Yes, there is Hindi, a language spoken by 40% of the population. But as not everyone speaks it and Hindi is mainly spoken in the North. Here in Bangalore, people communicate mainly in English.
When I see how easily these people move from one language to another without ever an ounce of reproach towards their interlocutor (who does not speak the same language), we have a lot to learn from them in Europe. We tear each other apart because of our differences but in the end we are no more different between Europeans than Indians are between them.
It’s a real lesson in humility for us.
Otherwise in Bangalore, and throughout the state of Karnataka (more than 40 million people), people speak Kannada.
Another observation that I was able to make is that, although originating from the same country, people can be completely different physically... Themselves, they recognize which region they come from thanks to their size, their corpulence or their skin color... because Indians are not all the same, far from that!

But anyway, back to our arrival.
Just after leaving the plane, you must go through immigration.
To do so, you have to fill out a form (one per person) which you are given when you get off the plane (sometimes you have to search for the person who gives it!). Above all, keep your boarding pass because first, it helps to fill out the form and secondly they will ask to see it at immigration. Also always have a pen at hand because I didn’t see any at disposal.
Then you have to queue for immigration.
For us, this will be the section reserved for foreigners.

In fact, the hall looks quite similar to American immigration (the same legendary antipathy!), except that here, the section for locals is gigantic, overcrowded and even slower than our line.
What also struck me in the “foreign section” is that there are physiques that we are not familiar with, very dark skin with very blue eyes surrounded by black eyelashes with jay-colored hair, they are distant peoples for us. At this point I realize that we are in a part of the world that we do not know.
Ultimately, Japan is more familiar to me...
After immigration, we collected our luggage (our 6 suitcases were all there, phew!) and then we went through customs. We had nothing to declare, so it happened quite quickly!
My first impression of Bangalore when we landed was that the airport is amazing, super modern, beautiful architecture and parking worthy of Miami 😉. I immediately thought that this city must be very modern if it has an airport like that.

Then, we had to drive more than an hour to enter the city (the airport is north of the city, about thirty kilometers from our hotel which is located in the “city center”).
We hit the road at 3am…
In the middle of the night, this city is full of action, I think Bangalore never sleeps!

I don't know what people do at night as there are no bars or nightclubs open but they are out like in broad daylight!
Anyway, landed at 2am, immigration took 1 hour, baggage collection and customs 45 minutes and then 1 hour drive, check inn and hotel room, we fell asleep at 5am.
There is a 4.5 hour time difference with Germany in winter (and 3.5 hours in summer) so it was 12.30am for us. We left our apartment at 6am the day before, so it was quite a journey! And we could feel the jetlag!
It's a real cultural shock too because, when leaving the airport, we drive on a large highway type road (with bumps all the same 😉 so the driver suddenly blocks!) then, we leave this road to sneak (that's really true!) in the center, and t's no longer a main road, it's sometimes still dirt roads with shops all along, people everywhere chatting or sleeping on the floor. And then hop! contrast, a bitumen road with large houses, either colonial or modern, but all protected by a gate, a wall or barbed wire and always with a guard!
 

Interesting and confusing at the same time...
Our first impression of the climate was pleasant, it is not at all humid, the air is rather dry, and there is a smell of burning wood everywhere... and then there is the scent of incense everywhere.
We almost (almost!) had a feeling of pure mountain air, mixed with jasmine 😍.

Well a generally positive first impression, a little apprehension but a lot of curiosity and excitement!
Here we are on the way to this new chapter of our life!