Where do I even begin? Since Chandigarh and the ag show we
have been to Delhi, Mumbai and are now on the road to the beach resort in the
Kerala region. I can’t say it has been
smooth sailing. We missed our flight check in time by a couple minutes flying
out of Chandigarh so had to book onto another flight 3 hours later for a very
late arrival in Delhi for a 10pm supper. Out of Delhi to Mumbai the flight was
delayed by “technical difficulties” resulting in a near riot from some of the
passengers and another 3 hour delay for a 3 am arrival to the hotel. And today
another 2 hour delay due to more “technical difficulties”, which quite frankly
starts to become a bit concerning, for arrival into Cochin at rush hour turning
what should be a 2 hour drive into a 3 ½ hour journey. It is no wondered people
meditate in this country. So travel is not all glory. But now the real holiday begins.
And last complaint then I’ll get onto some fun stuff – you
would think that I would be caught up on writing and work because of all the
airport waiting time but you require a mobile number to get the password to get
onto the internet. Because why would you
make access to the Internet easy at an international airport in the business
hubs of the country. There’s a little
work to be done related to efficiencies and conveniences.
Ok – recap of the last week. Agro Tech was huge. Lots of
interest around Canadian food products and lots of progressive farmers in the
region. That said, lots of work on the previous mentioned efficiencies is also
in order. Met a lot of really interesting people. The hospitality in the region is outstanding
and Chandigarh turned out to be a really interesting place. First planned city
in India which just means that the chaos follows a grid pattern, the traffic
and the cows however are still generally all over the place. We said good-bye
to our armed guard, Victor and driver. I still can’t remember the driver’s name
so would resort to Mr. Singh (the Indian version of Mr. Smith). In fact, I’ve been completely hopeless with
names. I’m not great at it to begin with so add in an accent, rapid fire speech
and a three syllable name that I’ve never heard of before and it turns into a
lot of smiling and nodding.
In Delhi I went down for the count. I was starting to feel a
little off in Chandigarh so by morning in Delhi I definitely knew something
wasn’t right. ‘nough said. I’m still not
100% but getting there through the power of pharmaceuticals and
probiotics. Delhi was a bit of a
surprise in terms of greenery. They have large forests throughout the city –
protected green spaces. We didn’t see a lot but did a bit of shopping
(beautiful scarves and clothes), drove past the Red Fort and old Delhi then
headed to the airport for our delayed flight.
Mumbai – also a surprise.
Gorgeous old building but really run down. For some reason I pictured it
to be more Hong Kong like with tall high rises. Maybe up in the Bollywood area.
But it was a mix with many of the old buildings crumbling away. We stayed at the Taj Mahal – the same Taj
that was attacked in 2008. It is
spectacular with stunning flower bouquets and marble floors. Wow.
Again, not a lot of time for sightseeing but lots to see on
the way to a meeting at the Canadian Embassy, to dinner and to the
airport. Dinner last night was with a
celebrity chef’s restaurant up near Bollywood by the Beach. Chef Vicky dropped by and ordered up some of
his favourite appetizers for us. Supper in India doesn’t happen until 9 or 10
pm, lunch around 2pm. Makes for some really late nights and early
mornings.
But we are now at a Ayurveda beach resort with 7am yoga on the beach. Unfortunately we are on the move again, headed to the houseboat at noon and then the next day to a bird sanctuary resort. It really is Amazing Race style with about the same luck with communication sometimes. It is frustrating at times because I want to see as much as possible but nothing happens quickly. So time to get my zen on. 7 am is right around the corner.
