A Random Update from Bangalore

It’s been a few weeks since we have written anything substantial on the blog. Here are a few random bits about our life in Bangalore…

Summer is Upon Us: It’s hot. Maybe not hot by Indian standards, but definitely by Bangalore (and DC) standards. Temperatures are hitting 36+ degrees C (95+ deg F) on a daily basis and the sun is very intense during the day. We are happy to spend most of the daylight hours indoors under a high-speed fan. Last week, it rained one night, which resulted in some amazingly cool weather the next day (cool enough that we could play tennis at 4 in the afternoon!). Today's weather report says that it will rain again in the next few days…yay!

RCB no longer rules the IPL: The Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team has been on quite a losing streak since we wrote so fondly of them a couple of weeks back. They have lost 4 out of their last 5 matches and are now on the cusp of losing their playoff spot. We’re going to the game tonight, so maybe that will bring them some good luck, as they have never lost a match that we have attended.

Taco Bell is Now Open: Those of you reading this in the US are probably wondering what the big deal is, but here the opening of the first Taco Bell in India is a huge deal! It is located on the other side of Bangalore, so we have yet to check it out. However, yesterday, we did see the first Taco Bell advertisement – Tacos for just 18 rupees (40 cents). It’s likely that the food will be better than the ‘Taco Hells’ scattered throughout the US, but stay tuned for a restaurant review.

We’re Going Trekking: We signed up for an organized 9 day trek to Kuari Pass in the Himalayas for the end of this month. We have been training hard by climbing about 9 floors of our apartment 8 times every day in our hiking boots. While most of the trek will be done at elevations between 1500-3000 meters (5,000-10000 ft above sea level), the next to last day will bring us up to about 3650 m (12,000 ft). Unlike backpacking in the US where you have to lug all of your food and supplies yourself, organized multi-day hikes in India come with a guide, a cook, and porters that carry everything except your lunch! This is going to be an amazing experience for sure, and we imagine that some amazing photos will soon be uploaded to a blog near you.