Sunday, August 1, 2010

India: first impressions

After the completion of my bachelor degree at the Hasso Plattner Institute (Potsdam, Germany), I went to India for an internship at SAP Labs Bangalore. So, I am here for nearly one month now and I like to sum up my learned lesson and my first impressions of Bangalore. Here part one.

First, do not trust any body who comes to you and want to guide you to a taxi, a shop or anything else. These guys will definitely cheat you and charge you more than ten times of the normal price. For this reason, before coming to India alway talk with some Indian friends, contact some Indian colleagues or read some Indian tourist guides.

A fact, which would save me a lot of money is, that per km the price for a taxi never exceeds 20 rupees and the normal price per km for a rickshaw is 7 rupees. Sounds not a lot, but a rickshaw is your daily transport vehicle in Bangalore unless you get a 2-wheeler. This I would recommend to you, so do not forget your international driving licence. I currently try to bypass the Indian bureaucracy to get an Indian licence, but it will be much easier to possess an international licence.

In addition, if you go to an internship it is clearly recommended to get an employement visa. I actually know it before apllying for the visa, but the embassy guys told me to get a business visa. As far as I know, it makes no difference (till now).




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