Rickshaw Ride!

MAYA: We were finally brave enough to get a rickshaw and go into town for some errands and shopping.It was kinda scary and very fast. The rickshaw goes in and out of traffic without stopping. I sat between my mom and grandmother. They were afraid I would fall out!

The ride cost us 40 rupees. A rupee is the Indian money, and the bills are larger than a dollar. 1 American Dollar equals 45 rupees. They have 1,2,3 rupee coins and then they are all bills. My grandmother complains that everything seems to be costing close to 500 rupees which is 11 dollars. She says the money goes out like water because it doesn’t seem real.

Here is a picture of our driver.

My grandfather told me that when my mom was about 16 and in India, she measured the dimensions of a rickshaw! She wanted to ship one home so she could drive it around! I think it would be fun to have one in New London in the summer time. 

We had to go through a security check to get into the mall. There are guards and policemen everywhere.

We ate at an American restaurant today called Au Bon Pain. The sign said they are in New York, Boston and the big cities in the USA. The menu was all Indian food. My mom had a Tandoori Chicken panini. She said it was so good. I had a Chicken Curry rice bowl and it was very good. I like all the spices in the food.We thought it was funny that they were selling “french cupcakes”. They were 30 rupees or 66 cents! Not as good as my dads cupcakes. he should sell them here.

Tomorrow we are driving to Mysore. It is another place in South India. This is where my grandmother is from. We will have to visit some more and then she said we will see some cool things. It is not as crowded as Bangalore and we can take more rickshaw rides. Mysore is the one with the circle. It is further south so my mom said it will be even warmer. Every day is like 85 degrees right now. It will be a 3-4 hour drive.