Going to India

The road to Damoh

Getting here has been quite a process. I made my AA flight MSP-ORD Thursday without difficulty and was given my seat assignment for London, only to find that the BAW airplane developed some serious engine problems and wouldn't be flying to London that night. It was after midnight before we got to a hotel, but we had seats on an AA ORD-DEL for Friday afternoon. I spent a cozy night in a king-size bed, went to fitness in the morning and ha d what I thought might be my last hot shower for a while. Despite having to return to the hotel for my iPad I made the flight in plenty of time. We flew in a 777, smaller than the aircraft I've taken for long flights before. It made for some long waits at the restroom, but otherwise very pleasant. I sat next to an Indian gent who lives in Chicago, works for an IT firm, and was going to Delhi Friday afternoon with the intention of returning on MONDAY. Him I do not envy, nor his wife with their two daughters under three years old.

Immigration and customs was problem- free. Perhaps it was coming through during daylight hours, but there was no attempt to extort us this year. I was very happy to see Rai, our travel agent, the moment I emerged from the customs area. We spent Saturday night in a hotel near the airport, with a comfy king-size bed and my second last hot shower.

We were up at 4:30 Sunday morning to meet the train to Bhopal. There was some difficulty with the seats, so for the first two hours I had a first class seat among a European family being guided around India by a son in his thirties who had business interests here. I recognized Spanish and German and they spoke English when they wanted to communicate as a group. Next I moved to second class where I sat at a table with some Indian guys. My final seat was next to Rachel Graves, one of our team members, in a different first class car. We had lunch in Bhopal and spent the next six hours driving to Damoh. I saw two cranes and a stork from the train and lots of brown kites while driving.