It's India, but not as we know it. Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, is so green, cosmopolitan and manageable, it seems quite removed from the chaos of other major cities in the sub-continent.
This is less to do with the city being the high-tech capital of India than its geography.
Multi-national companies site their futuristic headquarters outside the historic centre, where chaos does rule while building continues apace, leaving the city proper to locals, ex-pats and growing numbers of visitors.
Established in 1537 as Bengaluru (it translates as "town of boiled beans" thanks to a legend associated with a meal enjoyed by a visiting king), Bangalore got its more pronounceable name from the British. They arrived at the start of the 19th century and made it the southern hub of the Raj, putting up many attractive colonial buildings including the Bangalore Club, where it's said Winston Churchill left an unpaid tab.
This pleasant town, which enjoys a balmy micro-climate, is less about sightseeing, though, and more about skipping from one lavish hotel to another, enjoying their restaurants and joining the legions of ex-pats - among them many Israelis and Brits who work in health as well as high-tech - at a variety of lively pubs.
Getting there
Package: Greaves Travel offers a week's tour of Bangalore and Mysore including direct BA flights from Heathrow Airport, four nights B&B at the ITC Windsor, two nights B&B at the Royal Orchid Metropole, transfers and sightseeing. From £1,275 per person based on two travelling, greavesindia.com
Highlights which merit a visit include the Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, where many fabulous exotic trees and shrubs have been flowering for 250 years. Shame about the litter, which belies the overall impression of Bangalore as a well-tended city. Tidier is the Bull Temple, whose 5m-tall black granite nandi (bull) is a feature of these parts - there's another fabulous Bull Temple in Mysore.
In a town not short of five-star hotels, the ITC Windsor, which looks like it dates back to the Raj - all polished wood and butlers but barely 30 years old - has one of the city's best restaurants in the elegant, if strangely-named Dum Pukht Jolly Nabobs, not to mention charming period-style rooms, some opening onto a private garden, and the acclaimed Kaya Kalp spa. This and the lavish Leela Palace are the lodgings of choice, at least until Dan completes its first hotel outside Israel in a year or two.
Nearby Mysore, rich in Raj heritage, should not be missed - as with all trips to India, travelling with a specialist operator like Greaves which fields its own reliable cars and drivers is the most comfortable and flexible way to see the country.
The palace of the Mysore maharajah, a masterpiece of Glaswegian Edwardian engineering, is more impressive on the outside and despite the hype, not the sole city attraction. Livelier and more fun is the Devaraja market, where the florists' quarter is a riot of colour, as skilled workers knot and plait tropical blooms and marigolds to make wedding garlands and other festive decorations. The fruit is a wonder to behold too, and no visitor leaves without a few sticks of sandalwood incense; Mysore is the home of both silk and sandalwood industries.
A drive around town leads past the racecourse and numerous landmarks where the Duke of Wellington ruled in his pre-Waterloo days as governor of Mysore. Then it's up Chamundi Hill to see yet another temple guarded by a 5m granite bull, this nandi carved out of a piece of rock in 1659. It's worth the visit to admire both the black beast and the sweeping city views below.
Mysore will one day, when the five-star brigade get their hands on it, have a luxury hotel in a former royal residence currently being run somewhat lackadaisically by the government. In spite of this, it's worth dropping into the Lalitha Mahal Palace for a visit, given its wealth of Raj-period detail.
Better service abounds at the Royal Orchid Metropole, which once housed the Maharajah's British guests and still oozes faded grandeur. Food in the charming courtyard garden is excellent - don't miss south India's favourite breakfast, a dosa (crispy pancake) served with coconut chutney.
Two of southern India's loveliest but unsung attractions lie on the route between Bangalore and Mysore and should not be missed; I learned about them from a fellow guest at Soukya, the holistic healing centre on the outskirts of Bangalore beloved by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who goes regularly for the ayurveda, alternative medicine, and where visitors can book in for short treatment breaks.
My new friend recommended the haunting Keshava temple at Somnathpur, no longer used for worship and now an atmospheric colonnaded ruin with quite fantastic carvings. Not far away is the Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary, whose squawking inhabitants return to the riverbanks to roost every evening.
The queue for a boat is short, and the meander along the Cauvery River charming, best done as close to sunset as possible. It's a reminder that India is as rich in wildlife as Raj relics, and can be as peaceful on occasion as its more familiar noisy, vibrant self.
