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Ripped off in Lalbagh

Sam is back in town, this time for good. Bugger drove from Delhi via Udaipur-Mumbai-Pune-Kolhapur-Dharwad and reached Bangalore in 5 days. Total distance driven in 5 days: 2502 kms. As a result of this great achievement, or lack thereof, we planned to visit Lalbagh Botanical Gardens.

Expected a lot from this place specially after seeing some pictures that were forwarded from people who had visited previously. What total crap!!

Covered the entire garden and couldn't spot one flower. There is an area called Lotus Pond, but the pond is a mess with empty plastic water bottles 'beautifying' the Lotuses, and not one Lotus spotted. Moving on to the Rosery, which you guessed it right, not a single Rose lining up the place. Guess it was just not the right season. Another so-called attraction was the Aquarium, closed!!

It is a paradise for couples who want to get away from the maddening rush of the city itself, but with the number of people staring at them, there is no solace in the garden either.

Frustrated, tired and hungry, we left the place close to 3 PM, thinking about having lunch at MTR, but again experiencing the kind of day we were having, it was also closed. Up on the bike and back to Koramangala, hoping to find some lunch at Gramin, as luck would have it, closed!! Aaargh.

Ended up eating at a place called The Empire. Although it was a bit late for lunch, at least there should have been some courtesy from the waiters there. We asked for water and the waiter plonks a jar of water on the table, without even filling the glasses. Even spoons and forks had to be begged for before being handed down. Sam thought that we would be the ones who would be cleaning the dishes as well. Guess the Telangana split had gotten into the hotel staff's heads. With loaded bellies, we trotted off to end the mis-adventurous day with an ice-cream. Probably the best part of the day, 2 scoops of delicious chocolate, fudge n brownies. Yummy!!

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