what's this "pune" about anyway?

some of you might have already read something about pune. or poona, as it was called some time ago. pune is located 160km southeast of mumbai (former bombay) and is the second largest city in the state of maharashtra (and the seventh largest in all of india).



pune lies at 560m above sea level which is why the city enjoys pretty cool night temperatures compared to the hot days. march to may - yes, exactly when I will be there - are summer months with daytime temperatures close to 40°c. can't wait to go there if I look out of the window here in cold, cold lippstadt. and the north carolinian part of me is used to hot and humid summers anyway. talking of humidity, pune also has two rivers, mula and mutha, that merge in pune.

more than 5 million people live in pune, an estimated 40 percent of them in slums. by indian standards, the literacy rate of more than 80 percent beats the national average by far. this is mainly because of pune's role as center of higher education and economically strong area. also referred to as "oxford of the east" due to its many universities and research institutes, pune also accomodates many companies from the automotive and it business.

all in all, all these facts make me very curious about pune. even with fleabites such as almost daily occuring power outages, I am looking forward to the time I will spend there. I have already been in Pune a couple of times; at least, I always believe it to be reality when I dream of it.

you want more on pune? check out this or this link. have fun!

ti-bob