Three days in Kerala was enough to get a taste for the livelier side of India but also the tranquillity on offer away from the hustle and bustle of the cities. On answering ‘Where are you going next?’ Everyone replied saying how much busier Bengaluru was. Bring it on!
Arriving on the local budget airline Indigo was a smooth and pleasant process. Only a one hour flight for around £30. Much better than the 1.8 average score given on Trustpilot had indicated it would be. Another new flight novelty on this trip, a young man checked my boarding pass as I left the plane, intrigued to know what he’d have done if I’d have lost it, rather pointless but it kept somebody in employment so why not eh?
In no rush to be anywhere I jumped on the bus to the centre. One man spent half of the journey on loud speaker as if he was giving a presentation to the rest of the bus rather than a private conversation before chucking away a packet of crisps on to the floor, a pleasant start.
Lesson in road crossing
I arrived an hour later at Majestic bus station in the heart of the city, named after a popular local cinema rather than its own majesty. It was enormous and hectic, just getting out of there was an introduction to how to cross roads in India. No crossings, no traffic lights, just wait for a gap, eye contact with the drivers and take your chances. I’d strongly advise just following the locals. It may look dangerous but they know what they’re doing. Indecisiveness is the main risk, avoid that and the bikes, buses, cars, and trucks will avoid you. A skill I’d learnt many years ago in Vietnam and it certainly got the blood flowing to be doing it again.
After 5 minutes walking along it became clear there was another thing I could add to the list of things to avoid on the road. Cows…COWS, bloody Cows? I vaguely recalled that they were sacred in this part of the world but I didn’t know they just roamed the streets freely. This is why I love these countries so far removed from my own. Travelling Europe you are very rarely, shocked or surprised by what you see, but bloody cows just chilling blocking the pavement having their lunch, love it. I walked around them with apprehension but they didn’t have a care in the world and off I went with a spring in my step.
The route to my hotel took me via Chickpet Market, and again, the incredible volume of people was astounding. Tight streets with motorbikes flying up and down, everything you could imagine was being sold here. Such a vibrant atmosphere and I clearly stood out as a tourist but the place felt very safe and no one bothered me or tried to get me into their shops which was incredibly refreshing for this type of environment.
Stick with the locals
Next obstacle was the big roundabout that I was soon to have a bird’s eye view of from my room. Best plan was to walk next to an old lady who confidently strode through the middle, job done. Check in greeted me with a less than efficient young fella whose glorious T-shirt made my day.
Another gem for £12 a night, with arguably the best view I’ve ever had in a hotel. Now I’ve had ocean views, mountain views, beautiful countryside views but this one was different. Every time I got up from the bed or entered the room I was drawn to take a look at what was going on. The chaos of the roundabout below was captivating. Different times of day gave it alternative vibes and contrasting colours lighting up the surroundings, genuinely one of my favourite places I’ve ever stayed.
That night I tracked down a group of people attending a religious festival using the Couchsurfing App and went along for the ride. And what a ride it was. The Dussehra festival, celebrated on the ninth and final day of the Hindu festival of Navaratri. I didn’t know what to expect as I joined the group but the many road closures indicated this was a big occasion.
Overall an incredibly unique experience. Each local temple, of which there are many, created extravagant shrines to their Gods and Goddesses to be displayed and then paraded down the street. People of all ages, babies through to the more senior citizens were gathered as families enjoying the festivities. As well as an overcrowded Fairground complete with big wheel and stage performances, the real thing that gave this place such a unique vibe was the music.
Crazy Party
This celebration has been returning to this location for 110 years so one could be forgiven for expecting quaint traditional music. But no, I don’t even know what form of music this was, let’s just say it had no words and was as loud as anything I’ve ever heard before. It certainly created a great atmosphere for the teenage lads who’d left their families to go and dance. The beautifully decorated floats drifted by and the music changed with each one, ever so slightly. It felt like the Salvador Carnival in Brazil but without the alcohol, and this was the strange bit for me. I’d never seen a party with such longevity without the alcohol. No beers available but I did manage to try my first Masala Chai for 20p. And what a joy, a pleasant surprise as a non-tea drinker.
My new friend’s family joined us and the peer pressure to dance left me throwing out a few stereotypical Indian dance moves, but the joy was that I was in India and so we were all doing them. A great laugh and we continued to the early hours of the morning. People continued to show up and the place was still bouncing. This continued until the sun came up by which time I was long gone.
Returning home in the early hours showed a rare peace and quiet to the roundabout, the only movement was a man shuffling around to have a dump in the street. A stark reminder of the poverty and difficulty that many suffer here.
Game Day
Time to pick-up some tickets for that week’s cricket match. After a chilled morning I headed to the collection point and saw other white people for the first time in a week. We quickly traded a few potential pub names in hope of meeting up at a later date. Tickets in hand I popped off for a few beers with my friend’s cousin in a lovely craft ale pub before making my way to the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, named after the former heir apparent to the throne of the Mysore Palace, Kanteerava Narasimharaja Wadiyar and inaugurated by his son in 1946.
This is the 26,000 seater home of Bengaluru FC. Formed in 2013 they have won the Indian Super League 3 times making them the 4th most successful club in India. Much of that under the guidance of former football league nomad Ashley Westwood. Despite a commercial partnership with Rangers, the last 3 seasons had delivered lacklustre performances but they were hopeful of a return to glory this season, longing for the days when they once went 2 seasons unbeaten at home. One win in 3 to start the campaign suggested this may not be the case.
Tonight’s match put them up against FC Goa, flying high in 2nd place. Before the game, I made it in time to enjoy the lively vibes outside the stadium. One man hyping up the locals on the mike while offering people the chance to try and hit a kick up target. Hovering close to the front of the watching crowd, my time eventually came but I didn’t do myself justice, I blame the shoes. Half a second at the end of their social media reel was all it really deserved in fairness, and that’s exactly what it got. I did however get to lead a chant on the microphone which was rather enjoyable.
Classic Indian queueing
Queuing for entry was a rather composed affair until kick off passed and then people just cut to the front. A brief outburst of ‘What’s the effing point of us standing here?’ was met by many apologetic responses in English. Ahh it seems everyone speak fluent English here, oops.
Bengaluru is India’s 3rd biggest city and the countries IT Hub, thus attracting people from all over the country. Hindi is not readily spoken in the south of India. The people who come together here all tend to speak the first language of their different states and thus English becomes the common language in industry.
The West Block Blues
My mini rant did however attract the attention of a couple of young fellas who took me under their wing and invited me to join them and the rest of the West Block Blues. The notorious fan group who have created a big rivalry between themselves and the Manjappada of Kerala Blasters.
The WBB did indeed bring a great atmosphere and it was a pleasure to join them. It was clear the majority of chants were adopted from English songs with a few comical twists in there.
With a Free Kick on an angle just outside the box
“Its going iiiiinnnn, Its going in, its going in, its goin iiiiiinnn”
Followed up by..
“That’s what she saaiiiiid, that’s what she said, that’s what she said, that’s what she saaiiiid”.
From that you can easily get a good idea of the average age of the crowd.
Not the best game you’ll ever see
Overall it must be said that the quality on the field was pretty awful from start to finish. Neither the mascot Eddie the Eagle nor the 7,000 crowd had too much to get excited about despite having a local hero on show. Leading the line for Bengaluru was 39 year old superstar Sunil Chhetri, India’s greatest ever goal scorer and with 93 international goals. He remains the 3rd in the list of all time active international goal scorers.
3rd behind Ronaldo and Messi is a win in my book. But despite his many accolades, he wasn’t able to break through the Goa defence and the game ended in a stale 0-0 draw. Still worth the £9 entry for the atmosphere and another stadium under the belt. Regrettably I was advised to buy an official shirt online by one of my new pals, on hearing later they were only £1.50 outside the ground I think it was a chance I would have been happy to take.
Bucket list item
With the football done, the following day bought the reason I had found myself on the subcontinent. For many years it had been a dream to watch cricket in India and what better occasion than a World Cup where England were reigning champions. But as is often the case with holders, they were putting up a horrible title defence. After months of planning the day was finally here. This game against little fancied Sri Lanka was now a must win game and talk over breakfast at The Biere Club was if we batted first we would be hoping for 400.
A couple of beers and a shot of Whisky and we were on our merry way. Our local buddies negotiated a tuk tuk for 5 of us, a completely needless experience given the journey cost a whopping £1, but plenty of fun all the same. Feeling giddy and excited for the game, the vibes were positive and we were ready for a great day’s cricket at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. We plonked ourselves right in the burning sunshine, the weather was scorching despite a couple of preceding cooler days. Bengaluru is 900m above sea level so has one of the more temperate climates in India. As England got off to a reasonable start we searched in vain for a beer in our section but with no refreshment we headed towards the shelter from the sun at the back of the stands.
Bairstow and Malan started positively and it seemed the tables were about to turn. England were finally stepping up and quickly put 45 on the board before Malan fell. Oh well, not to worry, plenty of World Class depth and Joe Root in next. He lasted a mere 10 balls before an amateurish run out. Shortly after, Bairstow, Buttler and Livingstone added little resistance and when fan favourite Ben Stokes’ resolute effort was thwarted, we knew our race was run. When Rashid was run out off a wide it was just extra salt in the wound.
Back to the 90’s England
A shameful 156 all out after 33 overs. It was like being 4-0 down after 20 minutes of a football match. You know you need a miracle to win but you’ve still got to stay there for ages and sit through the pain. As expected, Sri Lanka cruised to victory, much to the delight of the local fans as that was one less contender to worry about. That was England out of the tournament and I still had tickets to two more games vs India and Australia, great.
Alas, a terrible days cricket but that’s what sport is all about, got to take the rough with the smooth and despite the action on the pitch, we still had a laugh and an enjoyable day, finished off with some Idly, a local delicacy and a few pints of Kingfisher to soften the blow. Getting a beer after midnight was quite a challenge here with everywhere closing early, quite a pain but in hindsight maybe not the worst concept in the world. But I was still able to find a closing off licence and grab myself a night cap for the room.
My final day in Bengaluru and I was ready for some tranquillity. A quick search of things to see in the city sent me in the direction of Lalbagh Park. 15p each way on the air conditioned metro was a delightful trip and it didn’t disappoint. A lovely spot to relax and wind down, though apparently India also has wild monkeys which had me on edge and I did my best to avoid them. A nice way to while away a few hours still.
Change of plan
That night at another Couchsurfing meet up I bent the ear off the locals asking for somewhere I could relax for a few days as I had decided that the game in Australia was not worth me visiting. The ticket had cost me £16 but the pain of going to another huge metro city, and a dry one at that. To see a dead rubber and a team that was playing so badly they didn’t deserve my support. I forwent the £16 in favour of my mental health.
Rishikesh was the overwhelming destination I was recommended. But first up Lucknow to watch England play India. A final highlight of Bengaluru was the beautiful outdoor airport lounge, countless big screen TV’s, beautiful restaurants and seemingly I left just before they were getting the live music up and running.
A brilliant few days in Bengaluru had come to an end. Cheap and friendly, busy and vibrant, this was definitely an enjoyable city to spend time in, as always, let’s rate it out of 100 for a Footy Trip
Team Ability – Not really setting the world alight in the 32nd best Division in Asia. Some of the worst football I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing. A long way to go for them on this front – 2/10
Atmosphere – The West Block Blues bring a fine atmosphere but the stadium was only quarter full. Few, if any away fans also left a lack of edge to proceedings – 6/10
Stadium Quality – A nice stadium all in all with some attractive features running along the top of each stand. As always the running track does no favours at all – 6/10
Beer/Food at stadium – No refreshment again, something really lacking at some of the India sporting events – 2/10
Tourism – Plenty of temples and parks, however the highlight is a little trip out of the city to Mysore, particularly at festival time, by all accounts an incredible experience – 6/10
Accessibility – Crossing the world is always going to set you back a fair bit and unfortunately a visit to Bengaluru is no different – 2/10
People – Locals were all very friendly with English widely spoken, always felt safe and secure despite some of the surroundings being quite challenging – 8/10
Stadium Surroundings – Close to parks and in the heart of the city, no bars in the immediate vicinity but only a short, cheap tuk tuk ride away – 5/10
History – Only 10 years old but already 3 time title winners. Not well known outside of India but one of their leading forces pushing the game to the next level – 3/10
Ease/Cost of ticket pricing – £9 a ticket, very easy to buy online and plenty of space. Nice and simple – 9/10
Total – 49/100
Overall not a great score. Certainly a place to visit if you are already in the region but not worth the adventure especially for a Footy Trip. As always, a lovely experience. Off to see what Lucknow and a match against the Indians has in store.