Will I Ever Get To Secunderabad?

Not yet anyway. I’ve just read over my entries and I think they seem a bit disjointed. They talk about moments, but they do not chronicle the trip. I will correct. I’m going to divide my entries into the following g selection:

Travel Chronicle: This section will give the day’s events and travel. I’ll keep it short.

Journal Posts: This section will be a continuation of the way I’ve been writing to date.

Memory Notes: This section will be short bits on impressions, short thought. I did this in the January 28^th Post.

Let’s start by attempting to reconstruct the travel itinerary:

January 23, 2007: 4:55 PM; Depart Wash. DC

Trip Begins, Flew out of Dulles International to Charles de Gaulle International in Paris

January 24, 2007: 6:20 AM; Arrive Paris

After a 4 hour layover flew from Paris to New Delhi. The flight was delayed for two hours at de Gaulle by snow. Four hour layover after custom becomes and boarding about an hour and half of checking email.

January 25^th, 2007: 12:46 AM; Arrive

I arrived in Delhi early in the morning, about one. Tourist Office found me a Hotel and arranged for a taxis to the Hotel Red Castle in Channa Market, a section of the Karol Bagh neighborhood. In the morning I changed to a cheaper and better Singh Sons Hotel with internet service. I called Vipin Agrawal of Deepak Industries. I took a cab to his Office in the OKHLA Industrial Area Phase I. He had his driver return me to my Hotel, and swing by the --------.

January 26^th 2007 Republic Day – National Holiday in India. All business shut down. Metros working, Center of City closed for parades. Go in search of American Express Bank At Connaught Place. End up in Paharganj. Spend about five hours wandering. Go to Travel Agents and make deposit on Hotel

January 27^th, 2007 Go to American Express Bank in Connaught Place by taxi. Return by Metro and bicycle rickshaw. Work on internet from Hotel room. Picked-up by Deepak driver and Dr. Deepak Agrawal (The father) go to Deepak offices at Okhla Industrial Area Phase I. Tour assemble area in basement, review microscope. Go to Noida Free Trade Zone to view Deepak’s consumable warehouse and packaging operation. Go to Surajpur to Deepak metal fabricating plant. Return to City, Greenpark neighborhood, spend time in Vipin home. Vipin and I go out to dinner in Greenpark to a Pizza Hut. Driver returns me to Hotel. Go to Travel agents to make payment on Hotel.

I canuary 28, 2007 Hotel informs me I have to leave, no room, Joshi calls says there are not flights to Jodhpur. I call travel agents to have them find me a room. Joshi calls and tells me to get to airport flight arranged. Get cab to Domestic airport, no reservation, but ticket available. Purchase ticket, go to lounge to call Joshi, not phone. Write for about twenty minutes. Find phone call Joshi, he tells me there is a ticket and that it has been paid for, he give reservation numbers, return to Jet Air, they find reservation, it is under Mr. Bill, get refund minus 500 rupee refund fee (about $10), go through personal security, they find leatherman in daypack, confiscate it. Hear announcement on speaking telling me to get my butt to the gate, get to gate, they send a bus back from the plane for me. Plane is a dual prop. Pleasant flight to Jodhpur, arrive get reprimanded by airport security – the military for attempting to take photo of plane on tarmac. Claim luggage, Joshi has driver waiting for me. Driver takes me to Lions Reception, no time to change on even find and put on pin. Eat and given award by regional president. They will fill out visit form and have trophy engraved.

Go to Joshi’s office/home. Meet family, have a coke. Go to factory, then in search of Hotel – two hour process - wedding and tourist season, very difficult. Finally find one, unload. Try and get fixed up with a pre-paid phone for communications in India – doesn’t work. Unpack and relax for a few hours; have coke and talk to the owner at a courtyard table. Long day, read and crash.

January 29^th, 2007 I decide to stay until 31^st. Recover and get room organized, Joshi asked me to call when I got up. I didn’t want to call early, so I went exploring. Take photos, find a crafts/antiques distributor. Spend about an hour there, bought gifts and small sitar for the boys. The store drives me back to hotel, running late. When I get back I try to call Joshi. Hotel only has incoming call service. They tell me to go to private club down the street – they will let me use phone. Reluctantly I go, they are very accommodating, but phone is busy. Not surprised, Joshi lives on his mobile. Return to Hotel, Joshi has called in the mean time, no message. Wait, back to private club, still busy, back to Hotel. Finally Joshi calls and I am there. He sends a driver to pick me up. He is going to have the driver take me around to different site. I ask to go to his office so that I can work on the internet. Arrive at Joshi’s office; his staff sets me up. Joshi is at factory. I work on internet for a few hours; Joshi arrives we have lunch – his wife makes me a great lunch. The driver takes me to the Fort. We tour the fort for a few hours. Then we head off to the palace. The palace is closing by the time we arrive. Driver returns me to Hotel. Joshi picks me up for dinner; go to City Palace Hotel – roof terrace restaurant. We seem to be waiting, ask Joshi if anyone else is joining us for dinner. He tells me that the owner of the Hotel is hosting the dinner and he is running a little late. Turns out owner is the father of Pooja, and he is the riches man in Jodhpur, a dry port owner. Have a great dinner; drink too much scotch – especially Joshi. Discuss mostly of business, a little of politics. Pooja calls after dinner making sure that I’m ok.