Having broadband Internet while traveling in a car is fantastic! Catching up with my Internet browsing while Steve is driving... We're on our way back to Hitchin, Hertfordshire.

 

Yesterday we went to see some relatives in Llanbrynmair... some pics of the visit below.

Surprise Surprise, I’m still here in India!

 

I got to the airport and this lady asked if I was on the BA flight, I said “Yes”. She told me that the flight was delayed until 8am tomorrow morning. BA have put the passengers in the Hyatt Regency hotel which in my opinion is more comfortable than the Leela Kimpenski hotel. At least the Internet is good here which is what I wanted so I could upload my new video clips.

 

This is the first time I’ve been delayed like this. But I will have to be up early tomorrow morning. I’ve been advised that BA want to move passengers at 4:30am! So it will be an early night for me.

 

Last night I met a guy in the bar who was in the shipping industry. Over the few hours we were chatting, I learnt a lot about the industry and by chance, one of the guys on the delayed BA flight today is also in the shipping industry. We’ve been chatting and I do find the shipping industry quite interesting. Apparently, Mumbai is a major shipping hub.

 

So now that the video is finally up, here are the links:

 

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_PKI8pM_2M 
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlExZrks39I 

 

Here are some new photos...

 

The landscape view is better viewed from this link.

It’s frustrating when I can’t upload the video I’ve got! The hotel Internet connection is crap. I’ve tried 3 times and it keeps timing out.

 

So yesterday I left the Le Meridien hotel in Pune around 10:30am and headed for Mumbai. But I asked the driver to stop at Lonavala (sometimes spelt Lonavla) so I could take pictures and video of the mountains. Wow! It was amazing. I spent over 2 hours just enjoying the view. When I get to post the video, you will all get to see it.

 

There was this guy that wrote your name on a grain of rice. So I got my name done and it’s now a key ring. I saw some truck accidents and apparently, the trucks breaking systems sometime fail in these high mountains areas.

 

I have seen some other funny things, like a bottle of water that claims to have 300% more oxygen in it! I guess water like this would be like taking Ecstasy or speed if I were a fish!

 

I don’t like the hotel in Mumbai all that much. It’s too expensive, boring and the atmosphere is cold. Oh and it’s Internet connection facilities.... .... well I won’t go there. I’m sure you know what I would say...

Today was my last day in the office. It’s been a very hard week! So tonight I went for a massage to just chill out. It’s now 9pm and I’m ready for diner.

 

The weather in Pune has not been too bad. Pune is at an altitude of 2000 ft above sea level which make it a bit cooler. I’m when I get to Mumbai tomorrow I’ll see a difference.

 

As this has been my first time in India, it’s been an experience! The traffic experience really is something to do at least once in a life time. The people have been very nice and friendly.

 

I hope to put up some video up on youtube tomorrow night after my journey through a hill station (where I’ll be stopping for lunch).

Today is my last day doing work here in India. It rained for a few minutes yesterday and teh rain really really came down! I've posted another video on YouTube:

 

         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbfnMj_S6Mc

 

Will post more later....

 

I've added another video up on youtube. Hopefully it will go live soon...

 

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUl8pF1q8DY

 

 

After arriving in Pune, one thing that is definitely clear, is that the roads and driving is better than in Mumbai. Don’t get me wrong, it is still very much an experience! ;-) We checked-in at the Le Meridian hotel (which is very nice) and took the rest of the day very easy. Went to the roof top of the hotel and looked across Pune and the train station. Couldn’t get to sleep very easily so I just watched BBC World until I passed out.

 

The next morning it was up early and off to the office. The drive was absolutely amazing! The driver headed directly into oncoming traffic on a dual carriage way. We’re seeing cars, motorbikes, bicycles and people heading directly for us. After a short while, we cut across the oncoming lanes of traffic (causing a small traffic jam) until we got onto the correct carriage way for the direction we were travelling in. BTW, I got this on video! Anyways, a long hard day in the office and eventually got back to hotel late and after the evening meal it was 11:30pm. I was still buzzing from the day and decided to check out the bar. Had a couple of beers and then went to bed.

 

Today was nothing special, although our driver (a different driver from Monday) got a fine for crossing a red light. There's something ironic about that. We headed into the office, been working all day and now thinking that we’ll probably head off soon... I’ll capture some more video and post them tomorrow.

I've not had a chance to write up more on this trip. Work has been very busy...

 

But I have managed to get some pics up (my photo blog) and video on youtube here:

 

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-kzclZS4ak

 

 

The journey over to Mumbai took about 8:30 hours. Not sure if I have sucker written on my forehead, but a nice British Airways lady singled me out to do a survey before we even left the gate! The survey had 40 questions on it and I was the lucky recipient to also get a British Airways pen (which I later lost during the flight). I hope I wasn’t chosen from intelligence-based research! ;-)

 

Anyway, the flight was about an hour late taking off and both Mark (a manager in the company) and I sat in the aisle seats in the very last row (row 53). I’m sure why, but right now, all I can think of is that theme song from the film, “bad boys”. I sat next to an Indian lady whom I got chatting with throughout the flight. She had already been flying for ages as she had left Washington D.C. and was on her way to Mumbai to meet up with family. We had great conversion and talked about all sorts of things. I love talking to people on long haul flights because it’s amazing the interesting people you come across. I once spent a whole flight talking to Taiwanese girl who didn’t speak any English at all. She had a small language translator the size of a calculator and I would type in English and she would read it in Taiwanese and visa versa.

 

As we land in Mumbai, I ask Mark if he’s ready to go clubbing as it’s about 1am and it seems like the right time of night to do so... ;-) I knew there was no chance of this as we had to be up early the next morning and I don’t think Mark is in to Clubbing, but it seemed like a funny thing to suggest. We get off the plane and wow! I was hot! What I had not anticipated was that we were still in a relatively air-conditioned environment and when we walked past a works area, I could the feel the hairs on my legs being singed ! I’m serious! It’s real hot here! We walked for about 10Km and finally got to the immigration desks within the airport. Whilst queuing in line, there was this one Indian chap who just walked passed everybody in line. At first I thought he was a little cheeky pushing in like that, but after a short while, I just laughed and thought about the potential this Indian experience might reveal.

 

After we collect our bags, we’re off and exit the airport to an awaiting crowd. Wow! Jam packed with people at 2am in the morning! Apparently, the airport doesn’t shut down like Heathrow does, it just keeps going all night and all day. In many ways, seeing the chaos around reminded me of the domestic airport in Manila. Everybody’s trying to help carry your bags and find a taxi or whatever. We start to follow this one chap and got interrupted by a short guy in a white suite-like uniform and it looks like he’s looking for us because he’s from the hotel we’re staying at. The Leela Kempinski. At this time, we meet up with another colleague from the Denver office and exchange our hello’s. The feller in the white suite-like uniform goes off and comes back with a name banner and shows it to us and asks if it is us? No we reply. But he looks after us anyway and takes Mark and I to the hotel which is not too far away from the hotel. The hotel entrance is very nice and the hotel inside is also very nice. The porter grabs our bags and we check-in. It’s now about 2:30am and we’re quite tired. I head up to the room and as soon as I open the door and walk towards the bed, the plasma TV starts up and welcomes me to the room with some soft ambient music. Very cool I thought. A few minutes later, the porter brings up my bag.

 

In the room I order some food through room service.  I ask for a chicken burger and tea. He asks which tea I would like and rattles off a few names. I start thinking that this is getting too complicated. I don’t know which tea I would like? I’m tired. So I just ask for coffee! Big mistake!!! After I have a shower and settle down, make a couple of calls back home, the door bell rings and my food arrives. I eat the food and drink the coffee! Jump into bed and then I can’t go to sleep till like 4:30am! Great! I pride myself on what a bright spark I am for opting for the coffee option. Why could I not simply ask for water? Note to self: when tired, never order coffee if you intend to go to sleep...

 

The phone rings at 8:30am and I pick it up and it still keeps ringing. It’s my wake up call, but I don’t hear anything on the line and phone still keeps ringing. I start thinking I’m imagining things that aren’t real. I put my head down again and the phone rings a short while later. It’s reception asking if I’m awake? I feel like telling them no, but I politely say thank you and think about the journey to the bath room. 5 minutes later, the phone rings again, I pick it up and it’s an automated call saying it’s 8:30am and that I must get out of bed. I chuckle to myself as I’ve never had a wakeup call that reminds you after 5 minutes to wake up, and then proceed to tell you to get out of bed. What a great feature of this hotel. I think I’ll have to stay here again.

 

I head down to breakfast and meet up with everybody else. We chitchat for a while after eating and now I’m getting ready for the drive to Pune.

 

I'm at Hathrow Terminal 4 right now getting ready to board sometime soon... I'll b arriving in Mumbai around midnight and then leaving the following day (Sunday) around midday by car to Pune.

 

I've just bought 75ml of Armani Code for £37 which is a bargin!