The Reyes Report

Wow. That’s the only word to describe my first reaction. I thought Bangalore would be “busy” — and by “busy” I pictured a chaotic Times Square of sorts. Not so. The international airport of Bangalore was busy when I arrived, to be sure. But more so because the one guy at customs had to deal with ushering our whole plane through the baggage scan area. No worries … the scan didn’t take long as we arrived at 7:55 and that guy hadn’t arrived yet. Which gate did we arrive at? Why, the international arrival gate. I understand there’s an international departure gate for when we leave too, one. A throng of taxi drivers was crowding the exit waving small pieces of computer paper with hand-written names on them. And the ride, once we did find our driver, to the hotel — about a 5 mile drive — took us about 30 minutes with driving speeds ranging anywhere from crawl to hurdle, backed by a symphony of car honks and tire squeals.

But the hotel. There’s that wow word again. You step off the crowded, poverty-ridden streets into luxury like I have never known: the Leela Palace Bangalore. Wow. I’m only sorry Conrad couldn’t join me on this last forray into a new slice of Asian culture.