Welcome to Bangalore

An early rise this morning as we checked out of the hotel by 5am to be at Chennai Central to catch the Shatadbi Express which departed at 6am. All went smoothly. The station was busy but not as choatic as some of us had expected, and we had the luxury of a brand new air conditioned car.
The 5 hr trip to Bangalore was very smooth. We noted a plethora of eucalyptus plantations along the way, and a number of rocky outcrops. Plenty of coconut palms and all sorts of different farms.
As we approached the outskirts of Bangalore we saw lots of construction. About half an hour out, there was a massivee conglomeration of brand new apartment towers still under construction, probably about 15 or 20 of them, all about 20 to 25 storeys high. It is hard to quantify but I would suggest the entire population of Pinjarra could have fitted into those apartments several times over.
The Bangalore station was much cleaner and less hustle and bustle than Chennai. And it was pleasantly cooler in the high 20's. (Bangalore at 1000m elevation was described to us as the "air conditioned city")
After checking in to the hotel and getting settled, Lucky showed some of us a little bit around the centre of his home town. Some good shopping. The city is generally neater, cleaner, greener, more modern, more western, quieter, cooler and less frantic than Chennai, and we welcomed the change in pace.