The commute

My house is about two miles from work. Most days I walk both ways. The evening is nice when it's cool, but I often leave later than I want to in the mornings when it's starting to get hot, so I often show up to work a little sweaty. Here's what a normal commute looks like for me:

My street; the blue house is the one right in front of where I live

Then I turn left and walk up this street

This is the same street, I just wanted to capture how it gets even narrower when cars are parked here

Then I take a right and walk down this street

And I get to admire this building under construction. There's lots of construction in the city

And then I walk past the cows. The smell definitely wakes me up in the morning.

A lot of women create sidewalk art in the mornings. This house has some of my favorites. (Usually it's just plain white, but there's a holiday coming up, so she got really fancy.)

Sorry, this is a lousy picture (I have to keep my eyes on the road when walking), but this is a scrapping facility where they go through waste and salvage plastic and metal.

Then I get to the main road (Banaswadi). But right where I meet it, it is passing over the railroad tracks, so I have to walk under the road.

And on this morning they train was going past as I approached.

Also, cows always have the right of way on the roads here

It's a bit dank as I walk across the railroad tracks. There's not really a path, but lots of us walk this way everyday.

It's a pretty nice view this way.

But the view can't distract from the smell. This one stays with you for the whole day.

Then, after leaving the railroad tracks, I'm back on the main road (you can see it coming down the ramp). This takes me almost all the way to my office.

This mall (with movie theater) is under construction, but it's going up pretty quickly. I might be able to see Star Wars Episode VII here in December.

Up ahead there's a cart where a man sells coconuts for people who want some coconut water on their way to work.

And a vegetable stand. Can't beat that fresh produce.

Lots of scooters and auto-rickshaws on the road. Not as many cars or trucks.

Across the street, you can see posters for the latest Kannada language movies. (Kannada is the language of Karnataka state where Bangalore is located, though within the city, many people speak English.)

At that blue cart, a man is making sugar cane juice. Behind him, there are a bunch of fruit stands.

Bangalore has a lot of trees. I really like all the green in the city.

Then Banaswadi Road hits another set of railroad tracks, so it has another ramp over them.

This one has a pedestrian footpath, though. It's actually really nice. Still, some people hop the fence to walk over the railroad tracks and shave one minute off of their trip

I really like this sign: "Loco pilot no backing without permission". I know that it is a direction to the pilot of the locomotive. But I prefer to think of it as addressing a crazy pilot.

As I come down the footpath, this is the view. More cars and fewer scooters. That means it's a more affluent part of town.

And here's the last road that I cross before I reach the office.

And right outside the office, there are food carts and fruit stands, which is very convenient.