I didn't need much sleep, and I'm glad I didn't because there are no alarm clocks in the hotels and the wakeup call I had scheduled never came. I awoke at 8:20 am wondering how much longer before I get the call that was supposed to be a 8am!
What little sleep I got was good though. I took a very dangerous shower in a very narrow and completely concave tub. It was quite a balancing act!
My guy was running late due to a flat tire so I went ahead and had some breakfast in the hotel restaurant. My first meal in India consisted of chicken sausage, mushrooms, some sort of sweet rice mash and papaya juice. Nothing to write home about, even though I just did.
I took a few more photos from the room as a comparison from the night
before...
My guy eventually showed up and we hit the road to Dukes Retreat, which is way out of the city and up in a mountain range of retired volcanoes.
Lot of near misses on the roads...
...which seems to be the norm here.Very few traffic lights, stop signs, road markings or cops. The cops are only around if someone actually gets killed I think?
It's basically a free-for-all and survival of the loudest horn, but somehow these people make it work. There is definitely a certain amount of intuition and commonality amongst drivers. We have a designated driver who doesn't speak any english and we ride in the back and try not to have a heart attack every time he darts in between a big truck and the concrete median.
Dukes Retreat is nice (by India standards).
Here are some photos of the area...
We had a buffet lunch with all kinds of different things, many of which I could not identify...
My beer of choice is India's own Kingfisher. Aside from water that is the only thing I've drank here. It's pretty light, like a Tsing Tao...
Here are a few more photos of the area architecture...
Pretty much every structure in India is under some sort of construction, the room directly below mine is no exception. After lunch I was feeling the effects of jet lag so I took a nap. My guy is older and he seems to sleep quite a lot so he also retired for the afternoon.
The construction under my room finally woke me up around 6pm. They had some sort of power saw that sounded like it was right under my bed.
I have a small balcony so I took a few photos of the construction goings on out back...
The construction methods are somewhat interesting. They have the
engineering capability and the materials to make modern structures, but they severely lack in skilled labor and project management. This is obvious everywhere I've been so far. The construction guys work day and night, they even have their kids and family's helping, and apparently living nearby...
engineering capability and the materials to make modern structures, but they severely lack in skilled labor and project management. This is obvious everywhere I've been so far. The construction guys work day and night, they even have their kids and family's helping, and apparently living nearby...
...but there workmanship is at a middle ages type of skill level.
It is truly a mish-mash of modernization in an uncivilized society, but they keep plugging away at it.
Tomorrow we travel to Balapur to meet with our first customer. I hear that it is a very small town and there will be no internet at all so my next post will be delayed a day.
Health wise I've been doing pretty good so far. I'm feverish off and on and I get some allergies (sneezing a lot) but I am fully prepared with medicines to help with those.
Again, I had to "buy" internet time. This place is funny too, they have wifi's mounted right outside of almost every room, there's one literally right outside my door, yet I cannot get a good enough signal. They are using Pronet, and I'm guessing they are pretty weak and/or the construction of the rooms is blocking the signals. I have to go over to the bar to post this.
I have cell phone service on roam, but I have not been able to call voice mail or anyone else, everything I try goes to a british accent message saying to check the number. I'm using Verizon, so if anyone has some tips on how to dial out from here I'm all ears.
Till next time...
Love you Dana and I miss you and the cats.
8 comments:
Great post babe!!!
OMG, the picture of the waterfall is AMAZING! How gorgeous! And the mountains, wow!
Love, Love, Love the picture post and your comments. It's almost as though we are there with you. Although NOT Jovi & Tobias, they might get eaten ~lol~ Or do they worship cats like they do the cow?
It is funny to see the kids outside bathing. Almost like Up-North ;) ~hehe~
Hey, next time you are driving with me...NEVER COMPLAIN AGAIN, or I shall remind you of driving in India ~lol~ It is probably good that you were in the backseat!
Did you enjoy your lunch? Were you able to identify anything after you ate?
Glad to hear that for the most part you are feeling good :)
Looking forward to your next post.
We LOVE you & MISS you very much!
XOXOXOX
Dana, Tobias & Jovi Girl :)
I called Verizon. They told me that they "turned on" the feature of international calls, as it was not set up that way.
She said to "turn off the phone, then turn it back on". Depending on the network that they use, you may or may not be able to make or receive calls.
If you do, the charge is $1.29 per minute! If not, pack your phone as it will not work.
She also said that if you travel a lot out of the country, you should get a global phone. I told her that would most likely not be necessary ~lol~
So there you have it....if you will not even have internet access where you are going today/tomorrow...it is highly unlikely you will have phone service?
Looking forward to your next update :)
And everything is fine at home, with the exception that you are not here ~kiss~
Are you able to check your emails?
XOXOX,
Dana, Tobias & Jovi Girl :)
Hi,
Your pictures are wonderful! The scenery is really pretty but it looks like pretty rough terrain. I don't know about that lunch....it looked rather gross! I hope it tasted better than it looks.
I'll look forward to the next post. Have a safe trip tomorrow!
Love,
M
I agree with everyone else, except the spammer (go to Cali, and don't come back - loser), that the landscape is actually quite beautiful! I never would have guessed that their crayola box included green. I figured it was all just shades of brown.
Nice shots!
Tip... might want to put a space in between the pics, it's a bit hard to tell where one starts and the other ends, but maybe that's just me.
Great stuff, keep it coming.
Wonder what the Indian Equivalent is to "Montezuma"? "Ghandi's Revenge?"
I hear India has a new President too... a woman, don't say anything sexist.
Thanks for the spaces. :)
Badlapur... tiny little place. Rhode Island could be the crap out if it in a war.
Fastest growing city in India... known for some of it's stunning visual attractions. We expect some amazing pics!
Too bad you didn't just take the train from Mumbai... it would have been about an hour long trip.
Isn't Wikipedia great?
OK,
So I am a little paranoid at the moment! ~hehe~
I was sitting at the computer and Tobias was under the desk, nothing unusually there :)
Then all of a sudden it felt like he bit my foot (I was not wearing any shoes or socks), then he bit it again, and then to the other foot..I mean this happened it like two seconds!
I started to yell at him...WTF ($#*#($, when I saw he was trying to bat at a wasp!
The damn wasp stung me first, then bit me twice ~that reminds me of a song, once bitten...something or another, lol~
I ended getting the fly swatter and killing the damn thing! ~the bastard~ lol! Now both of my feet are a little swollen and throbbing...nice! ~hehe~
So then I am in the kitchen shortly after that getting their dinner ready, when I’ll be damned...there was another wasp in the kitchen window!
Well before I let him take a chunk out of me, I whacked his but then ground him up in the garbage disposal! ~go me~ ;)
So now I am all paranoid and I go look out front to make sure that nest you killed right before you left was still not being housed by these crazy things! Thinking that maybe a few came back and scooted in the front door when I came home.
I did not see any movement but just for good measure I squirted it again :)
I then decided to go have a look around all the windows in the house, armed with the spray and the fly swatter. And watching where I was stepping!
Sure enough there was ANOTHER one in the LR window. Grrrrrr...
I killed him :) and moved on. Did not see any others ones...but damn! Three in the house???
While looking outside the dining room window, I see A LOT of them buzzing around. I am now wondering if they are in the attic and then getting in the house somehow?
Anyhow...everywhere I go now I will be armed with spay and the fly swatter!
Good thing Tobias just sat there watching the darn thing, he could have been stung!
Sure it's funny now, but at the time it was well...not so funny ~hehe~
Hope you are having a good night/day.
We miss you greatly and love you more!
XOXOX,
Dana, Tobias (the wasp watcher) and Jovi girl :)
Rut-Ro-Raggy.....
I just heard on the 6:00 o'clock news that Northwest Airline Pilots are back to "playing games" regarding the pilots calling in sick, like they did back in June.
They said it has been going on the past weekend and getting worse.
Hopefully it does NOT include international flights or that they get it straightened out before you fly back!
Just and FYI for ya :)
XOXO,
Dana, Tobias & Jovi Girl
People should read this.
Post a Comment