Sitting in my cramped, uncomfortable aisle seat, for which I paid British Airways an extra $50, I often thought that I no longer want to "be here now."
No, I'd rather "be there now."
Three airline flights, two of them at least eight-hours long, two 4-5 hour airport layovers and the crossing of umpteen time zones will leave anyone wanting to be "there" instead of "here."
All of that was quickly forgotten by:
* meeting the beautiful, calm presence of Gurnam Singh, Craig Bell's local tour guide, waiting for me outside the airport.
* getting some sleep
* a hot shower and, with perfect timing (after I had dressed and gotten myself in some kind of order), a welcome phone call from Craig asking if I'd like to meet him for breakfast, then hearing his gentle tap on the door a few minutes later.
I really have nothing to complain about. All of my flights were on time, everyone I met, from airport security personnel, to airport shopkeepers, to the friendly Indian woman seated next to me, who kept talking to me even though she knew that I didn't understand her language, were friendly and pleasant. She talked, laughed, and gestured and I smiled and nodded, not understanding a word but somehow managing to help her fill out the arrivals card, showing her where to put her flight and passport numbers. Before we left the plane she showed a photo of the new granddaughter she had been visiting in Edinburgh, Scotland. I can only imagine how she managed the Scottish accents before her family came to collect her.
More about my first impressions next time. I really must try to get back to sleep. We begin a full day of sightseeing in a few hours. The other good news is that I found the wall switch for the space heater (under the counter) so I can get out of the sleeping bag. About two hours ago the penny finally dropped and it dawned on me that a wall switch controls the heater's on/off not the switch on the heater itself. Silly me. Last night I slept in my vest and light jacket inside the sleeping bag, which I had under the sheets. Nice to know that the bag has already come in handy.
