Day off in Bangalore

I have a lot to write about today it being my first day off

Driver
Got to know my driver pretty well over the past few days, it is quite strange having a driver and I am not quite used to it. I can ask him to take me any where and he does but I feel awkward because he has to get up before me just to be ready to pick me up, and then he stays out with me all day. I end up just telling him I am going back to the hotel just so I can feel a little less restricted and then I sneak out for a look around the city from a ground level perspective. You see you can't wander around backstreets and discover strange little markets from a guided car, but on foot things are different.
Today I also got to meet his family and see his house, Very small one roomed ground floor apartment he shares with his wife sister in law and three children for this he pays 1500 Rupees (GBP 20) , a month. It was very nice of him to do that but I think he was trying to hammer home a hint about a tip, but none the less very nice and he does have very well behaved children.

Shops
Just like Thailand the "Gift Emporiums" Employ an incentive scheme to Cab drivers Where by if they Bring a tourist to there shop they Get 5 points when they get 100 points they get 1000 rupees, so if you get a cab or a rickshaw they end up trying to convince you to go to a couple of shops, all of these shops employ the hard sell tactic, I started off along the "Just looking" tack but as the shops where on I discovered the best tactic was to to be harsh on the workmanship whilst being tight as anything.

Tips
Not much to say here but I just wanted to say that it is impossible to know when to give tips and when not to.

Bannergataha national Park
I decided I wanted to see some wildlife so my driver told me about Bannergathar National park which he happily informed me I would see Lions, Tigers, and Elephants, all in the wild. Now I was a little dubious as Lions and tigers do not share the same habitat, but I went along anyway.
Turns out that it is nothing more than a Large safari Park, but you did get a lot closer to the animals than you do in the UK. To be honest thePark is a lot bigger but you are not aloud in to the main park for conservation reasons But still it was a bit of a dissapointment, on the "wild" front but still cool on the "oh my god i can feal the bear breathing on me" front. also they had a zoo around which i was guided by a "knowledgeable" guide who knew nothing about the animals kept in the zoo.

Market
Went down to the city Market, lots of meat and vegetables all very cheap but of no use to me as I don't have a kitchen. Also have seen a lot better markets in Slovenia and Thailand. It was worth a trip if only to get away from bangalore high society.

Photos
I am just setting up some new photo albums, the work one will probably only be of interest if you happen to work for DB or TCS but I would recommend the animals and streetlife one.

Luggage
Oh yeah. My luggage finally arrived but not before I got a bit of a scare. The hotel picked up the wrong bag from the airport and happily delivered someone else's bag to my room. When by bag did turn up it was shrink wrapped and looked about half the size, whereby the hotel porter promtly went about hack the wrapping cutting one of the straps in the process.