Hi all -
Hansi has finally arrived! Her flight got in about 45 minutes late (10:30 pm instead of 9:45 pm) on Friday evening but I had checked with Jet Airways' flight status so we (me and the driver) didn't go to pick her up until 10 pm. We only had to wait about 15 minutes before she exited and we hustled back to the Hotel Uppal (about 15 minutes from the airport). We celebrated: drank small bottle of wine and ate can of cashews (both from the in-room stock), bag of cheesies from Hansi's tote and settled in. By the way, check out Hotel Uppal Ecotel - it's a pretty swanky place but reasonable (~$80/night includes breakfast).
Arrival video clip: http://youtu.be/418sgqJVRt4
The driver picked me up from CIIS (which is right on NH 1 to Delhi, 235kms) around 3:15pm. Uneventful ride until we got to Delhi and the "ring" road towards the airport and Hotel. Took us about 3 hours to get to the ring road and 2-1/2 hours to reach the Hotel area on NH 8. I say "Hotel area" because we got lost - the drive kept insisting he know where the Hotel was as we wound our way through back streets, making u-turns and asking for directions. Finally, around9:15 I phoned the Hotel to get directions - they were good directions assuming we could wend our way back to NH 8. While I had the desk lady on the phone, she checked the flight status and I know we had a buffer. Finally found the Hotel after another 30 minutes of u-turns and false starts. Mind you, this is with the driver answering "Yes" every time I asked "Are you sure this is correct?" or "We've seen this corner twice already, are you sure we're not lost?" etc etc.
Saturday morning we got up, had a leisurely breakfast and strolled the grounds while Hansi started to get used to the heat and humidity (I'm sure she'll elaborate). The grounds of the Hotel Uppal are quite lovely full of large palms, ornamental trees, pruned shrubbery, paths, a big pool, small golf course for chip shots only - photo self-explanatory, I'm sure. We set off from the Hotel around 9:30am and arrived (during a torrential downpour) in Chandigarh by about3pm. We took our time and stopped at a Dhaba for a chai (and some fries) - so, here we are, settled in, finally.
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| Hotel Uppal Grounds |
I peeled some mangoes far a little snack, made some REAL coffee (I ran out last Monday) and Milo made us supper from left overs. Went out walkies last night to do some shopping (more coat hangers, washcloths, hand soap, scissors and the like). Crashed, got up early, made coffee (Hansi brought lots of Tim's), peeled mangoes and had poached eggs on the last of the Bran flakes. Haven't decided what to do with the rest of the day. Got to pick up a few more odds and ends (drain plug for one).
Anyway, I'm sure Hansi will compose her own note so I'll wrap this up . . . here's pic of her {above] on the porch of the apartment this morning.
Rob (Happy she's here!)
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