First, let me say "oops" and sorry to any of you that may have been reading my recent post when I trailed off at "day 1" in the hopes of sharing some of the highlights of our india/indonesia/china trip... It can be easily explained in Mikie's post about our little Rip Van Winkle incident becuase as soon as I reached over to get my trip journal, my head grazed the pillow and that was it. I'm afraid I can no longer claim that I am unaffected by jet lag - Tuesday would have begged to differ.
And B, I hate to take the important announcement Will posted about off the top of the list, but I assure you that we'll put up another reminder of the upcoming opportunity to spread Christmas cheer, stimulate the Galveston economy and just plain have a little fun on the IBC Santa Pub Crawl!!!
Fourthly, I'm getting tired and am worried I'll let another day pass without getting started on this, so here we go...
Day 1:
Houston-Dallas-New York-London-Mumbai- Bhavnagar, India
We left for Intergalactic airport at 6am on Monday morning, November 9th. The doggies were in the safe and reliable hands of the staff at the Galveston Vet Clinic (many of whom are fellow Aggies, thank you!) and we were packed and prepared for the trip: clothing for hot weather, clothing for cold weather, clothing appropriate to wear in a temple (or so I thought), clothing appropriate to wear in a pool (also, or so I thought), antibacterial hand wash, antibacterial hand wipes, antibacterial bed and surface spray, our weekly malaria pills, addresses of every U.S. embassy in each city we'd visit, passports, visas, and our camera. (anyone remember the movie Nuns on the Run - say it with me "Spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch".)
We flew into Mumbai airport, India's busiest, around 2am and our connection to Bhavnagar wasn't until 7am. The Kingfisher (they make a good beer, but I wouldn't want to fly with 'em) plane that tried to land just after us apparently skidded off the runway due to
some wet conditions and while we were watching the news coverage awaiting our flight - yes, in the exact same wet conditions - we came to learn of the cyclone that was headed directly for the place we were heading. Think positively - think positively. (everyone was fine on the Kingfisher flight, by the by...)
We arrived in Bhavnagar on November 11th at 8:20am. No, there wasn't room for us and our gigantic tupperware luggage, see picture here if you're curious, (that we swear was made by the Rubbermaid company rather than Samsonite) in the SR-71 Blackbird to make the trip in lightning speed. Although it was technically 2 days later, we had really only spent about 24 hours in travel, but I assure you we felt as though it had been a whole week. Luckily, the great crew on the Virgin Atlantic leg from London to Mumbai know that passengers get a bad case of the "I would give anything for a toothbrush right now" syndrome and do actually give everyone a toothbrush. It's a good thing, too because the meal was some form of airplane lamb which Mikie tried (I'm a non-lamb eater in the first place so I didn't even venture this one) and instantly regretted. Luckily, international flights have no shortage of beverages to wash things like that down with.
Bhavnagar is right along the coast of the
north western coast of India (the red area is Gujarat which is the state). I wanted to take a picture of the tiny, tiny airport but the gentlemen with the automatic weapons persuaded me to put my camera back into my bag and save the battery for something else. Which I did.
The drive from the airport to our hotel was a learning experience to say the least. Bam - there we were - in India. Drivers in India seem to be a breed of their own. They seem to have a sixth sense about knowing that person, dog, child, or other vehicle will get out of their way - there's no flinching - it is the ultimate game of chicken, but these guys just don't back down. And, in contrast to America, the horn that is installed in cars for use in India are truly meant to be used as often as the engine is in use.
The sound of a car horn is probably white noise to those native ears at this point, but to us, it was a every-second reminder that "oh my crap we're going to die".
The road is shared by many here. Goats, dogs, pigs, and cows are among those that wander aimlessly through - and towards - oncoming traffic. There are no lines on the road here to designate where you should stay - in fact, you really don't even have to drive on the correct side of the road (which happens to be the left - note the location of the steering wheel) which our driver demonstrated quite often to our... mild terror... The rocks you see in the middle of the road are also mere suggestions and are regarded by the locals as such: suggestions. Sometimes they use 'em, sometimes they don't. That's why they make tires out of rubber I guess.
It is illegal to drink - or even to have alcohol in your possession in Gujarat. That law is clearly stated in many locations around our hotel. There's really no segue for that - just thought I'd throw it in.
Infrastructure isn't really something I used to appreciate. I am becoming more open minded and grateful already.
Oh - almost forgot to share with you our first meal: Bon Appetite!
