Always worth a visit - Hampi!

It has been an awesome experience! I know, I totally blew the whole post now, because you are supposed write that at the very end of a post...what a newbie!
Well, let me say, I will write that conclusion at the end as well...just to satisfy every customer's need...

Hampi...what is Hampi? As a person not being born in India this questions might occur when everybody is telling stories about that place. I have to admit, at first I did not even believe half of the stories half as much as I should have...or should I not? Getting confused here and off-track...
Let us ask our good friend Wikipedia....:
<Hampi (Kannada: ಹಂಪೆ Hampe) is a village in northern Karnataka state, India. It is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. Predating the city of Vijayanagara, it continues to be an important religious centre, housing the Virupaksha Temple, as well as several other monuments belonging to the old city.>
Hm, but what made this experience an awesome experience?? It must have been pretty awesome, that is for sure! Let me tell you right from the start...

The first exiting experience was the way to Hampi. Since it is not located near to Bangalore you should definitely give it a thought before you try taking a rickshaw and going there! We, that is a group of five German trainees, decided to take the Sleeper Bus. Yes, it is a bus in that you are supposed to sleep. I chose the word 'supposed' very carefully because half of us were sleeping only half as much as they would like to have had (this time I got it right^^). Being used to the usual conditions of German streets or autobahn, sleeping in German busses should be no problem. Indian streets are somehow different. Especially outside the bigger cities it seems that there has been a bunch of holes in a field and someone tried to build a street around them (unsucessfully). This is why sleeping is to some extent not possible. I have been blessed with a skill, that allows me to sleep in any place, any position and any condition applying. This is why I slept like a baby^^
We arrived in the early morning, grabbed a rickshaw (what a fight...) and finally arrived in Hampi. At 8 o'clock in the morning the temperature had already reached about 28°C! Yes, kind regards at this point of the post to Germany :)
It would be wrong to name all of the temples since my Indian friends would already know them for sure and my German friends would think 'who cares about the name, it is a temple!'. But we had a look at many temples, a lot of temples...for two days. But it was totally worth it! In the evening we had dinner at the riverside in a restaurant called 'Mango Tree' (not in the other restaurant called 'Reggae River'...a bunch of laid-back and also retarded hill-billie hippies were staying there (sorry bros^^)), had awesome Indian food and drinks and went back afterwards to our guest house in the middle of Hampi. In the morning we went back to the same restaurant and had awesome food like pancakes, sandwiches etc. amazing... Afterwards we rented two scooters and had a funny day-tour with the scooters, off- and on-track, which was really really nice :) Since I was riding one of the scooters for the whole day on an Indian road, I have to admit: Hampi is a safe place for tourists riding a scooter or sth. else. Don't try in Bangalore except you have undergone extensive training^^ In the evening we hopped on the Sleeper Bus and arrived in Bangalore the next morning.

This was the framework for an awesome trip! The following pics should fill the story!

Diwali and other enlightening moments

During one specific time of the year, India turns into a fiery battlefield...well, this is what most Europeans would think while spending time in India during Diwali. Diwali, popularly known as the festival of lights, is an important five-day festival in Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, occurring between mid-October and mid-November. For Hindus, Diwali is the most important festival of the year and is celebrated in families by performing traditional activities together in their homes (thank you, Wikipedia...).
Celebrating Diwali includes several rituals and customs. There is for example a cleaning and purifing ritual. The whole body gets covered with oil, massage optional and afterwards you take a bath. Accordingly you put on new clothes.

But there are other customs as well. Celebrated in the same way as New Years Eve in other countries a lot of crackers and rockets are burned. The only major difference is, that there are no regulations for these crackers in India. Compared to an average German cracker, Indian crackers sound like an explosion of a gas tank or a gunshot fired close to your ears. This is why the experience for people from abroad is like witnessing a civil war in the streets. Nothing for the faint-hearted!
In addition rockets don't explode as you would expect at the peak of their trajectory (Flugbahn). They might as well explode straigtaway or go up, go down again and explode somewhere unexpected. Some risky business to light rockets ;-)

All in all diwali is a great festival to witness in India. People decorate their houses with chain of lights, the entrance is ornamented with chalk paintings and so on. They put a lot of effort in it! Very, very beautiful to look at.

Diwali has been a great time in India. We have been to Mumbai (Bombay) during that time and on our flight back to Bangalore we could see the whole metropolitan area illuminated.

However, there is a different story. I usually go to sports several times during the week. Be it for shuttle/badminton, tennis or squash, there's always a group or people you can join in with. Some indian friends of mine play there as well and it is always a pleasure to have a match with them. There are several ways though how to manage the way home afterwards...
1. you go by rickshaw (17-20 INR)
2. you go by bus (4 INR)
3. you walk/run home

On rainy days it is almost impossible to get a rickshaw to a reasonable prize or just to even manage to find an empty one. The bus is a good alternative although it is not really following a schedule. During rush hour, after sports, it is in many cases the best thing to walk or run home. Well, I gave it a shot the other time. And I had the most interesting experience. In order to explain that I need to begin from scratch.
In India there are many dogs. Living in the streets (most of them) and in houses of people (the lucky ones). Dogs are very curious about things, nearly everything. Especially about moving things (slowly getting there, but I think you get my point). Well, on my way home, jogging, I've had an encounter with a bunch of dogs. It is not the fact, that dogs are curious, what makes that story interesting. It is the fact that dogs love chasing moving objects (or human beings). About three or four dogs suddenly running after me I felt a little bit uncomfortable. Well, I had my sports gear including tennis and shuttle racket with me, I would have managed ;-) Luckily, when I stopped running and turned around, they split and left. True story!

India might be smiling at you right now...

India is home...to many different cultures, religions, more than one billion people. And if there would be only one thing that I appreciate, it would definitely the way people are like. It makes you feel, as already mentioned above, well...home. Everybody is eager to help, everybody is smiling. This makes getting around in this country so easy! There's always a helping hand somewhere.

Being from a different country, being from Europe, being from Germany does have its advantages, I gotta admit!As a white person you're always something special, in many ways. On the one hand, there's the white guy, the wealthy rich guy who spends his money in the country. A person with bright skin, which is a good thing in the caste system. On the other hand there's a white guy who brought change to the country. And change is something which is not always considered a good thing! Some people tend to blame the white guy for pollution, increasing traffic jams, change of culture and of mentality.
There are always two sides to the coin. I've seen both. I have to point out though that most of the people like white people.

Meeting Indians is always something I definitely enjoy. Last week it's been my first time to ride the bus. There are some differences though to the German bus system! First thing first, you enter the bus while it is actually driving...not at walking speed, but driving at some km/h. A guy on the bus invited us to join the ride if we were on our way to Shanti Nagar (which is the district of the city we live in). On the bus, at first, people were surprised to see white people entering the bus. It is not a usual thing, since most of them go by rickshaw or taxi (since they have money for that). Then, most of them were smiling at us, some kids came over to our place and wanted to shake hands, saying hi. They went off, all proud and smiling. It is a great thing when you realize how people enjoy the small things in life and you actually contribute by being open-minded and thankful as well.

One night we went to a club, near UB City Mall. Great thing to relax, having a beer and enjoying the music. We also joined the Octoberfest in Bangalore. What fun! There've been a lot of Europeans, of course! We met some Germans, a french guy, British...Octoberfest in Bangalore is, however, a little bit different to Oktoberfest in Germany. A Bollywood was playing (crowd went crazy, I can tell you^^), there's been just one big tent with kind of a club, international music playing (crowd went crazy as well^^). The beer...well...nothing compared to German beer ;)
Another event, this time called Oktoberfest in Bangalore (you reckognize the difference?), was even better. We went to a hotel where everything was decorated bavarian style! All blue-white, beer mugs, German food (!!) like Frankfurter, Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, Spätzle and many German dishes more...and of course, a German folklore band from Bavaria playing! They were playing lots of traditional stuff from Oktoberfest but also a Hindi song (the crowd went...well, you know ;)) and later on party songs. We really had a blast! A lot of Indian people were attending the party as well as Germans, Americans and so on.

Oktoberfest

Dubai, Airport

Typical Rickshaw

mosque in Bangalore

Hotel near UB City Mall

Here it goes...wait for it...

Well, as I already promised, here it is: another story from a distant country not too far away that took place in the not too distant past...

Where to start, a lot of things happen round here. I got to know many new people, I do really love the country in every aspect so far experienced. I've made new friends and it is just great being around everyone here in this country.

But as promised...here it comes! To start with, in order to explain it to those amongst you who don't know what India offers and what differences there are between e.g. Germany and India, an example. Crafts are really cheap compared to overprized products in Germany. Two friends of mine and me bought some fabrics, total price for my fabrics 200 INR (3,30€). We went to the tailor afterwards in order to let him tailor a shirt. Total price for stitching 250 INR (4,15€). It took a few days and then we had what we came for: a brandnew slim business shirt. Total prize 450 INR, all in all about 7,50€! I don't have to tell you the difference to German prices.

Another day we've been to the gym, the Bosch Sports Ground. They offer nearly everything: soccer, volleyball, cricket, badminton, squash, table tennis, tennis, chess... 150 INR (2,50€) each month for badminton, squash and tennis (which are actually the sports you have to pay for). An affordable price...in order to pay the money, well, there is the catch...you can't just go there and pay the money cash.

You need to receive a DD (demand draft) at a bank. Doesn't sound that bad, well, so I went to a bank. Hmmm...your request could not be proceeded!! What the...? Okay, disillusioned I went back to the plant...where I met two colleagues of mine. They insisted to help me (hey, I know the manager of the bank next to the ATM!!) and we had another walk to a bank. The manager told me to get back in the morning at 9:30am with all papers filled. Filled the papers, got there at 10am (you never know, never be early^^). Still closed...10:30am the bank opened. Another 30min and I received my DD *yeeha.


Tomorrow I'll probably upload another story, meanwhile just have a look at the new diashow where you can actually see a few pics of my first days in Bangalore! Upcoming: Trip to Chennai, formerly known as Madras, Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram!!

Stay tuned!!

Indian ways to communicate

After two weeks of preparation in Feuerbach, some stressfull packing of my luggage and a two-hour-journey to the airport of Munich I finally made it...to the airport!
I have to admit that Emirates, the airline I chose for my flight to Bangalore, is one of the most service-oriented airlines I know. Great meals (and the opportunity to choose between two meals which actually were both tasty), an aisle seat, no problems with my laptop in my luggage...what could you possibly more wish for??

Well...here is at least one thing...

Next time, dear Emirates, don't pick an aisle seat right next to the children's row...especially not a row with two babies in it!! Approximately 97% of the flight both of them were crying...no, no, really...I didn't try to fall asleep...well, however, the other 3% of the time they switched continuously with making noise -.-

Alright, no complaining anymore. I finally arrived in Dubai, 11:40pm local time. A huge place, lots of different people...and at a terribly late time of the day. I tried to sleep...failed! I tried to solve some sudokus...failed! Lack of concentration after a flight with no sleep.
After boarding my airplane to Bangalore I slept...two hours, at last! At the airport I succesfully picked my cab driver, organised by Bosch. He drove me to Angel's Place, the trainee flat in Bangalore. And the trop to the flat is worth another story...

There some rules you have to obey once you're in the middle of traffic in India. First rule, disobey any rule you ever learnt. Traffic lights are neat, turn signals are only used to send Morse code or sth. else, by all means they don't use it do indicate the direction of travelling. And most important: the horn is the most effective way to communicate in traffic!! It is used in case of turning, braking, accelerating, driving towards a crossing, while crossing the crossing, after having crossed the crossing...long story short, for nearly everything! If there are three lanes, no problem, six cars are driving next to each other, side mirrors almost touching...on a single moped you can transport a whole family. Husband, wife and at least to kids! Reckless driving is as common as breathing air.

One might think that this is enough for one day...wrong. Two of the trainees in the flat took me on a 'guided tour'! We visited a lot of places. A market as huge as a small village, a lot of Rikshaw-driving, a Hare Krishna Temple and a lot more...pictures and stories to come :)

The way the cookie crumbles...

Who would have thought that events would turn out to be like this... Just imagine watching a theatre play and it does not resemble anything you imagined it to be in the first place while reading the script! If I would have to describe the preperations for my internship starting almost one year ago, it would be a scenario like that...not! But I'll get back to this point later.

Almost one year ago in November I received the offer letter for my internship *yeehaw* In May this year the company decided to split my internship into two parts. Two weeks of preperation in Germany, 4.5 months intership in India.
After enduring several vaccinations (rabies, hepatitis a/b, typhus...) during 2009 and 2010 I felt a little bit 'flattened'. I don't hate injections, but I just don't like the fact that I'm not able to do any sports for some days... 'and please don't do any sports for the next one or two days!' No problem during rainy days! Too bad I've had my injections always followed by bright sun-shiny days...
The vaccinations were followed by some severe shopping! I had to buy a lot of stuff for India in case I'd get on some jungle-adventure-mosquito-white-water-rafting-snake'n'spider-trip. On my list: repellents, a lot of tablets, meds, tropical-clothing, mosquito net and so on.
I had to book a flight and to apply for a visa. Status quo: flight booked, visa approved!

The only challenge during this time has been applying for the visa (as already mentioned in my last post). Interesting fact (and now we're getting back to the point I've been talking about in the first place^^): everything turned out how it was supposed to be. No surprises, no sidesteps, no dead ends!

I'm really looking forward to my time in India! If everything in India is going as nicely as it was back in Germany, I do have no doubt that it is going to be an awesome time!

Beaurocratic or adjectives I don't like

First thing on my mind when I woke up the other day: an ordinary day, just like any other day of the week...

Well, that I was totally wrong did not slightly surprise me...there was no ordinary day during the preparation of my internship in India! At first I thought good things come to those who wait...but they didn't^^ somehow the only thing I can do about that fact is to wave at these moments when they're passing by ;)

However, back to the roots, to where it all began.

If there's anything you need even more than a flight to India, it is a visa! Not to mention that both of them are indispensable...(just imagine arriving at the airport and being like 'hmmm, I knew I forgot sth...')
Well, I was about to change the fact that I had a flight but not a visa yet. There's just one thing you have to know about applying for a visa for India...that there is nothing like "just one thing"...

First things first: I called the embassy of India in Berlin and had to find out that the embassy there is not responsible for applicants from 'Baden-Württemberg'. Well, you live and learn! So I called the consulate general in Munich...three times...and a few times more! Phone engaged...always. But then, finally, I got through, sending my regards to 'Deutsche Telekom' and was surprised to find out, that the consulate general is not responsible for the applications of visa but an outsourced company called 'Cox & Kings'. Great news, finally I knew who to call :)

Nothing new there, I tried a bazillion times till I reached someone in the end.
-'Hm, so you're on an internship, right? You have to apply for a business visa!' (Wow, that easy :))
-'Thank you very much! Are you really sure about that? It is important to know for me!' (whispering in the backround)
-'Oh wait, no! You have to apply for an employment visa!' (not that easy at all -.-, no surprise there...)
-'Okay, so it's an employment visa then!'
-'Wait, I gotta check again, just to be sure...' (well... I can imagine how hard it has to be: to choose between 6 different types of visa if you have a job which deals 24/7 just with one thing: visa...)
-'It is the business visa, please apply for the business visa. The embassy will decide which visa you get' (why don't I just send a blank form...that just takes the biscuit...)

In the end I had to find out (via the company I'm working for in India) that I have to apply for an entry visa. It could have been so easy...

Blog time - safely read from the distance: my stories of/about incredible India

Hey everyone,

thanks for following my blog ;) I'm kind of in an adventurous mood right now and really looking forward to my internship in Bangalore and my time in India.

This blog is my opportunity to share every detail with people who are interested in my stories or who just don't know what to do on a boring or rainy Saturday afternoon.

Stay tuned and be ready for news, pics, videos and so on.

Take care out there and see you around :)