First of all, the motivation to go to India wasn’t work-related at all. It was out of curiosity and craving for an intense cultural experience. After a few quick stops, while being workfree, I got busy in Bangalore as it was the place I chose as a temporary home base for a bit more than a month to get remote work done.
India as a Digital Nomad Destination!
Except for Goa, nowhere in India will be typically appealing for a Digital Nomad to spend more than a week or two. Away from Goa, the internet speed isn’t bad at all in almost all the urban areas that I have been to. The food is great as long as you can keep up with the spicy food & there is always something new to see & experience.
I ended up in Bangalore when I got a project to join remotely as a freelancer. During this time, I was just backpacking in India. So it was a coincidence that brought me there as a Digital Nomad.
Co-working In Bangalore
Bangalore is famous for being the Tech startup hub city of India. Local professionals refer to it as the Silicon Valley of India. As a result, Bangalore has the infrastructure to get things done remotely including plenty of co-working spaces scattered all around the city.
I worked from the co-working space called b-hive. They have more than 20 locations around the city and its suburbs. The building had a spacious shared office space for freelancers, in addition to private offices for startups. One of their locations was in the center of the city near my accommodation in Indiranagar. That branch was open 24/7, so it was a very convenient option for a night owl like me.
The city
Bangalore is a huge city with lots of modern suburban tech parks all around the city. There won’t be much involvement for most Digital Nomad with it though. On the other hand, there are numerous tech & startup-related meetups going on around the city on regular basis. These types of meetups might be interesting for some nomads who are curious about the Indian startup ecosystem.
The areas where most of the expats live are Koramangala, Indiranagar & Whitefield. Whitefield is the main tech hub of the city. I went there only once to do some shopping for travel gear in Decathlon store. Indiranagar is where I stayed. It is a business hub and a nightlife area, while Koramangala is more of a shopping area.
For free time & sightseeing, the are many beautiful areas not so far away from the city. I had a nice trip to the Coorg. It was about 8 hours away by car which isn’t a long distance at all by Indian standards.
The Food
The South Indian Cuisine is mostly rice-based. Since it is Indian food, you should expect it to be spicy with various strong flavors. The most common dishes are dosa with its varieties like masala dosa & onion dosa, idli, flavored rice with a wide variety of options, rolls & occasionally you may stumble upon restaurants serving roasted chicken. And of course, as it is in any big city, there are also international food options in the city central area like in Indiranagar & Koramangala.
The cost of a meal at an average local restaurant will range from $1.5 to $3 or $4. Personally, I avoid street food as much as I can in India due to poor food hygiene.
Transportation
The best means of transportation are ride-hailing apps like Uber or Ola. Also tuk-tuks or as they call South India auto-rickshaws are commonly used. However, I don’t recommend taking any of them because they don’t use meters so you can avoid the hassle of bargaining by having a SIM card to order a cab using any of the ride-hailing apps.
In General
My one-month experience there was great. I can’t say that I feel like doing it again. Unless there is some sort of business that requires me to be physically there.
After all, I had the chance to experience life in one of the world’s most populated cities that is modern and rich in culture as well while working online.
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