Snapshots from the Johannesburg trip #JohannesburgNotes

The agenda of the South Africa trip was to provide training to actual end users of the application that we are developing. It was a first for me. The days were filled with training schedules for different sets of people. It was quite an interesting experience due to the varied kinds of people involved and the different perspective that we got on something that we were all too familiar with.

Evenings were free for a bit and we walked around the place we were staying in. It was a very posh area and felt quite safe to move around. We had been advised by the local folks to take cab to wherever we go and to not walk. Felt like the safety concern was kind of hyped and may not be for real but while driving around in the day, we saw that there really were wired fencing over and above high compound walls!

The highlight of the trip were the temperatures though ! 😛 It was peak winter in South Africa and I had never experienced such cold weather. Packed in layers all day through, I managed to survive it and also be alright once I came back. My teammate who seemed to brave the chill better than me, came down with a terrible flu once we came back! Another highlight was that I made it a point to carry a couple of sarees and managed to wear them…got compliments too!! In fact, the sarees kept me the warmest 🙂

One thing that is in total contrast to our experience in namma Bengaluru is the super quick cab service. The cabs would arrive at pick up points within a couple of minutes and we had to be absolutely ready to leave before we booked a cab! The cars were good ones – most of them sedans and the drivers were very courteous always.  People in general are very courteous and greet everyone they come across, something which also struck me as quite opposite to how it is here.

The quick service can be attributed to less traffic, and the place being a capital and an economic/financial centre of the country. Achieveing that here will be quite a challenge i understand. But courteousness towards all is something that can definitely be emulated!

A few pics from around the city .. some of them taken from inside the cabs…

Early morning view from my room on the 9th floor..

Captivating view of the sky..

One of the entrances to the Nelson Mandela Square

En route to our hotel..

Inside the Sandton city mall… no idea how this works though!

Lights!

The scene at dusk.. clicked while our cab was at the signal

A huge building…beautifully striking because of its glass facade..

The musicians at the bar 🙂

Another beautiful building..loved how it was framed by the trees and plants. Luckily for me, the cab slowed down and I took a chance to quickly click this one!

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